Indigo and Village of Miyama

So I just received more indigo prints yesterday (pics coming later) so here are some indigo images I meant to share a while ago...

The images were taken inside this rustic studio located in a rural village of Miyama, about an hour and half outside the city of Kyoto, Japan.  I visited there last Thanksgiving.  Yep, I missed to post about the trip, but while you guys were eating turkeys, we were eating sushi, really :-)  It was a very short trip and mostly to take care of some family businesses but we managed to take a day trip to this beautiful green village.  Shame on me, I had never visited there when I was living in Kyoto.  It was packed with history, and it was simply beautiful! 

About the half of the houses in this village were 300-400 years old, and the village itself has been designated as a national historic preservation...

The village is nationally known for thatched roof houses, and currently 29 out of 68 houses still are keeping its traditional style roof.  I heard that it is costly and needs a lot of work to take care of that, but the village is doing an excellent job to keep its national treasure...

Each house usually consists of a few compounds...

In the old days this area was abundant with those fuzzy plants (on the left hand side in the photo), a material for the roof.  But, nowadays it is hard to collect enough to replace one roof...

When the roof starts to grow moss, it is time to replace it with new thatching...

These pictures in the museum show how to replace it.  As with any traditional artwork,  there are fewer and fewer artisans who will pass this skill on to the next generation...

Every household is required by a law to own a fire hose gun extinguisher in the yard.  Once a year, they hose the roof to wet it in order to prevent a fire...

One house is open to the public as a museum (a little fee required and an English pamphlet available).  An inside view of the roof.  No nails have been used...

A few steps inside the front door is the kitchen...

The living room area.  Serve yourself a cup of tea after the tour...

The boy is sitting in the living room, and behind him is a dinning room or second living space, I suppose...

The bathtub...

As always, people were shorter in the old days...

A urinal, located outside...

Yeah, you guessed it right.  One of the most primitive toilets in the world.  The huge barrel is placed under the square hole.  Do not worry, these parts are not original :-)  They have been reproduced for the museum.  The museum is full of antiques from the Edo Period which ran from 1602 - 1868.  I got so excited to see some letters signed the date of that era...

Japan has a television show just like "Antiques Roadshow."  I wonder how much they are worth :-)

Every household grows vegetables in their yard...

And they sell their produce at an unattended roadside kiosk.  You pick what you want and put some change in a can.  They trust you :-)  Those daikons were $1 per pair.  We bought the pair and ate it as a salad...

The farmers market is open all day long...

The locals operate a food stand.  My dad and the boy were in the crowd buying some croquettes.  Perfect snacks...

The village's rich history, culture, and rustic settings are obviously attracting a lot of people. This small village is a big success in building a self-sustaining community...

A group of people sketching and painting the landscape...

Arts and crafts are part of the village life.  A ceramic exhibition was going on...

This is where we had lunch.  Soba noodles in a hundred year old house...

Everything in this village was retro :-)  Mail boxes in Japan look pretty much like the ones in the States, but this village has an old style...

As every other city, town, and village, there is always Jizo to watch over folks.  I feel humble everytime I see it...

It was November, and there were signs of fall everywhere in the village...

I just loved this huge pot with orange branches...

So we enjoyed the very slow peaceful day.  It was a bit early for the fall leaves, but imagine these mountains in red, yellow, and orange.  It would be gorgeous.  So if you have a chance to visit Kyoto, I highly recommend this village.