Knowing my keen interest in history and culture, Kyoko takes me around the Kyotamba countryside via secondary roads. Our first stop of the day is at Kurotani Japanese Paper Museum in Ayabe. Here 800 years of making traditional washi paper by hand is still alive.

Today the site is closed in preparation for a festival which begins tomorrow; however, Kyoko’s status as the (then) president of the Kyoto ISC and her pleas for her Canadian visitor gains us entry to the site even though we can’t see it in action. Bonus, we see all of it without a crush of people blocking the view. Continue reading →