Living alone // 1 bed Japanese apartment

When people ask me where I'm living this year, and I answer 'in an apartment alone in Kyoto', I still sometimes have to pause to take in that reality. It all happened so quickly. Making the decision to leave the student dorms back in November, finding the new place, the ridiculous Japanese paperwork, sourcing whatever odd bits of furniture I could find on Facebook. 1 month later and I was here, living alone for the first time ever in Japan of all places, and it surprises me how quickly it felt like home.

I always used to like being alone, but during my 2 years at Sussex I think I forgot how to really enjoy it. At university in the UK there tends to be a constant flow of interactions right up until you sleep. In first year I lived in dorms, where we'd walk freely in and out of each others rooms and share a kitchen the size of a bathroom between 12. The year after, I lived in a 7 person student house where we spent every day together; even the most mundane activities like sitting on our phones would be shared. I absolutely adored those 2 years, but I did notice that towards the end being alone felt almost unnatural sometimes.

This meant that coming to Japan was quite a shock - suddenly, I was living somewhere where people meet you with confusion or even hide if you turn up at their doorstep to introduce yourself (yes, I did try that in the first week). At first it felt really horrible to spend most evenings by myself, and I'd sit for hours wondering why I wasn't doing more. But the longer I've been here the more I've become attached to this space which is only for me. It doesn't make me less social, in fact the opposite - living alone pushes me to leave the house and seek activities rather than just staying in the comfort of a few housemates. But I also really really enjoy just being here. It's been a long time since I've loved my own company so much, and the thought of leaving this little nest in August makes me really sad right now. 

Anyway, this post was supposed to be a more light-hearted Japanese apartment tour. Japanese apartments are famous for being teeny tiny, and extremely standardised. They're usually designed for 1 person, so it's quite rare to meet people sharing houses unless it's couple or family. In my experience, students tend to either live alone or with their parents - no 7 bed student houses here. In terms of price, many people think Japan is very expensive. However after living in Brighton for 2 years I can confirm that Kyoto has absolutely nothing on the cost of living there. In fact, I treated myself to a bigger than average apartment in an amazing location just because the rent was STILL £100 (approx 15,000yen) cheaper a month than what I was paying for my falling-apart-covered-in-mould house last year. Brighton has a really big problem. 

So most 1-person apartments here are made up of one bedroom/living space, a kitchenette joined on in the entrance space, and a bathroom. My apartment is special because although it's still classed as a 1 room, the bedroom and kitchen are almost entirely separated. It seems a bit silly to get excited over having (almost) 2 rooms instead of 1, but this is quite luxurious for Japan! 

When you open the door, there is always this little space called a genkan. This is where you take off your shoes before entering the apartment, and yes, it is very important here. At first it annoyed me to no end that I couldn't wear shoes inside if they were clean enough, but I've definitely picked up on the habit now. I have a serious moral struggle whenever I've already put my shoes on to leave the house then realise I've left something in the room.

This is my kitchen area. As mentioned, it's bigger than most 1-room apartments - it's quite common to not even have a surface to chop food on so I'm lucky. But I still have the standard single ring induction cooker and no oven which means lots and lots of 1-pot meals. I have accumulated a ridiculous number of Japanese sauces and flavourings which, as an awful cook, I have no clue how to use. Also a special mention to the rice cooker which is a wonderful invention and I definitely need to invest in one back in the UK. 

So then you come through this archway (which I covered with £2 curtains that are about 10 inches too short) and you're in the bedroom. You might notice a window covered up with aluminium foil, and one covered with an old towel. By the time I'd forked out for the deposit, key money and all the other hidden costs of Japanese apartments, I decided I couldn't afford the luxury of curtains on all the windows.

