Hiiragiya Bekkan

Pictures: 1-6: Hallways in my room. 7-15: Detail of the main chamber. (Note: picture 14 shows the make-up area) 16-22: Some pictures of my garden.

April 1, continued: Now my story moves into slow mo. (For any readers who already feel I've been moving in slow mo, too bad. Some of these blog posts...just for me.) Kentaro, Fumi-san, and I have just arrived in Kyoto and landed at the most beautiful hotel I've ever seen; the Hiiragiya Bekkan.

I was so enthralled that I left a few lights on when I slept, and woke up off and on, all night long just to exclaim "This is really my room!" I felt like Japanese royalty. We even had our own caretaker (I hesitate to call her a "maid," as she wore a kimono and was far more versed in the art of service than a simple maid).

Within my little apartment, there was a hallway, outside of which was a breathtaking garden. The hallway was L-shaped, with a small sitting area on one side, as well as a sink and at the end, the toilet area with the traditional toilet slippers. Only the toilet in this setting was modern, with the heated seat and many buttons I have grown to love.

In the main chamber, covered in tatami mats (which have the most wonderful smell), there was a low table with a cushion and one wooden arm rest. There was an area of beauty, containing a flower arrangement and a scroll, which used to be traditional in Japanese households but due to space considerations, no longer is. I forget the name of this area, but perhaps my friends will email me and help me out with that.

Everything such as closet and bedding area was hidden behind ornate doors decorated with beautiful, hand-carved wood (or maybe God did the carving, it's hard to say). And everywhere, shoji screens created the air of traditional Japanese serenity. These were the kinds of screens I wanted for my home office. They slid back and forth to create, or not, walls. Given the constraints of American homes, however, I had to settle for a stationary six-panel shoji screen.

The garden was meticulously arranged for beauty, complete with stepping stones, ancient lanterns, and carved frogs and turtles to complement the exquisite landscaping. I believe the pictures will really tell the story better than I.

With this post I am including pictures of my rooms. I notice that "somebody" went a little crazy with the picture-taking here. I was going to add some pics my friends had taken, but given that the ones I've already uploaded are printing in a vertical, single-file fashion, I will add the others in my next post along with Fumi-san's pictures of our lovely, nine-course meal. She is far better equipped to talk about the food, and hopefully one day she will. I was content merely to eat, and enjoy. Nevertheless, the presentation was beautiful, so I think you will enjoy seeing it.