Photos of Japan and of Hakata dolls
Jun 12th, 2005, 03:38 PM
#1
Original Poster
Photos of Japan and of Hakata dolls
I posted some photos from my May 2005 trip to Japan at http://www.billk.org along with several photos of my Hakata dolls. See page 1.
I got the female Hakata doll on my first trip to Japan in November 2001. Got the Kabuki actor in May 2005 from the same shop in Hakata.
I would appreciate it if somebody could translate the sign in front of the kimono doll (her name is Yuki) and on the box behind the kabuki doll. Also, the name of the shop that is on the photo of the wrapping paper.
On this trip, I was in Nagasaki on my own. Went to Fukuoka to meet my nephew who flew from Korea. We travelled to Shimonoseki, Hiroshima, and Kyoto. After he returned to Korea, I went on to Hagi and Matsue before flying back to the USA. I definitely enjoy, and prefer, visiting smaller cities in Japan like Hagi and Matsue. There are just too many tourists in Kyoto. Didn't spend enough time in Hagi and want to go back. I think that if I lived in Japan then a good vacation would be to take take a week or so driving along the coast from Tottori to Matsue to Hagi, stopping along the way.
In Kyoto, we went to a restaurant in Gion. It is in one of the old buildings on the street that goes south to Gion Corner. Shows beef on the picture outside. We ordered shabu shabu. During our meal the waitress took the time to point out to me that my nephew has a large nose! Later, she placed the bill on the table. It was for 9300 and change. I picked it up, put a 10,000 yen note on top and offered it to the waitress. She held both together with two hands and said "that is it? all ok?" the point being clear that she was asking if it was ok to keep the change! I was annoyed, but said ok. At that time, my nephew started pulling out a 5000 yen note for his share and she said "Oh, you want to pay more?!". I told her no, and she went away. After thinking it over a second, I caught up with her and told her to bring back the change. I decided that I was not going to be coerced into giving a tip by a rude girl in a country whose people are typically polite and don't tip. That is what I meant in an earlier post about being treated badly and almost being cheated.
At JR Izumo station I was looking at the bus schedule for Izumo Taisha posted at the bus stop. Two Japanese men walked up. One showed me a police badge and asked to see my passport or immigration card. I had read (again) that this might happen and had decided to carry my passport with me as it was a good place to keep my JR Pass. This was 10AM on a Sunday at Izumo ekimae. Without my pp the could have hauled me away and held me for awhile. But he just said thanks and left. I guess I fit a profile.
Funny, at Kinkakuji my nephew got stopped by two different squads of students who wanted to practice English. Each one of the five or six students would ask a different question.
I got the female Hakata doll on my first trip to Japan in November 2001. Got the Kabuki actor in May 2005 from the same shop in Hakata.
I would appreciate it if somebody could translate the sign in front of the kimono doll (her name is Yuki) and on the box behind the kabuki doll. Also, the name of the shop that is on the photo of the wrapping paper.
On this trip, I was in Nagasaki on my own. Went to Fukuoka to meet my nephew who flew from Korea. We travelled to Shimonoseki, Hiroshima, and Kyoto. After he returned to Korea, I went on to Hagi and Matsue before flying back to the USA. I definitely enjoy, and prefer, visiting smaller cities in Japan like Hagi and Matsue. There are just too many tourists in Kyoto. Didn't spend enough time in Hagi and want to go back. I think that if I lived in Japan then a good vacation would be to take take a week or so driving along the coast from Tottori to Matsue to Hagi, stopping along the way.
In Kyoto, we went to a restaurant in Gion. It is in one of the old buildings on the street that goes south to Gion Corner. Shows beef on the picture outside. We ordered shabu shabu. During our meal the waitress took the time to point out to me that my nephew has a large nose! Later, she placed the bill on the table. It was for 9300 and change. I picked it up, put a 10,000 yen note on top and offered it to the waitress. She held both together with two hands and said "that is it? all ok?" the point being clear that she was asking if it was ok to keep the change! I was annoyed, but said ok. At that time, my nephew started pulling out a 5000 yen note for his share and she said "Oh, you want to pay more?!". I told her no, and she went away. After thinking it over a second, I caught up with her and told her to bring back the change. I decided that I was not going to be coerced into giving a tip by a rude girl in a country whose people are typically polite and don't tip. That is what I meant in an earlier post about being treated badly and almost being cheated.
At JR Izumo station I was looking at the bus schedule for Izumo Taisha posted at the bus stop. Two Japanese men walked up. One showed me a police badge and asked to see my passport or immigration card. I had read (again) that this might happen and had decided to carry my passport with me as it was a good place to keep my JR Pass. This was 10AM on a Sunday at Izumo ekimae. Without my pp the could have hauled me away and held me for awhile. But he just said thanks and left. I guess I fit a profile.
Funny, at Kinkakuji my nephew got stopped by two different squads of students who wanted to practice English. Each one of the five or six students would ask a different question.
Jun 12th, 2005, 05:14 PM
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Wow. Profiled in Japan. I also carried my passport and my son's at all times for ID purposes, and I guess that is a good thing in case something happens like what happened to you.
I would have also been very surpirsed at what happened at the restaurant in Gion. I would also have left without tipping because there is no tipping in Japan, and if I would have been ribbed into feeling like I needed to tip, I would have really been irked. What you described is so unlike what we experienced everywhere we went.
There are alot of tourists in Kyoto, but it has alot to offer too. It's a trade off. Next spring my daughter and I want to do a few days of art, textile, and craft projects in Japan, and Kyoto is good for that. She is not much of a small town girl, she doesn't like hiking and rural areas (both of which I love) and wants a city, maybe w/some nice outdoors very close by- and Kyoto offers all of that, plus we can do the many good day trips that combine our interests from Kyoto. So it just depends on what you are looking for, as it always does when it comes to travel.
