Day 9 saw us view a bit more of Kyoto before taking another shinkansen up to Kanazawa. Once again, some of us had a very hard time getting out of bed!

Mom was in a great mood after sleeping in late, and paid special attention to all signs and instructions.

For reasons known only to her, she insisted on wearing this eye-searingly ugly shirt from her company.

Why oh why anyone would want to walk around all day looking like a bumblebee on acid? But she did!

Our main target for the morning was a large Shinto shrine. Along the way we passed over a lovely river and I, the eminent naturalist, paused to share some information about the geology of Japan.

Eventually Drew, Dad, and the Bumblebee reached the shrine to discover that it was totally packed with people.

Like all good heathens, we cast some cash into the offering box and swung the massive ropes to ring the shrine bells. This alerts the resident kami to your presence, so they can take stock of your offerings and reward/punish you as necessary.

Another interesting part of the shrine was a smaller out-building with skads of paper lanterns. These are all covered with the names of either the financier or the intended prayer recipient.

After milling around for a bit we headed to Kyoto Station to catch our train to Kanazawa. Along the way Dad sneakily took this photo of a passing hobbit.

Every time I see one of these women I instinctively correct my own posture in horror. Scary stuff!

We had a nice meal of tempura in Kyoto Station. It’s a massive building and has all manner of shops and restaurants.

Late in the evening we finally reached our ryokan in Kanazawa, which had these awesome gold leaf sliding doors.

Kanazawa is internationally famous for its gold leaf artisans, so this was most appropriate.

Exhausted, mom immediately did what she does best!