Considering almost all the furniture was free junk I found on Facebook, I think I've made it quite homely. The bed is 4 futons stacked on top of each other because I'm not Japanese enough yet. Plus it's useful for guests - my closest friends here live in the suburbs so it's useful for them to have a place to stay here. I've got my little coffee table where I always like to have fresh flowers from the market, and where I display my Studio Ghibli magazine even though I can't yet read a word of it. I've got the beginnings of a little Shinto Shrine in the shelves (not really the right place for one but I had limited options). So far it's got the Kamifuda which is the talisman for the gods, candles, and lightning represented by the zig-zag paper. There's also a statue of Jizo who is a Buddhist Deity, and a teeny Totoro, but Shinto is often intermixed with Buddhism and Totoro could be counted as a god of sorts so I'm sure that's fine ^_^ 

And finally, my bathroom. Actually it's so tiny that I couldn't get any angle which photographed it properly, but you get the gist - the sink is just overlapping the bathtub which is about big enough for a 5 year old. You'll find virtually the same bathroom in every 1-man apartment here. I kind of like it because I'm lazy and this set-up means I can brush my teeth in the shower to save time :p. Bathrooms are always wet rooms in Japan, meaning there's a drain for the entire room so it doesn't matter if the water goes everywhere. 

And that concludes it :) I guess it is small, but because I've always been sharing up until now it feels like quite a lot of space to me. I've invested so much time into this place and it really does feel like my first home so I'll miss it a lot, but for now I'm just enjoying my time here.

2 weeks in Cambodia: Siem Reap / Angkor

Our final stop in Cambodia was also it's most famous destination - Siem Reap, home to Angkor Wat (the biggest religious site in the world). We took the 12 hour night bus from Sihanoukville, which involved lying in a coffin-like bunk bed on a giant coach with very questionable safety. Luckily I'm a super heavy sleeper and managed to pass out for most of it, but poor Imogen was throwing up below me for the duration of the journey. At first we thought it was just travel sickness, but after we arrived at the hostel I suddenly had to vomit as well... perhaps the huge meal full of fresh fruit and veg  which we treated ourselves to the night before wasn't such a good idea. 

We were both pretty knocked out for the entire day, only making it out to Siem Riep's night-market late in the evening. The night market and 'Pub Street' are awesome places; as usual, many complain that it's become overcrowded and touristy, but I absolutely loved the vibrancy of it. The market is a haven if you're after the standard SE Asia traveller goods like elephant joggers, but they also have lots of really beautiful handmade stuff. You'll also find tons of street food including insects of all varieties fried and skewered, which we passed on. A lot of tourists (from other parts of Asia in particular) seem to visit only Siem Reap in Cambodia, so this was the city where I saw the most diversity - families, tour groups, people of all ages from all countries. Of course, they all come here for 1 main attraction; Angkor. 

Angkor Wat

Firstly, a note on the price of the place. They increased the ticket cost just a week before we arrived which was really frustrating - from $20 for a 1-day ticket to $37 or about £30. In the scheme of things this isn't too much to see such a vast and important historical site; some castles in England probably cost around £15-20 to enter and Angkor does encompass so many different temples over such a wide area. But one of the main motivations to go travelling in SE Asia is the cheap cost of everything. $37 in Cambodia feels like much more there than it does in England or Japan. It makes me wonder if some young people travelling through that part of the world might be put off altogether, because they'll be thinking about how much else they can get for the same amount of money. Of course, whether that's a bad thing or a good thing is also up for debate.

Anyway, we weren't too deterred and on the advice of some people who had visited already we arrived at the ticket office at about 5pm when they started selling tickets for the following day. This meant we wouldn't have to queue up in the morning when we were rushing to see the sunrise. We could also use the ticket that evening - which happened to be Valentines Day - so we had an accidentally very romantic time watching the sunset at a temple called Pre Rup. Then it was up at about 4am and into a Tuk Tuk the next day for the main event... sunrise at Angkor Wat. 