Looking forward to seeing your dolls when I have time to take a look later.
I would have also been very surpirsed at what happened at the restaurant in Gion. I would also have left without tipping because there is no tipping in Japan, and if I would have been ribbed into feeling like I needed to tip, I would have really been irked. What you described is so unlike what we experienced everywhere we went.
There are alot of tourists in Kyoto, but it has alot to offer too. It's a trade off. Next spring my daughter and I want to do a few days of art, textile, and craft projects in Japan, and Kyoto is good for that. She is not much of a small town girl, she doesn't like hiking and rural areas (both of which I love) and wants a city, maybe w/some nice outdoors very close by- and Kyoto offers all of that, plus we can do the many good day trips that combine our interests from Kyoto. So it just depends on what you are looking for, as it always does when it comes to travel.
Looking forward to seeing your dolls when I have time to take a look later.
Jun 12th, 2005, 08:33 PM
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Your Hakata doll in the kimono is gorgeous! Just a note of caution, though. I've had one for many years, and decided to dust it one day with a damp cloth. To my horror, the eye brow started to smear. I quickly stopped, and haven't tried it since. I didn't realise that the painting had not actually been fired on (having made porcelain dolls myself, I thought this would be the same)
The wooden plaque depicts the name of the doll maker, I think.
The wooden plaque depicts the name of the doll maker, I think.
Jun 13th, 2005, 08:08 AM
#4
Original Poster
Carrabella thanks for the tip, I won't wash her!
emd, of course Kyoto has a lot to offer and it can hold interest for a much longer period of time than smaller places. That is why the tourists are there and why I will go back (esp. to find a nice kyo doll and a Saga doll). As wonderful as they are, there is more to Japan than Tokyo and Kyoto.
emd, of course Kyoto has a lot to offer and it can hold interest for a much longer period of time than smaller places. That is why the tourists are there and why I will go back (esp. to find a nice kyo doll and a Saga doll). As wonderful as they are, there is more to Japan than Tokyo and Kyoto.
Jun 13th, 2005, 09:17 AM
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Nice dolls, mrwunrfl.
The Kabuki doll is called "Kagami-jishi" literally meaning mirror-lion. You put the box upside down but I still can read it. On the upper right is written Kabuki(small 3 characters) - Kagami Jishi (bigger 3 characters).
Hakata doll, I see the title on the small board next to it, "Ran-Man" meaning something like "at Full Bloom" as the cherry blossom is on her kimono.
The smaller characters must say the name of the craft man who made this. Did you name her Yuki yourself? I don't see it on the sign. This came from a shop/maker called Masuya (the first kanji that reads Masu is familiar to me because it is part of my family name.) and their main shop is at Hakata Kami-kawahata shopping street. They have two branch shops at Tenjin underground street & at Hakata Station shopping street.
The Kabuki doll is called "Kagami-jishi" literally meaning mirror-lion. You put the box upside down but I still can read it. On the upper right is written Kabuki(small 3 characters) - Kagami Jishi (bigger 3 characters).
Hakata doll, I see the title on the small board next to it, "Ran-Man" meaning something like "at Full Bloom" as the cherry blossom is on her kimono.
The smaller characters must say the name of the craft man who made this. Did you name her Yuki yourself? I don't see it on the sign. This came from a shop/maker called Masuya (the first kanji that reads Masu is familiar to me because it is part of my family name.) and their main shop is at Hakata Kami-kawahata shopping street. They have two branch shops at Tenjin underground street & at Hakata Station shopping street.
Jun 13th, 2005, 09:24 AM
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> ..The two dolls are very different! ..
emd, that's probably because one is a Kabuki theater character with its heavy typical kabuki make up and costume. On the stage, he swings his head from right to left repeatedly with holding those two tassel (?) of hair in his hands. That's called the dance of mirror-lion.
emd, that's probably because one is a Kabuki theater character with its heavy typical kabuki make up and costume. On the stage, he swings his head from right to left repeatedly with holding those two tassel (?) of hair in his hands. That's called the dance of mirror-lion.
Jun 13th, 2005, 04:27 PM
#8
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Thanks for the translation, kappa. It is easy to see now that I have the box top upside down: the red seal on the kimono doll's sign is at the bottom and that sign can only stand that way. Should have put the box top the same way.
So those are cherry blossoms in her hand. Her hair style and obi bow are not those of a geisha or maiko, I believe, but I don't know if they are of a particular style. But her hair is long so I think she is a young woman and perhaps it is she who is at full bloom.
I saw one doll in the shop and couldn't quite recognize the costume on it, so I asked if it was a daimyo. The lady said "no" (or so I thought). So, I asked her what it was and she said "no". I laughed when I realized that she was telling me it was a Noh actor, but she didn't see the humor.
Got both of them at the Fukuoka Tenjin shop and didn't realize that it was a branch shop. Guess I will have to go back so that I can visit the main shop!
So those are cherry blossoms in her hand. Her hair style and obi bow are not those of a geisha or maiko, I believe, but I don't know if they are of a particular style. But her hair is long so I think she is a young woman and perhaps it is she who is at full bloom.
I saw one doll in the shop and couldn't quite recognize the costume on it, so I asked if it was a daimyo. The lady said "no" (or so I thought). So, I asked her what it was and she said "no". I laughed when I realized that she was telling me it was a Noh actor, but she didn't see the humor.
Got both of them at the Fukuoka Tenjin shop and didn't realize that it was a branch shop. Guess I will have to go back so that I can visit the main shop!
