After a day of sightseeing in Kyoto we went to a kimono rental shop and got dressed up in some beautiful kimono! It was so hard to choose just the right one. You pick the different pieces out separately - the kimono robe, the obi (belt/sash) and the over coat (haori). There are also many layers underneath - the whole thing is quite snug, like a hug around your middle!
I think everyone picked great combinations!
After getting dressed we went to a wonderful restaurant for sukiyaki dinner. It was a little challenging to sit on the floor in the kimono, but we made it work ok!
Here was the first course of our meal - slices of octopus and cucumber in a sweet yellow sauce. I was a bit worried about eating the octopus, but it was not chewy like I expected - it was actually really good!
Next was the main dinner - this woman cooked us sweet beef, onions, mushrooms, tofu and some other vegetables at our table in our own private room. It was delicious!
She cooked with the largest chopsticks I have ever seen! I don't know how she did all this work dressed in a kimono!
To eat the sukiyaki, you dip the cooked foods into a mixed up raw egg. The eggs in Japan are much more delicious than at home! The egg and the cooking sauce mix to make a really tasty flavor on the food.
After dinner we took some more pictures together - here is the back of our kimonos with the obis tied in fancy bows!
With a kimono you wear special sandals called zori and special socks with the big toe separated out called tabi. It was a bit of a strange feeling! Also, the kimono are rather slim through the legs, so walking in them is very slow and careful!
This is a famous theater in Kyoto - all of the signs are of the actor's names!
After we gave our kimono back (which was really sad!) we went to see Kodaiji temple lit up. It was hard to take pictures of, but all of the trees and the building were lit up beautifully! This was a very popular attraction, and it was very crowded!
After spending some time at Kodaiji we went back the ryokan and had a bath that had lemons floating in it! Stephanie and I got a bit of a Japanese speaking and kanji lesson - we stayed up way too late, but we learned a lot! Finally we had to get some sleep so we could finish our sightseeing the next day!
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