Day 11: Kyoto - knives
Today we started with our “default Japanese breakfast” which we sometimes shop at one of the many convenience stores (conveniently called “Conbini” in Japanese), consisting of: milk, tea, strawberry yoghurt (in 7/11 in Tokyo we discovered that this had a totally unexpected delicious quality to it, only to find out that other combinis don’t match that level), sausage, cheese and mayonaise.
After breakfast, we left for a bus to Studio Nin where we booked a workshop for forging a “Ninja knife”. The workshop consisted of two parts. First, we made a piece of iron thinner, wider and longer by heating it in the forge and pounding on it with a heavy hammer. This activity brought me in a slightly meditative state: while my hand and arm got tired, I didn’t have any space to think and tried to start feeling what happens with the metal and where to hit it to keep it even. The second part was all about grinding the edges straight and sharpening the knife. Of course, the instructor intervened frequently and corrected the most flagrant mistakes.
After the workshop, we received nice wooden boxes and handles for our knives, and we also got some Japanese character engravings, like real tourists. We were peckish by this time and found a small cafe where we ordered delicios pour-over coffee and even more excellent vegetarian curry. I even succeeded in eating it completely with shopsticks - the skill which I am acquiring only slowly to my great sadness and frustration - if I hold it in the “official” way, I can’t control the direction of the force at all, it seems. I’m waiting for the penny drop, so to speak.
We didn’t really plan this evening, so we decided to take the train to the city center. I’m endeared by Japanese trains crossing city streets with nice moving barriers with flashing red lights, producing a village feel, and I feel inside a Miyazaki movie. This particular train was one single beautiful green car that brought us to the city center.
The city center turned out to be pretty and very lively - many street musicians and still open shops at 8 PM. We walked along the main street, visited some shops, and eventually ended up in a Halal Ramen shop where we had our dinner.
