This past Sunday was a big day for us, as we had the fourth and final interview at the preschool we were interested in, which is highly regarded for many reasons, and only about 10% of applicants actually get in. (We found out yesterday that Anthony was accepted!)
After the interview, Anthony and I took a little bike ride to see some fall foliage. It's pretty anemic this year, but we were still able to find some nice areas close by. We first went to a secluded area in the south part of the old imperial palace grounds (御所) where the President was last week. Last Thursday, when riding around with Fumie, we discovered a small lake (Kyuujou-ike — 九条池) which we'd never noticed before despite many trips to the area.
On the map at right, the lake looks as if it's right next to a major street, and indeed it is, but it's so well hidden by trees that encircle it almost completely that you can see it only from the entrance near the north side of the bridge which bisects the lake. When you're on the street, or on the wide paths inside the park, you have no idea it's there. Thus, it was a wonderful discovery.
The flip side of it being so hidden is that when you're there, you can't tell that you're in the middle of a big city. (It's much like Murin-an in this regard.) It was mostly cloudy with only intermittent sun, but anyway, here are pictures from the bridge, looking toward either side:
 East |
West |
Here are a few more shots of the area:
Anthony on the bridge |
South side of the bridge |
Row of benches in the wide path to the north-east of the lake |
From just north of the bridge, looking up the wide avenue to the entrance to the Old Imperial Palace (600 meters to the north) |
There are more nice pictures from this little trip, including various scenes of the canal (which really needed more sun to come out better, which is why they're not featured here).
A bit of playtime
On the way home, we stopped by a weekend event at the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce. The event had something to do with Kyoto daycare centers, but as far as we were concerned it was just a fun place to play.
He was shy at first (he's gotten quite shy lately) but once he started to play, he chose the play kitchen area. (That he didn't make a bee line to the trains is a testament to the effort Fumie and I have made to encourage more balance in his play.)
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Eventually, of course, he did get to the trains |
Heading Home
Finally, here's a (slightly idealized) view over the canal, from the bridge a minute from home:
It's had just a bit of work done on it with Photoshop, as the original shows (mouseover the link to view the original superimposed above).
Fumie and Anthony at my folks' place two years ago
The leaves are finally getting into the Fall spirit here in Kyoto, which got me thinking about the above photo which I took mid-October two years ago, in Ohio. I haven't really found a place like that within walking distance of my place here.
I rather like the shot, and it got me thinking of some amazing nature shots I saw when I first released my image viewer earlier this year. Here are some of those photos:
[ UPDATE: all the photos that were linked here are no longer available at their respective sites, but click on the link in the next sentence to see what photos might be available now....]
The list of photos you get when you do that search (the search is for “nature”) changes over time, which is why I've shown a captured snapshot above.
I think that my image viewer is worthy of its own post, which I'll write tomorrow.
My image viewer uses Yahoo! Image Search under the hood, but you can also find some nice shots at Flickr and Google. I also have my own list of a few pretty shots I've taken.
Wow, the Presidential visit was indeed a huge hubbub around here. President Bush flew into Japan last night, and helicoptered from the airport into the old imperial grounds here in Kyoto.
The previous weekend, the news showed, the US Air Force had landed one C5 Galaxy with two beefy US Marines helicopters (becoming flight “Marine One” when the President is aboard), and another with a bunch of support vehicles (such as three of the Presidential Limos). When you realize that these were brought in half a week before being needed, and that the President will be in several other countries within the same time span after leaving Japan, one wonders how many sets of “everything” are being flown around the world for one week-long trip. (I would love to see the total cost to US taxpayers, of which I am one.)
The cost to Japan is not too trivial, either. Kyoto brought in over 5,000 extra police officers from all over Japan, and they are everywhere that the President might even think of spitting. Of course, they are quite polite, and for the most part just stand like statues, at least around here. Fumie and Anthony and I took a walk yesterday evening, just around our area (the President was a mile away in seclusion, likely having dinner) and it was crawling with police, and there were big hefty “paddy wagon” urban-assault style busses parked all over.
