At the Ku Restaurant

Saturday, 19 October. There was a light rain when we got up, the first break in the beautiful weather we'd been having. I went for a two-mile run before breakfast, and it gave me a chance to explore the neighborhood. Tom accompanied us when we left his house at 10:30 and took the train to Sumizome. There we went to the Ku restaurant, run by Yoshiji Ueyasu and his wife Hiroko, friends of Tom and Kyoko. [Tom is very much involved with bonsai, and he met many of his friends through a bonsai club.]

We had a goyza (dumpling) lunch  at their restaurant, followed by sweet potato ice cream. (Already on our trip we had tried other ice creams made with green tea and red bean.) Following Japanese custom, Jane and I presented them with a small gift we'd brought from the States. [We were surprised a few days later when they had gifts delivered to us.]

After lunch we took a taxi to the Fushimi-Momoyama Castle. There are actually two castles here. Both are 1964 reconstructions of historical buildings. The larger one (Shigetsu) reproduces the original Fushimi castle, built by Hideyoshi in 1594 but destroyed by an earthquake only two years later. The smaller building (Kohatyama) represents the replacement castle, dismantled in 1623. The castle houses a museum that includes a fine collection of folding screens, a suit of Hideyoshi's armor, a reproduction of his portable Golden Tea Room and much more.

Fushimi-Momoyama Castle

Fushimi samurai armor

The Golden Tea Room

By the time we came out of the castle museum, the weather was cold and gloomy with heavy rain. This day marked an abrupt change of season. There was no more warm weather during our stay. By taxi and train, we got back to Sakamoto about 4:30.

Mr. & Mrs. Ban-san at restaurant

Sunday, 20 October. It was a cool and overcast day, and later it began to rain. At 10:00 the four of us were picked up by Isao Ban, another of Tom's friends, who drove us to his house in Sakamoto where his wife, Mitsuko, was waiting. Ban-san showed us his large and excellent bonsai collection, mostly azaleas. They also served us tea and snacks. We presented them with two small gifts. [Again, we were surprised to receive a gift from them a few days later.] Then they took us to the popular Tsuruki restaurant in Karasaki for a very pleasant lunch. 

Early settlement on Lake Biwa (model) Early town