Japanorama

Japan in my panorama shots. All shot with my phone so sometimes there is a ghastly mist in them or people are missing their heads..
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My favorite Kyoto

It has been a while since I wrote a blog about life in Japan outside of my university. I have been so busy that I didn't do any big adventurous stuff, except for my solo trip to Kurashiki and the Seto inland sea islands which I will write a separate blog post for.
I want to share here some pictures that I took while out and about in and around Kyoto, places of which I took snapshots, some because they just looked nice, other because I don't want to ever forget them. My favorite places in and around Kyoto.

Seika classes: making an Uchiwa (nihonga)

In my last post about my Nihonga class which you can read here <click I wrote that we made a fan.
Or at least I thought that the piece of paper we worked on would be made into a fan with the wood and all later.
But no! It was a try-out for the actually thing this last week.

Seika classes EXTRA: Paper making saturdays

 A month or 2 ago I learned about the amazing opportunity to follow extra, specialized classes on the Saturdays and as Seika student you payed way less than outsiders, who can also follow these classes making them a pleasant mix of old and young, student and non-student.
I really wanted to take some extra class to learn a new technique, so I picked up the "Assembly hour & garden" brochure. I have no clue why it has such a strange name, we are not in a garden and the classes take about 4 hours for 5 Saturdays.
Anyway, going through their brochure there were options such a making your own bento box out of glass, Japanese scroll making, rap music class, machine sewing and, my personal pick, paper making!
I have always wanted to know how to make my own paper as my main way of making work is print making and sometimes finding the right paper for pressing my prints on and for what you envision is horrible, especially in NL (Japan is paper heaven!)

Seika classes: Etching

As one of my optional classes I picked etching class for the friday.
I got to choose between Visual Media and Etching, but chose etching in the end because I love making prints and because I had never done copper plate printing before and it is something I can do back in NL too.
At the beginning of my first class I got a sheet with the semester overview, painstakingly translated by my etching teacher who I found out is very keen on learning English.

Every 3 weeks we got to learn a new etching technique and after that for each technique 2 weeks to experiment with it. I total I will be learning 4 new techniques. As I am writing this I have learned 3 already and this coming friday will be the fourth and final technique.

Seika Open Campus.

Yesterday, on sunday June 8th, Seika held an open campus for future students.
Most people visiting were highschool students with their parents. Surprisingly enough most of the highschool students were girls.
There were alot of festivities and every faculty showed their best works.
Workshops were also given for free throughout the whole campus like textile dying, screenprinting and etching.

Seika classes: Illustration, making a picturebook

The final assignment given to us for the end of the semester was to make a 14 page picture book with a dust jacket around it. The theme for the picturebook was Little Red Riding Hood, the theme we worked on last assignment. But seeing we had the freedom to do anything with the story made me decide to turn it into a new story with the only relation being the color red.
I wrote a new story based on Japanese traditional culture and folklore.

Seika Classes: Nihonga, The art of Japanese painting

At the start of my time at Seika I got to choose my own classes, a wonderful privilege. For the monday I had the option to choose from either Screenprinting, which I love but already done. Or Nihonga, the art of Japanese painting. I asked Oha-san to explain the course to me. He said "you will be preparing your own pigments and will use them to paint animals and flowers which you will study, then in the last few weeks you will learn how to work with gold leaf and you will make your own Japanese fan.
This sounded so interesting I right away dropped the thought of screen printing, I wanted to learn this old Japanese painting technique, because that is what I came here for, to learn new techniques and skills.

Seika Classes: Illustration, the Little Red Riding-hood assignment

The assignment:

In the third week after my arrival in Japan I finally started my illustration class assignment. We were given the assignment to make a picturebook image for the story of the classic Grimm story “Little Red Riding-hood”.

Aoi Matsuri

On May 15th I was insane enough to wake up at 6:00 and to actually be sitting on a little blanket with sandwich in hand at 8:00 on the front-row in the Imperial Palace garden.
Why would I do such a thing on my free thursday you ask? Because I had been told 1 out of the top 3 festivals in Kyoto would start there at 10:30, the Aoi Matsuri. And to have the best view you HAD to be there at 8...
There was in the end so it seemed, no need to be there at 8 as there were still loads of front-row spots left around 10am.

Kaiten sushi, deliciousness on a conveyorbelt and PuriKura!

It has been a little while back but still fresh in my memory, kaiten sushi!
On april 14th  Miku (my lovely Japan<>Oranda exchange friend) and her friends invited me to go for kaiten sushi, which is sushi that comes by on a conveyor belt as if you were waiting for your luggage at the airport, only this time tasty luggage.
Me and most of the exchange students went out to meet up with Miku and her friends at Kokusaikaikan station and from there we traveled to Nijo.The sushi place was a short walk from the station!

Inside: Kyoto Seika University

I didn't have any expectations of Kyoto Seika before I went to Japan, which was good for a chance, mostly I have high expectations and everything turns out to be less than that.

But I can sum up my thoughts about Kyoto Seika University in a few words: Never. Want. To. Go. Back.

This uni is in one word amazing. The architecture is fresh and calming (to me at least) and the whole university is surrounded by greenery and forest which make the air smell fresh here up in the mountains, far away from all the traffic.

