POTTERY FESTIVAL -August 7th to 10th-

August 7th-10th

Potterry Festival at the cha-wan slope (pottery slope)　in the kiyomize temple area, is held every august in Kyoto.
More than 500stores will be gathered from all area of Japan.

You can get valuable pottery with cheaper price♪
If you wanna get discount from the seller,
say「ONEESAN,KIREIYANE~~」（the compliment for a woman）=「you are soooo beautuful!!」
then say 「MAKETE　MORAEHENKA?(could you please give us a discount?)」

Ayabe Minazuki Matsuri

Hot and Humid summer has come!!
Fireworks blow off this crazy sticky summer in Kyoto!

Ayabe Minazuki festival will have about 4000 of display of fireworks.
Before the fireworks start, they also float paper lanterns. These will decorate Yura river before the fireworks display.

Date:July 30th, 2011
Place:around Yura river
Time:20:00～20:45(fireworks)
Access:JR train from Kyoto station bound for Ayabe.

Map(Japanese)↓↓
http://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/fw0282_map.html

Japanese website for this fireworks fesitival↓↓
http://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/fw0282.html

What is Chimaki ?

Chimaki, usually hanging under the eaves of Kyoto townhouses (Kyo-machiya), is a specific omen of Kyoto.

Originally chimaki was mochi rice cakes, made of rice powder(flour) or arrowroot starch, and they were wrapped in rice reeds or Indian rice leaves. Etimologically, it is said that chimaki derives from two characters- for the Japanese nutmeg plant (chi) and a roll (maki). The leaves of the Japanese nutmeg plant and the Indian rice has a preservative effect and since ancient times were used to wrap rice cakes or rice.

In the same way are used the rice plant leaves for the chimaki omen of Gion festival. However, there is nothing, wrapped inside the chimaki omen, so one must not peel its leaves, because the divine favor dwells inside it.