Much to my great embarrassment, I found the hubbub to be of intense interest. For some reason, whenever a helicopter went overhead, I had to run to the window to look. I wanted to see Marine One land and take off (and indeed, I did, from my building's fifth floor exterior hallway, although it was night and hard to see.) I didn't really care one way or the other to see the President; it was the hubbub itself that I found fascinating.
Lots of security everywhere
This morning I took a bike ride to my bank, which just happens to be pretty near the old imperial grounds where the President is staying. (It's at the corner of Imadegawa and Kawaramachi.) As expected, as you got closer, the police presence increased, but things were surprisingly normal. Traffic was normal, and I could ride my bike completely around the old imperial grounds. (The President was at Kinkakuji at the time.)
The public parts of the old imperial grounds are basically a huge city park, which was of course closed off. There are many entrances, and each one had at least one (and usually several) of those urban-assault busses. That's in addition to the many such busses parked along the street, full of battle-ready riot police, just sitting there twiddling their thumbs.
Much to my surprise, I found out in the afternoon (thanks Nils) that the President was indeed coming to my part of the city (giving a speech at the Kyoto Kaikan, which is about 250 yards from my house). So, I'd be able to actually see the great hubbub of the Presidential Motorcade. Excellent.
Of course, the police presence in the area increased exponentially, and two hours before the President was scheduled to arrive (for a 3:25pm speech), the number of police far exceeded the tourists and locals milling about (of which I became one). I spent some time trying to figure out where I could stand — the various police officers (mostly from other parts of the country) gave me different stories about where I could be, but the general impression was that most areas that you might want to be would be off limits.
Now, remember, it's the hubbub that I'm drawn to, and so it was fun just to sit in a close spot and watch people running around and milling about. I sat right across from where the Presidential Limo would arrive. I knew for certain that I'd be kicked out in half an hour, but it was fun to just sit for a while. There were lots of police around, and two other locals, and after a while I started chatting with the locals. It turns out, much to my great surprise, that they were undercover cops. They were quite nice and we chatted for a while. Besides telling me exactly where I'd be allowed to stand (thanks!), they pointed out all the other undercover cops, which was to say just about everyone who wasn't uniformed (there were, mind you, something like 500 uniformed police officers in the immediate vicinity at the time.)
Two plain-clothed officers
right next to me. Coincidence?
As the time drew near, I moved to my viewing location (on Nijo street, just west of Reisen-dori). Half an hour before the scheduled arrival, there weren't many people lined up yet (and I was the only one who looked like a foreigner), but slowly a crowd gathered. Next to me was a very old man, and next to him a well-dressed couple with cameras (seen here in the picture, which is aiming where the motorcade will go). I took one look at the lady's perpetual scowl and knew that they were plain-clothed police officers pretending to be tourists. Indeed, a bit later I noticed he'd put a mini earphone into his ear. I smiled at them, but they never smiled at me. The first (and only) unfriendly officers I ran into.
Eventually, the motorcade came. The first thing I noticed (while it was still some distance away) was the telltale blue flashing lights (along with red) of an American law-enforcement vehicle. In America, such blue lights are illegal otherwise. In Japan, law-enforcement and emergency vehicles use only red lights (garbage trucks tend to use blue), but it seems that anyone can have any flashing light they want on their vehicle. Anyway, the blue and red of the motorcade cars were distinctly American.