There are two way of getting in to Seika. By going down the main road and up to the front where you can park your bikes and where the free shuttle schoolbuses come and go. 

And there is this wonderful route through the woods that leads you straight in the back alleys of the small town around Seika and up into a climb through the forest, entering Seika at the back.

Going down the path from Seika into the forest

A lovely sunday, Arashiyama.

On Sunday me, Jesse (London) and Jane (Australia) took off at 10:30 to Arashiyama.

Shoe lockers where you change from slippers into shoes when going out.

Arashiyama is a little village west of Kyoto city, it took us about 30 min to get there from our dorm.
I went there once already back in 2010 but seeing it is absolutely my favorite part of Kyoto I didn't mind going again.
Arashiyama is famous for it's bamboo forest and bridge that crosses a big river.

School days

So the last time I wrote on here was sunday and I told you how very excited I was for my first day at school.
Well, that turned out differently. I went there on monday, all ready and excited. I had dutch cookies in my bag to share with my new classmates. But I came there only to hear that today was no classes and I would meet my supervisor/tutor the next day.
A bit bummed out I walked around the university a bit and went for a short cycle around the neighbourhood of the uni.

My wonderful blue bike really brightens up the already beautiful scenery.

Biking mice from Kyoto

Hi everyone! Good to have you here.

Some people have been asking me why I am not writing in Dutch. It is simply because in English is easier to express myself, I rather read English books than Dutch books. Also at the moment I am being surrounded by people who only talk english so I even think my thoughts in english. It is just easier for me.

Sometimes I will be translating text into Dutch but with lots of writing it take alot of time. So sorry guys but it will be mainly in English. But if you are really having trouble just use google translate.

Also there seems to be a problem with people using an iPad who want to post a comment. I have no idea what is causing this, it seems to be only the problem with ipad. I will look into a solution!

Thursday and friday I had to be at the uni for a tour around the complex, getting insurance and have my Japanese language level check.

The check wasn't really a test, it was a little conversation with the very sweet and patient Japanese teacher. She spoke English and Japanese with you to see how your level was and we talked about goals. I have to start working on my writing and reading for now.

The university is HUGE and I don't want to go back to my own school anymore because this is place is just amazing. The art shop is big and have everything imaginable, every faculty has it's own huge building on the uni grounds, we are surrounded by forests AND the most important thing: the cafeteria. The cafeteria has amazing, delicious and most of all big dishes, side dishes and desserts. I had a big plate of rice with deep fried delicious pork cutlet ontop with a nice savoury sauce... and it cost 230yen which is like 2 euros. This cafeteria is just amazing where you can get all the free green tea you can drink.

I will post some pictures and tell little stories with them now because it is late and I have my first day of school tomorrow!

Some of the lovely exchange student. This is such a great group of people!

The first days

Yes I should have giving this title more thought, because eventhough it sums up the coming content very well, is it very poor. Excuse me I am still experiencing jetlag.
It could have been worse, last time going to Japan and leaving from Japan I was experiencing heavy migraines and was feeling sick to the bone.

This time around I had a very funny, slightly crazy british guy living in Kyoto next to me on the plane who amused me greatly.

About the name: A Kitsune Udon

Dutch text starts beneath the picture

Already a few people have been asking me what my blog name 'a Kitsune Udon' means.
First off, Kitsune Udon is a dashi based soup with Udon noodles in it and as you might have guessed it is a Japanese soup.
Udon are thick wheat flour noodles, unlike ramen noodles which are thin and more well known in the western world. 

The kitsune part in this soup are deep fried, triangular (though sometimes rectangular) pieces of thin sliced tofu, called aburaage .
Now the triangular part is important, they represent fox ears, because Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. And seeing my familyname (de Vos) in Dutch means the Fox the circle is complete.. oh and of course I am also crazy about the soup itself ;) Very delicious. But you can wake me up for any type of udon soup anytime.

So that is what the name is all about. The 'A' in the blog title actually refers to me, I am A Kitsune in the Udon, the big soup which represents Japan and Japanese culture.
You can see in the blog's headbanner I illustrated the little fox "ears" pointing out from the hot soup, curious about the island of rice, karaoke and Udon she finds herself on.

Kitsune Udon, photo via Tumblr

Een paar mensen hebben al aan me gevraagd wat de naam van mijn blog betekend.
Kitsune Udon is een Japanese soep op basis van dashi vis boullion met dikke Udon tarwe noodles erin.
Het Kitsune gedeelte in de naam van deze soep zijn driehoekige (heel soms rechthoekige) diep gefrituurde, zoete tofu plakken, aburaage genaamd.
Het feit dat deze plakken driehoekig zijn verwijst naar de oren van vossen, want Kitsune betekent vos in het Japans. Nu is toevallig mijn achternaam de Vos EN ik ben helemaal gek op udon noodle soepen!

