Joanne and Mitch off to Kyoto

We took the Bullet Train to Kyoto.

Sleek and smooth, it took us and our luggage to Kyoto and covered the 283 miles in less than 3 hours.

Our first foray was to visit the Matsuno Shoyu Factory. We walked 6 miles round trip through local neighborhoods.

Established in 1805, it is the oldest soy factory in Kyoto.

We bought the highly touted Ponzu sauce (with Yuzu) and it is great.

Our walk took us through interesting neighborhoods. This house keeps to a small footprint without sacrificing style.

People use their entryway to make artistic statements.

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The next day we paid a visit to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the former palace of the Emperor of Japan. It is a very beautiful complex much of which is painted in the most gorgeous orange red one could ever imagine.

This is the Seiryoden. Originally it was where the Emperor would conduct his own personal affairs. This area contains paintings by the masters of the Tosa School.

The gardens.

We went to dinner at this soba noodle joint. We had to choose which of the many broth choices that were listed on this machine located outside. Mitch dropped coins in the slot and we made our choices.

This man owns a cool button shop, very hard to find in the US.

A young mom approached us for a chance for her older daughter to practice her English. Five years old, she was incredibly fluent.

We paid a visit to Takashimaya, the largest department store in Japan. The basement level is entirely devoted to food. Joanne engaged the bakers in a discussion about sour dough bread.