Our morning began with a boat ride on the Hozu River in Arashiyama, heading toward a small Buddhist temple perched on the hillside above the water. We had actually seen it from a distance a couple of days earlier, and now we were going to visit. The boat was propelled by a man standing at […]
kyoto
Japan: Bowing Deer, Buddha’s Nostril, and a Sword That Told a Story
November 12th – Nara Our destination today was Nara, about an hour and a half by bus from Kyoto. Nara was Japan’s first permanent capital, established in 710, and is home to some of the country’s most important Buddhist monuments. But before we got anywhere near the Buddha, we encountered the other great attraction of […]
Japan: From Kanazawa to Kyoto — A Home Visit, Noh Masks, and a Twelve-Minute Train Connection
Monday, November 9, 2026 Today we left Kanazawa for Kyoto, but not before spending a morning in a Japanese home. It turned out to be one of those visits where we learned so much, and were so busy enjoying ourselves, that I almost forgot to take photographs. A Visit to a Japanese Home There were […]
Living Continuity — the Volcano, the Barge, the Sword, the Tea, the Candles
There is a thread I keep discovering in my life that I did not consciously plan. Not travel.Not tourism.Not “bucket list” behavior. Something quieter. Participation. Or maybe more precisely: A desire to briefly enter living traditions. Not to master them. Simply to touch them honestly for a little while. That realization arrived sideways, the way […]