Something to Declare

Kyoto, May 15, 2026

The Ace Hotel, Kyoto, is fantastic. As noted in prior post, this was the site of the former Kyoto Central Telephone Office Building:

Completed in 1926, it is a landmark heritage building desiged by Tetsuro Yoshida, a pioneer of modern Japanese architecture. Of course, that was then. This is now.

Okay, Friday, May 15. The day began with a visit to the farming village of Ohara, north of central Kyoto. FYI, the name comes from the combinations of the Japanese words, “O” (“great”), and “hara” (“field”).  Nothing to do with the familiar Irish surname. We shopped in the community market, where the produce looked gorgeous, despite the fact that almost all items were wrapped in plastic.

They do a lot of cellophane plastic wrapping in Japan. Health and safety? Preservation? A love of plastic? Dunno.

After admiring the produce, we walked to Ohara Kobo, a farm and dye workshop, where we donned “aprons” and rubber boots. Then, we were instructed in dyeing our own cotton and linen scarves in local vegetable dyes, including from the indigo they grow there.

It was also a time for a school (preschool?) visit by local kiddies; amusing to note the juxtaposition of toddlers learning to tie-dye with our geriatric tour group learning to tie-dye! :

From there, a walk through the prosperous town of Ohara……

…including views of local irisis and orchids…..

….past terraced rice paddies….

….to lunch at Wappado, in a renovated farmhouse (over 140 years old). We had a rustic meal of local farmers’ produce. The biggest crowd pleaser was the “pizza” (below, middle left) on the thinnest of crusts, with blue cheese and honey.

The chef, Satoshe Hasoe, was kind enough to give a brief talk on the history of the restaurant and the making of the dishes.

Tomorrow’s schedule includes a visit to a tea plantation, which Stef and I intend to skip. Instead, we’ll play hooky, do some shopping, and generally take it easy. We will end the day with dinner at Il Ghiottone, a Japanese-influenced Italian restaurant.