I had read a lot of conflicting opinions about seeing sunrise at Angkor Wat, the main temple in the ruins of Angkor. A lot of people complain that it's too busy, too loud, it's lost the magic it once had. And I do see where they are coming from. Everyone crams around this one lake with their cameras at the ready. I don't mind this at all, since I want the best view and the good photos as much as any else -can't complain when I'm part of it. However, whilst the vast majority of people wait quietly and respectfully, unfortunately there will always be that small number who have no vocal awareness and ruin the peace and beauty of the moment for everybody else. The sunrise was absolutely stunning and we got some lovely photos but before it had fully risen we broke away from the masses to go and have an explore of the site on our own before it got too crowded.

This was my favourite part of the day. Whilst most people were still waiting by the lake, we spent a half hour or so wandering round the ruins and watching the light cast a gorgeous golden glow over the buildings. We heard monks doing their morning chant somewhere in the forest, and admired all the ridiculous detail that had gone into the temple. 

**History note** 

Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire, which at one point ruled most of South East Asia. So today, Angkor refers to the entire site where the ancient capital used to lie. Angkor Wat is the most famous temple complex on this site, known for its beautiful sunrise silhouette. Angkor Wat is seen as the pinnacle of impressive architecture during the empire, but there are tons of other temples to visit too. They were built at different times throughout the empire and therefore incorporate different styles and elements of society. For example, when the empire started out it followed Hinduism which is reflected in the carvings of Angkor Wat. However in the 12th century the King shifted the state to Mahayana Buddhism (the same branch as Japan), and built Bayon Temple which features Bodhisattva faces. Finally this changed to Theravada Buddhism, which is the prominent religion in Cambodia today. It was really confusing walking round sites with Hindu symbols, Mahayana symbols, and Theravada monks. But I loved how, like Japan, different religions could intertwine here.

After Angkor Wat our Tuk Tuk driver took us to about 5 more temples. There were 2 which really struck out, which unsurprisingly were the other 2 most popular. The first was Bayon, which had these amazing faces carved into all the pillars. The second was Ta Prohm, also built in a Mahayana Buddhist style. This one is famous because it was used as a location in Tomb Raider. Everywhere, there were these ginormous silver trees growing out of the ruins, like something out of Day of the Triffids. They were so imposing and had become so inseparable from the buildings. If it weren't for the huge crowds of people taking photos it would feel very post-apocalyptic. This temple had a really high density of people because there wasn't as much space as Angkor Wat, but it was fantastic anyway and really memorable. 

Bayon

Bayon

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

A female monk (?) giving me a bracelet which will either give me a super long life or kill me if I ever take it off. Thank u

After that we headed back to the hostel, and I was still feeling a bit run down from the day before so we took it easy. On our last night we went to "Phare", a wonderful circus performance in Siem Reap. Although it's a circus, and there were acrobatics and funny parts, it incorporated acting and had a much heavier emotional message than your average circus performance. We watched a story called Sokha, which followed the struggles of a girl who lived through the Khmer Rouge regime and how she came to terms with her grief through a creative outlet. As saddening as the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh were, for me it was equally valuable to see this creative performance by individuals who had actually lived through or grown up with the effects of the Khmer regime. It seems like the circus does amazing things for young people in Cambodia today and I'm really glad we had the chance to see it. 

Then I had the long journey back to Kyoto (somehow it took longer to get back from Cambodia than it does to get back from England) and a few days of peace before my brother and sister arrived! But more on that another time. I'll leave these Cambodia posts with a final foodie photo of the pancakes & smoothie bowl we got on our last day in Siem Riep. I couldn't enjoy it much because I think I'd had more than enough of the Cambodian fruit by then, but it's a good at least.

2 weeks in Cambodia: Sihanoukville / Koh Rong

After the busy streets of Phnom Penh, we moved on to Sihanoukville and a nearby island called Koh Rong. Best known for beaches and partying, this was a completely different experience from the capital. 

We were put off staying on Sihanoukville's main 'Serendipity Beach' after reading one too many blogs saying that it was overcrowded and dirty from all the sewage being dumped there. From walking through, I got the impression that it's main audience were middle aged or old white men who had moved there full time to enjoy retirement in a way that they couldn't back home. Instead of staying there, we got a hostel in an area of the beach lower down called Otres. 

