Tetsugaku no michi

As part of our ongoing "hanami" experience, we rode the bus to the northern part of Higashiyama, the Eastern temple district of Kyoto. Here, after lunch in the Japanese equivalent of a diner, we strolled along the tetsugaku no michi, the "Philosopher's Path." This path along a canal is named for Nishida Kitaro, a famous member of the "Kyoto School" of philosophy. Nishida apparently took his daily constitutionals along this scenic path which separates the hills and temples from the bustle of the city. The canal is, of course, lined with cherries. Thus, it was also lined with hundreds of other sakura-watchers.

We ended our day with a hanami picnic on our own neighborhood river path (Takano-gawa). The local supermarket (in the basement of the local department store) has a nice selection of take out sushi, root vegetable salads, Japanese pickles, vegetable croquettes, and other picnic foods (such as chocolate croissants from the adjacent French bakery). I see many picnics in our future. We're on the lookout for bento boxes--individual lunchboxes in which we can pack all our picnic goods. We'll never be short on drinks for our picnics--on just about every block, one can find machines dispensing everything from Georgia canned coffee (hot and cold--my favorite is Emerald Mountain Blend) to one-cup sake and Suntory "Straight" beer, which "cheers the mind."