Until recently, I didn't realize that traditional anniversary gifts differ depending on where you live. For example, in the US the gift for your fourth anniversary is linen or silk, while in the UK it is fruit and flowers. However, all the big ones are still the same in both countries: silver for the 25th, sapphires for the 45th and diamonds for the big five-oh. I also learned that this tradition is not followed in Japan.
But it is in our house.
Shin likes the idea, especially the gift of leather for your third anniversary. Before you get any funny ideas, he was thinking along the lines of a new motorcycle jacket, nothing kinky (as far as I know - we'll see in two more years). So, for my day of our anniversary weekend, I decided that we would get paper gifts for each other.
Like with many things, Shin is not very timely in his gift giving. He just bought my birthday gift a week ago (my birthday was in October). It was purchased alongside my Christmas gift and they are both being delivered this coming Monday.
I should take a moment and be fair to my loving husband.
He is a very busy guy. He works nights seven days a week, and sleeps during the day. He only ever takes time off when we have something special planned, in fact our anniversary marked his first day off since we moved at the end of March. Needless to say, shopping is not at the top of his 'To Do' list. Taking this into consideration, I decided that part of my anniversary plans would include picking out our paper presents together. And what better place to do that than at a bookstore!
A little while ago, one of my students was describing a bookstore that she had visited in Kyoto called Keibunsha. It sounded so cool and when she showed me a picture of all the goodies she bought I was sold! She also told me about ガケ書房 (Gakegake), another bookstore not far from Keibunsha, that sounded just as good. She mentioned that they have a section specializing in old / discontinued comics which I thought would be right up Shin's alley.
We ate breakfast and set off for Kyoto in the morning on the 12th. We decided to go to Keibunsha first and we were not disappointed. They had lots of great architecture books, cookbooks, stationary and a small gallery in the corner. I'm not sure how long we spent browsing but it was long enough for The Bean to remind me that I hadn't eaten in a couple of hours and we still had one more shop to visit before lunch. Most importantly, I picked out my anniversary present; a book about the life and paintings of my favourite Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama.
This is me at a Kusama exhibit in Osaka last March.
We then headed to ガケ書房, and again we weren't disappointed.
Shin spent the majority of his time reading through the comics and graffiti art books, while I tried to figure out how they had attached the car to the outside of the building. This shop was quite a bit smaller, but we spent almost as much time inside. Between the two of us, we probably went through every book they have. For his anniversary present, Shin picked out two coffee table books about graffiti art and I found a cookbook specializing in recipes for pancakes. Gifts were bought and we left happy campers.
If you're ever in Kyoto and are looking to do something aside from visiting temples and shrines, I highly recommend both of these bookstores.
Thanks Noriko!
Luckily, it was a Monday so the place wasn't too overrun with tourists, as it often is at this time of year. We bought some ice cream and had a lovely stroll through the bamboo forest and surrounding neighbourhood, enjoying the autumn colours.
Of course, when I say stroll, I mean waddle.
As evening grew closer, the temperature started to drop and we were ready to head back to the heated car; feeling rather exhausted but jubilant after celebrating our paper anniversary.
But it is in our house.
Shin likes the idea, especially the gift of leather for your third anniversary. Before you get any funny ideas, he was thinking along the lines of a new motorcycle jacket, nothing kinky (as far as I know - we'll see in two more years). So, for my day of our anniversary weekend, I decided that we would get paper gifts for each other.
Like with many things, Shin is not very timely in his gift giving. He just bought my birthday gift a week ago (my birthday was in October). It was purchased alongside my Christmas gift and they are both being delivered this coming Monday.
I should take a moment and be fair to my loving husband.
He is a very busy guy. He works nights seven days a week, and sleeps during the day. He only ever takes time off when we have something special planned, in fact our anniversary marked his first day off since we moved at the end of March. Needless to say, shopping is not at the top of his 'To Do' list. Taking this into consideration, I decided that part of my anniversary plans would include picking out our paper presents together. And what better place to do that than at a bookstore!
A little while ago, one of my students was describing a bookstore that she had visited in Kyoto called Keibunsha. It sounded so cool and when she showed me a picture of all the goodies she bought I was sold! She also told me about ガケ書房 (Gakegake), another bookstore not far from Keibunsha, that sounded just as good. She mentioned that they have a section specializing in old / discontinued comics which I thought would be right up Shin's alley.
We ate breakfast and set off for Kyoto in the morning on the 12th. We decided to go to Keibunsha first and we were not disappointed. They had lots of great architecture books, cookbooks, stationary and a small gallery in the corner. I'm not sure how long we spent browsing but it was long enough for The Bean to remind me that I hadn't eaten in a couple of hours and we still had one more shop to visit before lunch. Most importantly, I picked out my anniversary present; a book about the life and paintings of my favourite Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama.
This is me at a Kusama exhibit in Osaka last March.
We then headed to ガケ書房, and again we weren't disappointed.
Shin spent the majority of his time reading through the comics and graffiti art books, while I tried to figure out how they had attached the car to the outside of the building. This shop was quite a bit smaller, but we spent almost as much time inside. Between the two of us, we probably went through every book they have. For his anniversary present, Shin picked out two coffee table books about graffiti art and I found a cookbook specializing in recipes for pancakes. Gifts were bought and we left happy campers.
If you're ever in Kyoto and are looking to do something aside from visiting temples and shrines, I highly recommend both of these bookstores.
Thanks Noriko!
In the afternoon Shin and I headed to Arashiyama where, the year before, we had wedding pictures taken with my family.
Of course, when I say stroll, I mean waddle.
As evening grew closer, the temperature started to drop and we were ready to head back to the heated car; feeling rather exhausted but jubilant after celebrating our paper anniversary.
Happy first anniversary Shin! xo xo xo
2011
2012
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