Otres

These areas of Sihanoukville, Otres 1 and Otres 2, are known for being more relaxed, spacious and all round more beautiful than Serendipity Beach. We were greeted by gorgeous white sand, hammocks and swing chairs a-plenty. Attracted by its beauty and it's previously 'untouched' status, there were a ton of young 20-something westerners who had moved there to work in bars and hostels. Hence Sihanoukville's newfound reputation as a party destination. I found Otres really interesting - walking down the beachfront you could pass a luxurious, peaceful bar full of families and couples, then immediately next to it would be one blasting music and filled with hippy travellers either passed out from the night before or getting ready for the next round. It was as if the 2 groups existed entirely independent of one another. Again, Cambodia seemed to be a country full of contrast. From what I can gather it's still relatively new to the whole backpacker phenomenon, and the country is developing and changing so rapidly. I guess areas like this are still in the process of figuring out who their audience is. I get the impression that Sihanoukville is a totally unrecognisable place from how it was 10 or 15 years ago - and I'd be fascinated to go back in another 10 years to see what it has become. 

Anyway, we enjoyed a couple of days here. The sunsets were gorgeous, we slept outdoors right on the beachfront one night (mainly because all the proper hostels were already booked, but still) and cuddled every adorable stray kitten that came our way. What it lacked in history compared with the other destinations it more than made up for in scenery. 

Sleeping outdoors - the mosquito nets look so beautiful in spite of their purpose

Koh Rong

From Serendipity Beach, ferries can take you to a number of small islands off the coast of Cambodia. The most famous of these are Koh Rong and Koh Rong Tao. Koh Rong was the first one to properly be discovered by tourists, but more recently people tend to recommend Koh Rong Tao instead because it's the more untouched island. But, by this point, I had had enough of people's obsession with finding the untouched areas. It's a cycle; a place like Koh Rong is discovered for its natural beauty, travellers flock there and share how great it is, it becomes more developed and therefore loses a bit of the original charm, so they get bored and move on to the next place. This all seems to happen in such a short span of time that it makes you wonder how long we can do it for. I'm not saying development is bad, because thanks to that I've been able to experience the place myself. I just find it silly when people complain about a place becoming too popular when they are actively contributing to it's popularity. Anyway, Koh Rong was easier to get to, had more hostel choices and I didn't care if it was a bit busier. Like Sihanoukville, it was a mix of locals and young backpackers who were either passing through or had decided to settle there and make a living. 

Rather than get a boat tour, we decided to go solo and spent our full day in Koh Rong trekking to the long beach on the other side.  And it was absolutely amazing. The beach was like an image from a postcard, except better... a postcard could never capture the full scale, or the sound of the waves, or how perfect the temperature of the sea was. We walked all the way down, stopping every now and then to admire the view and have a swim, then finally found a beach bar where we could have something to drink. I could have stayed there for days, reading books and watching the tiny white crabs scuttling across the sand. 

Koh Rong main beach

Trekking to the Long Beach

Long Beach

The day passed ridiculously fast and before I knew it we had to head to our ferry pick-up point, since trekking back after sunset would have been a nightmare. The ferry was quite... an experience. I use the term 'ferry' in quite a loose way, since it was basically a fishing boat, filled with drunk travellers who had been doing the whole-day boat tour. As we sat down they turned on a disco light and started blasting Justin Bieber, then, since it was the end of the day, the drivers had fun soaking us for the entire journey. I was conflicted between finding it funny but also being pissed off after having had such a relaxing time, and when Imogen started rummaging around to protect our books from getting wet, it dawned on me that we were basically 80 year old grannies compared to everyone else on the boat. The whole silliness of the situation gave me the giggles for the rest of the journey.

Koh Rong was a fantastic place and I would have loved to have spent more time there. But, with a tight schedule and some very severe sunburn, we caught a night bus to the next destination. Or rather, we missed the night bus because we're both idiots and were too absorbed in our amazing meal, so had to pay a Tuk Tuk to chase after it.

