Tag: kyoto

by jad

Japan Trip: Kyoto in Abstraction, Bound for Tokyo

This is the moment after walking for about 30 minutes and realizing that the Chaos Gallery had, indeed, recently closed and been cleared; so recently, in fact, there were still people in the space finalizing the process. So, in honor of that moment, here are my most chaotic shots from Kyoto. x Kyoto in abstraction. x This gentleman smiled at me after seeing me taking pictures of the Shinkansen. Train dork recognizes train dork. We were going to Tokyo next. There was a train just like this heading there every 5 minutes. The next day was Mountain Day, so everyone … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Kyoto in Abstraction, Bound for Tokyo” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Kyoto and the Manufacture of “Japonica”

There seems to be a whole industry in Kyoto for “Japonica,” of which great parts of the city are the epicenter—the site where Japan’s “authentic past” is staged, mediated, and consumed. One reason for this is very material: Kyoto was largely spared from U.S. bombing in WWII, meaning its temples, shrines, and machiya houses provide actual historical continuity. And yet, much of this is also manufactured: for international tourism, Kyoto functions as a museum of Japaneseness. Its Japonica is carefully staged, and the staging itself becomes part of the experience. Japan as wooden townhouses reconstructed to look old, Japan as … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Kyoto and the Manufacture of “Japonica”” →

by jad

Japan Trip: The Cat Temple and the Face House

The one place we prioritized once we found a coin locker for our suitcase and sat down for lunch at the station was @nyan_nyanji, the Cat Temple on the outskirts of town. As millennials from the internet, it just felt like that had to be the one religious site of the many religious sites in Kyoto we couldn’t miss, if we could only see one. It would be more than an hour by bus and back, and it did not disappoint. I’ll post a fever dream of a Reel about it shortly. x The second place we prioritized after getting … Continue reading “Japan Trip: The Cat Temple and the Face House” →