How the Japanese help!

Hanging in the room of our hotel is an image on fabric I’ve fallen in love with.

I love the graphic quality – only four colours but such a mood created. It reminds me of those old Ozu films.

And best of all – the cat caught in the light.

I asked the concierge about this print and she’s kind enough, not only to research it, but to give me directions – complete with printed map – on how to get to the shop.

There’s one not far away at the Kyoto train station, so we go.

Unfortunately, that particular print is sold out. Disappointed, I ask the sales associate whether there are other locations that might have this print.

Using her translator, she asks me to give her a few minutes. This print doesn’t cost more than $15 USD, yet, she spends close to twenty minutes on the phone trying to locate it for me. I’m overwhelmed and touched by the extent to which she’s trying to help.

I feel so badly, I want to ask her to stop but I also am cognizant of the amount of time she’s already put into this endeavor so I wait.

She finally tells me that there is a shop in Uji that has one single print left. She’s apologetic, though. Uji is far away. It’s about twenty minutes by train, she says. I tell her I’ll go. She takes my name and tells me they’ll keep it for a day.

That was yesterday.

I start the day with my first real Japanese breakfast.

We set out for Uji.

Uji seems like a lovely place. A river flows by just as travellers step out of the train station.

The shop, we discover, isn’t far from the train station and the print is waiting at the counter with my name on it.

The sales associate is touched that I’ve shown up for the item so much so that she gives me a gift – a beautiful illustrated copy of the shop’s 400 year history.

We walk around for a while.

Uji is known for its matcha and even in this little place, there are many tourists eating matcha mochi, matcha ice-cream, matcha cakes and nibbling on crunchy matcha snacks.

It’s a matcha world, here.

On a quieter street we discover a beautiful, peaceful tea shop where they roast and package their own tea.

Very little demarcates the store – just a simple circular sign and a menu on a clipboard.

Inside, we meet three people – one of whom is from Spain.

After working with coffee in Europe, he decided to come to Japan, arriving just before everything came to a crashing halt during the pandemic. Unable to leave, he stayed and chose to learn the language.

Now he works on a tea plantation and in this shop learning the roasting process. He loves what he does and it’s apparent.

They make us two cups of tea – matcha and genmaicha. The water is boiled in this beautiful kettle on a traditional burner.

So lovely to have made another discovery stepping off the very beaten path.

As we leave, they stand at the door to wave goodbye as is the custom in smaller shops here.

The fall colours seem more vibrant in Uji even though it’s further south than where I’ve been staying.

We head back north glad to have had this day.

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