2 weeks in Cambodia: Phnom Penh

It's been a long time since I last wrote a blog post and I have so much to catch up on that it's hard to know where to begin again. The last few months have gone something like this: 

Home to England -> Kyoto for exams -> Cambodia -> Tokyo, Hiroshima & Kyoto -> England again -> settling back into Kyoto for second semester. 

Since I don't really need to write about England, and definitely don't need to write about my exams, Cambodia is the next place to pick up from. I flew down there at the beginning of Spring Break to join my friend Imogen for 2 weeks. I've never been to South East Asia before, and never done the whole travelling/living out of a hostel deal. To tell the truth, I've always been a bit scared of the idea because I have weirdly low energy levels and get exhausted from a weekend away from home let alone months of travelling. But since I was in Asia already, and could pop over relatively easy for just 2 weeks, it felt like a perfect opportunity to get a small taste for it. 

Since I was a newbie and my friend is more of a seasoned traveller I let her do almost all of the organising (very unnatural for me!) and she came up with a schedule for visiting the 3 top destinations in Cambodia - Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, and Siem Reap. 

Phnom Penh:

Monks at the riverside

Part of the Royal Palace

Stupa at the Royal Palace

Veggie spring rolls with peanut butter sauce & vegan sushi

Beginning in Phnom Penh is a hell of a way to start Cambodia. The capital city actually seemed to have quite a bad reputation between other travellers - it's extremely busy, dusty, there's a lot of very visible poverty and it doesn't have the same beautiful scenery as some of Cambodia's other destinations. But, perhaps because I was full of energy and everything was so new to me, I thought it was amazing. Since me and Imogen were arriving separately, my first task was to get a Tuk Tuk from the airport to our hostel. It was the perfect way to get thrown into the hectic city, and I spend a half-terrified half-fascinated hour watching street vendors, people carrying ladders on motorbikes, stray cats and dogs and absolutely 0 road rules. 

Once I had found Imogen and got settled we were free to explore the city for a couple of days. Highlights were spotting Theravada monks everywhere (noticeably different to Japanese monks because of the deep orange robes) and seeing the grounds of the Royal Palace where the King of Cambodia still lives. The difference in wealth between locals and travellers is no more clear than in entry costs for places like the palace - for foreigners, $10, for Cambodians, 4000 riel which is $1. 

My friend is vegan and so I also had the first of many absolutely delicious vegan meals during our stay. Imogen and I both definitely like our food and whilst fancy meals shouldn't really be part of the traveller budget we used the "treat yourself" excuse a few too many times.

Human skulls inside the Stupa at the Killing Fields (not own photo)

A trip to Phnom Penh should include a visit to see the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) about 10 miles outside of the city. This is one of the sites where the communist Khmer Rouge regime, under leader Pol Pot, mass murdered Cambodians back in the 70s (it's estimated that overall, he killed about 20% of the countries population). Pol Pot was a name I had come across before, and I knew that Cambodia had a 'dark history' of some sort, but as always it's hard for these things to sink in until you're made to sit and look at the evidence for yourself. 

The fields have been turned into a Buddhist memorial site, and visitors walk around the mass graves at their own pace whilst listening to an audio guide which tells you exactly what happened. The whole thing was explained in horrific detail but with great sensitivity. What struct me most is just how recent this all was; it's weird to think that my parents were alive and around my age whilst it was all happening. But then again, I suppose my future kids will look back at some of the stuff happening in the world today and find it bizarre that myself and the rest of the world just... kept on going with normal life. I was also sad to learn that, even once the regime itself was displaced, it took so many more years for the people responsible to be properly condemned. Pol Pot himself was allowed to live in comfort, only being sentenced to house arrest 20 years later in 1997, and then dying peacefully a year later.

