Lunch with a Tokugawa

We all woke up a little earlier this morning and caught a train to Kyoto, where we transferred to a local bus. After a short ride we got off at one of the temples which was having their monthly flea market. Misato loves going to these temple markets!

She regretted not buying a goblin rooftop cornerstone which we say during our last trip. And I was still pondering buying a tsuba; something I had intended to buy years ago. The original plan was to purchase one tsuba as a keepsake for each trip to Japan but, being the cheap person that I am, I've never done so.

My wife wrote identical "I'm lost... please help me" notes for Ross and myself. The notes instructed the poor sap who found us wandering aimlessly around the temple market to kindly guide us back to the southern gate. Ross and I contemplated pinning our retard notes onto our shirts but thought better of it.

Not much caught our eye and there were no rooftop goblin faces on sale. There were some nice old muskets and kimono. I saw a nice tsuba with a horse design but walked away from buying. After walking around a bit more I was convinced to go ahead, try to talk the guy down a bit and get it. I did like the design quite a bit and had always wanted to buy one. So I finally purchased it and I am glad that I did so. I really don't care what it is really worth or how rare it is; I simply like the design and am glad that I have bought what I hope will be the first in my collection.

After the market we caught the bus to Gion and met one of her uncles. He is a direct descendant of Tokugawa. We all waited in the lobby of the depaato for my mother-in-law, who finally showed up 30 minutes later. She is probably the only person in the entire country over the age of 5 without a cell phone, or keitai. We really need to get her one.

The lunch we agreed on, at the top of the depaato, was quite good. Ross and I ordered beers but Misato had to sneak sips when her relatives had their backs turned or when they were otherwise preoccupied.

After lunch we all walked to a nearby kissaten and they sat and talked. We walked her uncle to the station then boarded our train for Osaka. We got out at Yodobashi and Misato took her mother to buy a new pair of shoes. Ross and I grabbed another coffee and sat outside until they arrived.

We finally caught the train and walked back to the condo.