Saturday 19 April 2014

Novelty / 新鮮

Be it overseas or in your own country, when travelling to a new town for the first time, everything looks fresh. I have my camera in easy reach so I can take photos of the cityscape or anything that catches my eye. But when I have friends or relatives visit me, I am always have difficulty deciding where to take them, especially when they have limited time. Everyone has an image of what to expect from their travel destination. Visitors from abroad take delight in everything they see in Japan, because everything is new to them. That exhilarating feeling of discovery infects me, too, as I show them around. When there are kids in the group, their curiosity is particularly infectious. I start to see things or customs that I take for granted with different eyes, and I feel like a tourist in my own town.

海外でも国内でも初めて旅行する街では、何でもかんでも新鮮です。カメラを抱えて色々な物や風景をパチパチ撮ってしまいます。でも自分の街へ友人が来る時、どこを案内したらいいか結構悩みます。特に見せたい場所が多過ぎる時。もちろん個人個人は既に街のイメージができているでしょう。海外からのお客さんなら、全て新しくて何でも喜びます。案内しているうちに自分も新たに新鮮さを感じます。普通でもある物や風習は、お客さんの目を通じて全て新鮮に見え、自分の街で観光客になった気分でしょう。好奇心いっぱい持っている子供も案内していましたら。

The Japanese version first appeared in the July 2013 issue of the goodspeed monthly newsletter.
日本語バージョンはグッドスピードレター2013年7月号に掲載されました。

Thursday 3 April 2014

Machiya Dining Guide to Kyoto

Long time Kyoto resident, Judith Clancy, released her Kyoto Machiya Restaurant Guide in late 2012. This is an an excellent restaurant guide to Kyoto's more up-market restaurants housed within renovated traditional Kyoto machiya-style townhouses with photographs by Ben Simmons. Options for those on a budget are hidden in between, too. The history of machiya in Kyoto is well detailed, and many facts about each of the buildings are included in each restaurant's write-up.

Every resident of Kansai at least - and anyone visiting Kyoto, for that fact - should buy this and Clancy's Exploring Kyoto. Both are indispensable guides that work well together. Having done a lot of work dealing with Kyoto recently, I appreciate Clancy's work and grasp of Kyoto, its culture and its history even more. If you want to do your friends and family a favour, buy them Kyoto the City of Zen.

Definitely the restaurant guide and the on-foot guide to Kyoto are a must, whether you live in Japan or are just travelling through. Both highly recommended.

Judith will be talking at a machiya restaurant for the Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators (SWET) on May 11, 2014, in Kyoto. Check the web site for more details.

Read an article on the SWET web site about the evolution of the restaurant guide.

Buy the paperback or the Kindle versions here:
Kyoto Machiya Restaurant Guide: Amazon JP, Amazon US
Exploring Kyoto: Amazon JP, Amazon US
Kyoto the City of Zen: Amazon JP, Amazon US