One more thing which struck me during the visit was the stark separation between tourists and locals. The site was surrounded by a high barbed wire fence, which a child and an old man were begging outside of at one point. Whilst we all walked around plugged into our audio guides, feeling sorry for this poor country with an awful history, we simultaneously ignored the poverty going on literally next to us. It was horribly ironic and I'm still trying to process exactly how I feel about it. Anyway, it's something worth reading more about and definitely an important place to visit whilst you're in Cambodia, since it's still dealing with the consequences today. 

I was originally going to do just one post about Cambodia but I seem to have written more than enough about Phnom Penh alone, so I guess this will be split into 3 parts. Next up, the beaches of Sihanoukville.

An Alternative Tea Ceremony

The tea ceremony is an iconic part of Japanese culture. It's known for its discipline and attention to every tiny detail; where and how the guests sit, the order in which items are served, and even the angle at which you handle the equipment are all important aspects. As you might expect, experiencing a full tea ceremony performed by a professional in Japan would be a pricey event. I assumed that the odd cup of matcha (powdered green tea) in a temple or family home was as close as I was going to get to the real thing, but I was in luck one day!

We were walking down the Kamogawa river near my house when we spotted an old man making tea and chatting with a couple of internationals. It looked like they were having a lot of fun, so after hovering awkwardly nearby trying to build up the courage we finally went and asked what they were up to and if we could join. We were warmly welcomed by the host and spent a nice hour learning about what he was up to so far from the tea houses of Kyoto.

The man who made us tea is called Masahito Tame. He went through all the traditional training to become a tea master, practised with the main organisation (that feels like the wrong word but I'm not sure what else to call it??) but eventually left to find his own way. This is because he has some issues with how the tea ceremony is performed nowadays; he said it has lost some of the original spirit, which emerged around the Kamakura period but was largely established by the monk Zen no Rikkyu in the late Muromachi period. According to Masahito, the life of a tea master should roughly be as follows:

- train strictly under a master for the first 15 years or so

- begin to develop your own style whilst still learning for another 15 years or so

- finally branch off to fully establish your own style

(Some of this might have been lost in translation, he only spoke Japanese so I was relying on a friend to translate. I hope I've got the general pattern right at least!)

Instead, he thinks that tea-masters today keep following the strict rules and never move on to the later stages of experimentation/refining of ones own style. So now he moves around Kamogawa and sets up his own little portable tea house to drink with whoever passes by. He has no fixed schedule, going where he wants when he wants, and there are 'no rules for guests'. He seemed to have a lot of fun making and experimenting with the tea that he served, and we were lucky enough to try 3 rounds of it.

The last 2 rounds were very traditional matcha tea - warm, shared between guests from 1 clay bowl (which he'd sculpted himself) and prepared with a bamboo whisk. But the first round was a special one which he called 'Surprise Tea'. Cold matcha, shaken with ice in a cocktail shaker then poured into these very strange almost pilsner shaped glasses which he pulled out from what looked like a treasure chest. You can see all of the equipment in the photo above. Definitely not a typical part of the tea ceremony. Giving some sort of sweet is part of the ritual (to counteract the bitterness of the tea), so he also served us dried persimmon rolled in soy flour and sesame - I politely ate it even though I'm still kind of fussy about the texture of Japanese sweets. It was a really relaxed atmosphere, and interesting to see how he incorporated his own ideas whilst keeping to the essential structure of the ceremony.

On his Facebook page he calls himself a 'monk and a beggar' - he didn't ask us for any money but of course after such a lovely experience we were more than willing to contribute. Because he's setting up on public property he isn't technically allowed to be there, so he said he sometimes gets moved on by the Kyoto police; frustrating after hours of setting up but I suppose it makes the whole thing more exciting and spontaneous. Luck isn't on my side all the time in Japan, but in terms of stumbling across random events like this I do seem to have very very good fortune.

His Twitter, in case anyone in Kyoto wants to follow where he's planning to be: https://twitter.com/tamemasahito

Demachi Masugata Shotengai // My New Home ^_^

When I moved house almost 2 weeks ago I had no idea know what to expect from my new local area. I knew its location on the map, I knew that it was fairly central in Kyoto, and that was all that mattered to me. Turns out it was a wonderful choice for more than just the location. My favourite thing about living here has been a total surprise; the Demachi shopping arcade just outside my house. 

