Daimonji

Maia asleep Tenkadori
Originally uploaded by sarahfrederick1

Last night was Daimonji, one of the major summer events in Kyoto. It being very hot and having small children we played like locals and laid low, watching the fires on local TV. Before tall buildings were allowed in Kyoto (more about this later no doubt - it's a major issue for our neighborhood), you probably could have seen these patterned fires on the mountainsides from our street corner. But now we would have to brave some big crowds or pay a premium to watch from a high-rise hotel. Instead we had a nice meal at a nearby high-end yakitori place, which was really delicious. One usually thinks of fish quality with Japan, but all the chicken is of superior quality too, young and sweet smelling. We had grilled wings, thighs, tail (very yummy but bad for you), gizzards (surprisingly tender and yummy as prepared), grilled shiitake, tiny green peppers, and pork wrapped asparagus. This was at Tenkadori which turns out to be a chain from Yokohama, but the staff was very friendly and created a neighborhood restaurant feel. One of the waitresses gave Sam an edamame key chain - you can pop the beans out from the shell as when eating this favorite food of his.

Maia was dressed festively for Daimonji (well, she I guess she is wearing this new cute outfit in most of the photos so far) and had a nice nap at the restaurant.