Dat betekent de blog naam dus. De 'A' voor Kitsune Udon verwijst naar mij, ik ben A kitsune in de udon soep, de grote soep die staat voor Japan en de Japanese cultuur.
In de banner bovenaan dit blog zie je de illustratie die ik heb gemaakt van een kom udon soep waar twee vossen oortjes boven de hete soep uitsteken, nieuwsgierig naar het land van rijst, karaoke en udon soep waar zij zichzelf bevindt.

Pre-arrival thoughts

Being in Japan for the first time back in 2010 was amazing, everything was new, weird and beautiful. I was there alone for a month so had no one to care about, just do whatever I wanted.
I am sure living there for 4 months will be just as wonderful and although I predict studying at the Kyoto Seika will be keeping me busy enough I do not plan on being much of a tourist.
Not really going sightseeing but running into the wonderful while going about my daily life in Kyoto.
Of course I do plan on making trips to cities I have never been before like Kurashiki, a city that has captured my attention online about 9 years ago. I didn't visit during the first trip because it seemed less important back then, but now it feels like I have enough time to visit little cities like those.
I am also really looking forward to seeing some nice and quiet countrysides. With little thatched roof houses, selling local veggies and goods with a cute little obaa-chan (granny) watching the front, taking naps on a chair in the shade.
Actually my dream is to live on the Japanese countryside in a small wooden house with my backyard being a field of sunflowers, stretching out as far as the eye can see.

This time being in Japan is also the first time I will be cooking for myself in a foreign country, seeing I went out for my breakfast, lunch and dinner back in 2010 this will prove to be a new challenge. I wasn't raised in a kitchen and never had a big affinity for cooking. But I do really look forward to try and cook Japanese food for myself, getting fresh products on the Nishiki market in the center Kyoto... probably ending up making something totally wrong.

One of the things I am looking forward to aswell is the Hanami which is viewing the beautiful dazzling pink cherry blossom. In Japan you do this with friends in a park on a blue tarp with lots of delicious food and sake there to enjoy while viewing. I have already been invited to do this by my dear friend Miku who I met here in The Netherlands while she was an exchange student at my art academy.
Actually there are sooo many things I am looking forward to and also many things I am not looking forward to so much, but I will eleborate once settle in Kyoto.

I am most likely going to miss my boyfriend, whom I live together with, like mad. But I am curious to see how long those 4 month really are when you are studying in a country like Japan.
Hopefully you will be reading alongside with me as I will try to update daily on this blog about my life in Japan!

-Love
Evita

Cherry blossom in Ueno park, Tokyo, 2010

Evita dreams of sushi

During my first trip to Japan I didn't eat any sushi, actually I didn't want to eat any sushi.
The frightening thought of raw fish and scarily, strange ingredients on a piece of rice being served to me by a stern looking, well trained sushi chef, looking at me while I eat. You see as a child I had the annoying habit of choking on things I would find disgusting or pieces of food that are too big to chew, making a big scene of gagging up the food with a red and teary face. That image of myself still in the back of my mind sushi was something I had to train myself in eating back in the Netherlands, preferably with someone.

Also just eating alone was something I had to overcome. Luckily I came across the nicest places to eat during my first few days which relaxed me and made me feel settled with the whole eat-all-by-myseeeeelf (insert that song tune here) thing.
Of course I came across many places where I was in between solitary salarymen(the japanese business men) eating away at their ramen noodles. Other times I was sitting in a populair okonomiyaki place (a japanese styled mix between pizza and pancake being baked on a hot plate infront of you) being surrounded by groups of friends and family. I never minded and enjoyed my surrounding.
Sometimes I came across and ate with other travelers or was invited by local people to eat with them, but never have I eaten sushi once during that month..
But now, during the 4 years inbetween I ate so many sushi I consider myself quite the expert... no not really, but I can see the difference between lean and fatty tuna and being able to taste if I am eating good or cheap sushi.
I can't wait to try kaiten sushi, which is basically sushi going round and round past you on a small conveyor belt, just for fun. And I would love to eat a piece of sushi at Sukiyabashi Jiro, the sushi restaurant of grand master Ono Jiro, but for that you need to place a reservation almost half a year in advance.
His beautiful work and thoughts are captured in the wonderful documentary "Jiro dreams of Sushi", I certainly recommend watching it.

All this writing about sushi has made me mighty hungry.
I think I will now fully embrace a new sushi experience while in Kyoto!

sushi training with my boyfriend

Looking back

It seems like ages ago but it has only been 4 years. My solo trip through Japan the whole month of March back in 2010.
During that month I chose Tokyo as my base for 3 weeks and Kyoto for 1 week, from those two cities I explored around. Being alone I didn't feel much like doing a backpackers trip. I dragged a large suitcase behind me with way too many unnecessities and kept on buying many things I didn't really need either but really wanted any way.
I never got lost, miraculously, except for my first night in Kyoto. I remember having full conversations with grandmothers in the shinkansen, while now I hardly speak Japanese anymore and my conversation skills have dropped significantly. Somehow I got by extremely easily all by myself in Japan, so I am not worried about the 4 months in Kyoto.
I could write down many stories and crazy anecdotes about just that 1 month in Japan, but I already did that once, all in dutch which you can find here:
http://evitadevos.waarbenjij.nu/reisverslagen/238850/solo-reis-japan/1

-Chuu-
Evita