Kawabata's Snow Country

I spent yesterday trying to get to as many festivals and markets as possible. My first stop was the antique market at To-ji, which was still beautiful despite the heavy rain (left). Rusty swords and coins, old robes and wooden cabinets, and the like were strewn under hastily built tents. Local Japanese and visitors from abroad jumped the puddles in unison like prancing deer.

Next, I rode the Kintetsu line to Momoyama, where I visited the Gokono-Miya Shinko-Sai at Gokono-Miya Shrine. Different food stands lined the path to the main hall where a shinto procession was just ending. I explored a little around the grounds. As I was exiting, an odango shop (one of my favorite sweets), just outside the entrance, surprised me. And I naturally had to taste one. Which became two. Who can resist when they are made right in front of you over a delicate fire?

But my favorite visit that day was to Kitano Temmangu. The rain was incredible. Plum droplets sounded on the leaves, and the white shinto prayers danced when the wind sang. What a wonderful place.