Day 12: Gion Festival, Fushimi Inari

みなさん、こんにちは！

ハッピーウェンズデー！

Hello everyone!

Happy Wednesday!

日本旅行の11日目は祇園祭を見て伏見稲荷へ。

On the 12th day of our Japan Trip, we went to Gion Festival and Fushimi Inari!

ずーっと生で見てみたかった祇園祭。滞在した期間と山鉾の巡行がちょうど重なったのでこれは逃すまいと少し早めに旅館を出て中心地へ向かいます。大通りへ行くも、早くから最前列をカメラマンや観光客に陣取られていて、自分たちが見るスポットの確保が大変。

Gion Matsuri (Gion Festival) is one of the biggest events that I’ve always wanted to see (it lasts 1 month!). Luckily, when we stayed in Kyoto it was exactly the month of the event! We left our hotel a bit earlier not to miss it. By the time we arrived, however, all the good spots had been already taken by amateur photographers and tourists so it was really hard to find ours.

やっと定位置が出来たところでちょうど行列が目の前を通りました。子どもたちを乗せたでっかい鉾を男たちが運ぶ姿に一緒に来ていたスペイン人の家族はかなり興味津々。９時半くらいから見始めて、２時間くらいそこにいたと思います。あの行列をただ眺めているだけでも十分楽しめるんですが、正直それぞれの鉾にどんな意味があるのかなどもっと下調べをしておけばもっと楽しめただろうなと反省…

As soon as we finally got our spot, one section of the parade passed in front of us. Watching men bringing the huge Hoko (the floats), my Spanish family seemed to be very interested. We stayed there for like two hours since 9:30 am. Although you can enjoy just watching the parade, it would’ve been even more interesting if I had done some research around meanings of each Hoko etc, to be honest...

行列はまだ来てたんですが、時間もなかったので次の目的地に向かいました。電車に揺られること２０分弱。着いたのは伏見稲荷大社。屋台や地元のお店が並ぶ通りを抜けるとそこにはパッキリした赤が特徴的な神社が。少し上がって行くと、かの有名な鳥居がビッシリ並びます。ここもやっぱり、嵐山の竹林と同じく観光客でいっぱい。鳥居を抜けるとあたりを散歩できる結構長いトレイルコースもあるのでハイキングもできますよ。

The parade was still coming, but as the time was running out, we moved on. Around 20 minutes by train from the centre, the next destination was Fushimi Inari Shrine. After a street full of local shops, there’s a shrine in vivid red. Walking up to the back, you will see the famous Torii (Red gates). As expected, the place was full of tourists like in Arashiyama (bamboo forest)… After passing the Torii, you can enjoy a walk along trail routes that are perfect for hiking.

猛暑の中歩き回ったらみんなバテてしまったので中心地に戻りました。お昼ご飯を食べてなかったのでお腹ペコペコだったので先斗町手前にある和風パスタのお店へ。スペイン人家族初めての和風パスタでしたが、すごく気に入ったようで良かったです！

As we walked a long way in the heat, we got exhausted and went back to the city centre. On our way back we stopped by a Japanese style pasta restaurant just before Pontocho and filled our stomach. It was my Spanish family’s first time to try such type of pasta, but they liked it a lot :)

次はどこに行くのでしょう！

お楽しみに！

Wondering where we went next?

Find it out!

つづく

To be continued

れ

R