Day 12: Kyoto I woke up after a reasonable lie in/hangover and headed for the Kyoto International Managa Museum. I was kind of disappointed - I was hoping for Disney style lifesize characters walking around - more like a comic con than a museum. I was hoping to see walls of beautiful illustrations, characters taken apart and examined, marble statues etc. This more resembles a modern library, you can take books from the ‘Wall of Manga’ and sit in the sun on the terrace or at one of the many tables to read them. The children’s area was my favourite with a giant squishy floor. Currently they are running an exhibition of cosplay photographers which is well worth a look. I’d consider a cos play shoot nos I’ve seen the pros! I learnt a little about manga and I will be picking up a book or two when I get home to peruse. I also found the Japanese Doll Gallery in the backstreets of Kyoto where they make the most incredible porcelain dolls. (I think there is the festival of Dolls in Feb?) Kind of odd, but mainly amazing! It was bright and sunny so I headed for the Imperial Palace hoping to get into a tour but they were running only the half an hour tours, and I was running out of time before my evenings entertainment, so instead I booked in for the next days 10am trip and wandered through sunny gardens. The walk back to the hotel was about 25 minutes along the wide river, watching kids jumping on and off stepping stones (not entirely sure it’s safe), teenagers look cool and buskers selling wares. I was full of the joys of life walking along, people watching. Back at the hotel I changed into something more comfortable for my Samurai Kembu lesson!! The lesson I booked was 10,000 yen (£60 ish?) And was meant to be a group but apparently the other two cancelled so it was all me! This included a Kembu performance from the Samurais in residence, a lesson in the history of the Samurai, getting dressed in the traditional sanurai costume and two hours of learning the moves - plus a bit of a photoshoot! Banging! Kembu is the dance that the Samurai used to tell a story - they use both fans and swords to tell the story - the fans doubling as weather, bows and arrows, seasons… All sorts. The difference between the Samurai and the Ninja is that the Samurai were held in high esteem and were known for their bravery. They were loyal to their master and served their country and people. The Ninja came later and although use the katana and similar methods operated in the dark and for different motives. Basically, ninjas are sneaky buggers. The performance was actually kind of terrifying. The nice girl who greeted me at the reception suddenly looked fierce and the men whipped their swords through the air (wink wink), contorted their faces and generally showed excellent physical fitness. My turn. It turns out the katana swords are pretty heavy/I have no upper body strength, however I tried my best, I had a whale of a time! My sword was whizzing through the air in the end and I even got enough confidence to shout along with my teacher when I was striking my attacks. (“HUH!”) We finished putting all the moves together into a Kembu routine. My bad ass attacks do not go to music and I will not be sharing the video. I had so much fun being a samurai for the evening, and the location was right next to my hotel so I headed to my room for an early night in preparation for my early start at the palace. Looked into Kembu, apparently they don’t have anywhere doing it in london so I can’t take this up as a regular hobby :( Jemima x So much “I” in this.
