I live in Japan's seventh biggest city, and anyone will tell you how industrialized Japan is... Of course, Kyoto is kind of special because it was the ancient capital and home of the imperial line for many years. So it has lots of wonderful historical sites. However, the city planners (a.k.a. greedy developers with vested interests ...?) are not wasting any time in encouraging the spread of characterless apartment buildings and shopping malls, concreted waterways, carpark vistas and fume-laden motorways that are typical of modern Japan. I've heard it argued that this is what modern Japanese citizens want. Hmmm.Anyway this post is not meant to be a rant. Japan - Kyoto - is full of wonderful surprises. Let me tell you about some of them. My home is in Yamashina, only one JR stop from Kyoto Station. Yet once I opened my balcony door to find a small monkey walking along the railing. Friends have seen wild pigs on the path along Biwa Canal near here. When I biked along Yamashina River a couple of weeks ago, I saw a family of small animals that looked like otters swimming in the river. I saw turtles too. The nearby rice field is full of frogs. I love how they sound at night! Sometimes I see ferrets. At first I thought they must be pets, but people told me they are wild.
And now I know where to find fireflies in rainy season. Although I've lived in Japan almost seven years, I've only seen one firefly before. But I read that you should look in clean streams the day after rain, so I waited for nightfall, biked to a nearby stream, and followed the other people. Fireflies are so beautiful! Seeing fireflies makes me feel so grateful to be alive, and to be here in Kyoto!
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