It sped by at quit a fast clip, and it was surreal because there was almost no sound. No sirens. No cheering crowds. No booing crowds. A few people waved, but mostly there was just the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of vehicles passing:
Car #1. A standard Japanese police car led the way (Someone had to know which way to go) |
Car #2. A (mostly) unmarked Japanese police car was next |
Car #3. A Presidential limo was next (Probably sans President) |
Car #4. Another Presidential limo (Probably with President, although I certainly couldn't see anyone inside) |
Cars #5 & #6. Immediately behind limo #2 came these two Japanese police cars, driving “in the wings”. |
Car #7. Next came a black Chevy Suburban with Secret Service poised, literally, to jump out. Like the Limos and other vehicles offloaded from the C5 Galaxy cargo plane, they had blue “outsider” license plates attached by Japanese authorities upon their arrival. |
Car #8. Next was what is perhaps the Japanese equivalent of a “Black Chevy Suburban” |
Cars #9 & #10. Another pair of the same |
Cars #11 & #12. Okay, this is getting boring now |
Car #13. Ah, some variety returns. This is one of the vehicles the news showed being offloaded from the C5. I suspect it's either weapons or medical equipment, but I really have no idea |
Car #14. Boring again |
Car #15. A Jeep (brand vehicle), of all things |
 Car #16. The Jeep above seems to be with this Important Person's car. Later (after the speech), I saw someone looking suspiciously like John Thomas Schieffer (US ambassador to Japan) getting in this car, surrounded by a bunch of Japanese security. |
Car #17. A nondescript important-person car |
Up to this point I'd had my camera on rapid fire, but what followed were just a bunch of vans and probably more Black Suburbans, so I stopped taking pictures.
But, eventually, these guys brought up the rear:
Car #18+. Communications? Look at the funky marshmallow-thing on the top |
 Car #19+. As standard an American ambulance as you can get. It had Maryland plates on the back, but Air Force plates on the front. Probably brought up from a US military base in Japan? |
People leaving the Kyoto Kaikan after the speech
(The Ambassador waits in his car to leave)
I went home for a bit, then went back out just in time to see the motorcade speeding away. Moments later, the police started to pack things up, and the crowd that attended the speech (who?) started coming out of the building. Soon, the entire police presence that had been building since last week vanished, and by the evening all the barricades and such were gone, too.
I have no idea why I found all this hubbub — looking at the comings and goings and the security and such — so compelling. It was distracting, and I'm glad it's over (he's in Korea already), and I'm glad I've written about it so now I can get the damn thing off my mind.
What a hubbub going on in Kyoto this week, the likes of which this little backwater nowhere-ville has not seen in its short 1,211 years. I live about a mile away from the old imperial grounds, upon which the Kyoto State Guest House is situated, in which President Bush will stay during his one-day visit (arriving tomorrow night, leaving the next night).
As far as I know, he's not planning on coming my direction at all, yet there's a policeman in bullet-proof vest on most every street corner around here (just standing around, looking, uh, vigilant). The President isn't arriving until tomorrow (Tuesday) night, but the police have been on station since at least Saturday. In addition, many street corners now have accordion gates on rollers waiting to be slung across the street to block traffic. I asked one officer what they were for, and he said basically “just in case”. Perhaps the military helicopters overflying my house today in pairs are for the same reason. What a hubbub.
The President is slated to go the other direction from me, to Kinkakuji, the “Golden Pavilion”. They have a camera which updates every five minutes -- perhaps he'll make a cameo appearance. Or perhaps not -- it seems to have stopped two hours ago. [ update: 8 days later, the camera is working again ]
(Mr President, take my advice and skip Kinkakuji, and hit Ryouanji instead. It's very near Kinkakuji, but much more pleasant a place. Also, the grounds are free, so you can save a few of my tax dollars.)
In any case, I'm thankful that I don't have to drive anywhere tomorrow or the next day. What a hubbub.
I've lately discovered a tasty dish called Nishin Soba which is normal soba (buckwheat noodles, whatever those are) with a particular kind of fish, nishin, on top.
Looking it up, I see that nishin is herring (whatever that is).
It's all together in a hot or cold soup. (I prefer hot, even in summer.) The way the fish is grilled and prepared for the noodles is, well, I don't know how to describe it other than “super yummy”.
Anyway, the picture here is of a store-bought package of the fish we had at home. I thought that the little symbol in the corner was cute. Can you understand what it means, even if you can't read the Japanese below it?
<--- Here's a larger version.
| Hover your mouse over this sentence for the answer. |
Could you figure it out?