October 5, 2008,ETC-Japan team Kunjel Chawda, Heejun Kim, Sean Kelly and Michelle Macau set out on a rainy Sunday with Japanese-language sensai, Masako Terahara, and ETC-JP cheerleader and interpreter, Kayo Ikeda.

The journey was to Arashiyama area of Kyoto to visit Nintendo’s Shigure-den Museum, Tenru-ji Temple, enjoy a Zen lunch, ride the Sagano Scenic Railway and experience the rapids of Hozugawa River.

Arashiyama is a lovely town in the mountains of eastern Kyoto. The Shigure-den Museum was funded by Nintendo to honor the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, an anthology of poetry, containing one hundred waka (classical Japanese poems, each by a different poet. The waka were put on “poem cards” and a game was created which continues to be played today in elementary school. Nintendo began to produce and market card games in 1889.

Very formal and traditional, the museum has several digital interactive games for guests to enjoy. Using a DS, there is a navigational tour of central Kyoto where the guests are guided to specific sights and a matching game with giant Karuta game (card game) where the paintings of the poets appear and the guest matches with the corresponding picture that appears on the DS. Additional Karuta games puts the guest in competition with a digital master and there’s a task solving game called “The Sunken Well of Charade”

Then on to Tenryu-ji (Heavenly (ten) Dragon (ryu) Temple (ji), a UNESCO world heritage site with a beautiful surrounding garden. This Zen temple has a restaurant where we experienced tenzo a special feast prepared by professional chefs. The various dishes served are strictly vegetarian allowing ETC’er Kunjel Chawda to enjoy her meal without fear of eating animal flesh, eggs or fish broth.Then we headed to the Sagano Scenic Railway on a beautiful scenic ride in the Arashiyama Mountains.

Due to the rain, we were unable to enjoy the boat trip down the Hozugawa River instead opting to go into central Kyoto, to the Kyoto Handicraft Center to experience the making traditional Japanese handicrafts – woodblock printing, gold powder drawing, Shichimi (Japanese spice) Blending, Folding Fan Painting and various other arts.