We woke up to a very cold and rainy morning, so we started the day slowly and enjoyed breakfast at Inase, before attending a tea ceremony offered by the owner. We had also signed up for some calligraphy practice, where we would learn to write our names in kanji using a calligraphy paintbrush in the ancient Japanese method. Mai-san led our calligraphy session, and offered a sample for Lauren and I to copy. My kanji name was translated as "polite samurai", and I had a lot of fun trying to draw it 6 times. At the end Mai allowed us to keep our favorite, which was a nice surprise.
During our lunch a couple of days prior, Lauren and I both fell in love with the beautiful coasters at Matsukiya Honten, which were made of Japanese obi fabric. Keiko had helped us identify the shop the previous day from some pictures we took, and gave us the address, which was in Kyoto. We already wanted to head back to Okariba for a meal, and since Kyoto is only a short 15 minute train ride from Otsu, we decided to head that way after lunch, hoping the rain would lessen.
We arrived in Kyoto around 1PM, and immediately made our way via train towards Saga-arashiyama station. We hopped off several stops earlier, and walked for about ten minutes into what appeared to be a residential area before we found the coaster shop, Kikyo-ya. We walked inside and were greeted by a very shy and polite young lady, and pointed towards the wall where there were several shelves holding coasters. Lauren and I proceeded to rummage through the coasters for a solid fifteen minutes, ultimately selecting 24 of them, 8 for ourselves, and the rest as souvenirs for friends and family. Lauren also picked up a beautiful table runner for us, which we couldn't leave behind.
Satisfied, and with significantly lighter wallets, we left the shop and made our way to Gion via train and taxi. Lauren wanted to see if she could find a green tea latte powder that was highly recommended on YouTube, so we walked down the road with our umbrellas, dodging rain and other pedestrians as we sought the store. After a half hour of walking, we found the shop in question and once again navigated around mobs of other tourists before finding what we were looking for. Lauren picked up a couple of boxes, and we left as soon as we could, wanting to escape the crowds of Gion. We decided to head towards Okariba, as we had noticed a shop in that area the prior week called the Kyoto Handicraft Center, but could only browse for a couple of minutes before they closed. Lauren and I wanted to go back, as it would kill some time before dinner, and allow us to finish our souvenir shopping.
After a bus ride and a short walk, we found ourselves entering the Kyoto Handicraft Center around 4PM. Lauren and I both walked around, browsing on our own for a while. Lauren found some earrings in silver that she loved, while I found a miniature replica of famed samurai Date Masamune's kabuto (helmet).
After picking up our souvenirs and browsing for a while longer, we walked to Okariba, where we would enjoy a wonderful meal with Aoki-san and meet some travelers from Vancouver, BC and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
After wrapping up our dinner, we caught an evening train back to Otsu, and walked back to Inase to pack our bags and prepare to head for Kagaonsen the next morning.
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