I think this place is an absolute gem in Kyoto. I pass through it every morning on my way to Kamogawa river, and it feels like I'm being transported back in time. Each shop has its speciality; fruit & veg, tofu, mochi, fish, tempura, beans, all sorts. Instead of heading to the nearest supermarket  for everything I need, I find myself dashing back and forth between the shops buying things one by one and slowly trying to make myself familiar with each one.

Actually, this is a much cheaper way to shop in Japan. For fruit & veg in particular, the supermarkets have unbelievably high standards and only buy/sell the very best products for crazy high prices. I think that this sucks for the farmers, the consumers and the environment. Demachi market on the other hand doesn't have to meet these standards and buys straight from the producers; life suddenly becomes much cheaper, you still get great food, and you're helping to keep the wonderful local community alive. Win win win. 

But aside from the cheaper cost, I just love the atmosphere in this street. The shop-owners are always popping out to chat to each other and recognise many of the faces that go past. I live in Brighton back in the UK which is known for being full of creativity and vibrancy, but I've never experienced anywhere with a community quite like here. I guess lots of places used to be like this, when we didn't have convenience and department stores at our disposal. It's awesome that Demachi market keeps doing what it's doing and I feel very happy to be a small part of it. 

Demachi Shotengai actually inspired the setting for a well-loved Japanese anime called Tamako Market. It follows the adventures of a girl whose family owns a mochi (rice cake) shop there. I'm 2 episodes in, and although it might be aimed at an audience a *little* bit younger than me, it's still really adorable and easy to watch. I love spotting parts which I recognise from real life - you can see below the flag bunting and the 100yen shop which are both real features. 

Anyway, rather than brushing off the anime as childish pop-culture the market seems to have embraced it - you can see little touches everywhere, in particular the hanging posters on the street. Fans of the anime come to the market to see the real-life setting, and in one of my favourite restaurants there's a guestbook with notes and drawings from the visitors. It has given the market a little bit of a celebrity status and the shop-owners seem happy to use that to their advantage.

Some of my favourite shops...

 

1) This fruit and veg shop. 

Anyone who has lived in Japan will know that 280yen for a big bunch of grapes, or 150yen for a bag of 10 carrots is amaaazing. If you haven't lived in Japan then that's really boring information for you, but it makes me very happy. 

2) The 100yen shop. 

100yen is roughly 75p, so it's like Poundland in the UK but even better. It sells stationary, kitchen equipment, household goods, food, decorations, anything you can think of. OK I know this is a huge chain in Japan and not exactly one of the quaint local shops I have been talking about, but as a broke student this place will always have a special place in my heart.

3) The okonomiyaki, takoyaki and taiyaki stands 

These don't 100% count as Demachi Shotengai since they're just outside, but I still consider them part of the street. Okonomiyaki is hard to describe, but it's kind of like a.. fried cabbage potato pancake. It used to be what poor people in Japan ate because it's just a mish-mash of easy ingredients - kind of like bubble and squeak in the UK (potato, cabbage & any other roast dinner leftovers fried together). But then they add things like squid or seaweed to make it more... Japan. Takoyaki is octopus fried in batter. Taiyaki is fish shaped pancakes, usually filled with red-bean paste or custard. I tend to avoid the takoyaki since I still can't get my head around octopus, but if I need a quick and cheap lunch then okonomiyaki and taiyaki do the job perfectly and are only 400 yen together (less than £3 and much better/more filling than a UK meal deal). 

So yes, as you can tell, I love my new area. Obviously my location in relation to Kyoto city was the main selling point but actually, I could stay within the 10 minute radius of my house and probably be happy for the rest of the year. 

This link has loads more information about the history of the market so I'm going to leave it here and come back to read it when I'm not drowning in work and to-do lists:

http://likeafishinwater.com/2014/04/18/demachi-masugata-shotengai/