More Shopping

On Sunday Sakiko and I did another run around Shijo, this time with an eye on the kimono shops. There were quite a few of these. They range in pricing from extremely upscale sections in department stores (many of which sold kimono some 180 years ago) to little used shops, and in styles from the very simple and traditional to the modern boutique-styles with lace and cameo broaches. I have to say though that the highlight of my day was seeing an actual maiko-san (an apprentice geisha and the official symbol of the city of Kyoto) doing her shopping. She was not in full dress, and didn’t have the distinctive white makeup on, but she had her hair done in the traditional style and was wearing an informal yukata (cotton summer kimono) with a younger girl trailing behind her carrying the shopping bags. I chased her down and asked for a photo, but she was too busy at the time. That day I also discovered 300 yen (or about $3) shops. Everyone says that Japan is ridiculously expensive, and it is in some respects, but I’ve found that if you know where to look you can get very good deals on a great many things. At the 300 yen store there were lovely dishes, accessories, stockings and many other fun things, including very cute, 99% UV protected sunglasses, which I purchased to replace a pair that’s currently missing a screw. When Sakiko and I first entered the store though, we rounded the corner as a small group of middle school girls was leaving the store. One of them looked up at me, stopped in her tracks and made a face (and a noise to match) of complete surprise, which startled me pretty badly. After that it was back home for dinner and some television. This time, it was another jidai geki that I couldn’t understand, this time about the feudal period, but it had Gackt, a Japanese pop-star that I’m rather fond of. I had seen him once before in a movie and thought his acting atrocious, but last night I realized that the over-the-top style of TV period dramas very much suits him.
-The way to tell a real maiko from a tourist dressed up on a ‘maiko experience’ package is their hair. A real maiko always uses her own hair to form the tall hairstyle with the bun on top and the swept back sides, and never a wig of any kind. This also allows you to tell that someone is a maiko even if she is in non-descript dress. With a geisha it is almost impossible to tell, since both real geisha and fake ones wear wigs.
-When you eat cold (or ‘zaru’) soba, take the noodles in your chopsticks and drop them into the bowl of sauce that you are given, to which you can add green onions, wasabi, or whatever else is on the tray.
-When you are done with your noodles, you can ask the waiter for the water that the soba was cooked in to add to your leftover sauce to make a sort of soup.
-Even very attractive lingerie is not as expensive here as it is in the US, especially if you buy sets.