Wednesday, November 7
Near Kyoto

An hour-long bus ride took us to the Miho Museum, an amazing building in the mountains designed by I.M. Pei. It houses a moderate-sized collection of ancient art from Egypt, the Middle East, and China. But the building and its setting are at least equally fabulous. It’s set into the mountain, which was itself de- and re-constructed as the building was created. The above-ground structure blends traditional Asian forms and technically advanced elements. I wish we had had more time to see both the art works and the building and grounds. Even the approach from the restaurant/ticket office to the museum is impressive, as you walk uphill through a forest and then through a big shiny tunnel before crossing a suspended bridge to the museum building. Really a knockout.

Here’s a mystery that can probably be explained by a digital photographer with more expertise than mine (not hard). As I walked through the tunnel with my camera set on Automatic White Balance, it looked like this:
with steely gray shiny walls illuminated by lights in sort-of sconces.

But when I told my camera to use the Shade setting — no flash — here’s what it recorded:
which is very beautiful, but not what my eyes saw. I’ll keep it this way.

When you exit the tunnel, the museum is ahead of you:

and we were lucky to see the hillside in great color:

Photography is not allowed in the galleries, so I can’t show your my favorite Egyptian falcon-headed god. But here’s a view of the hallway, with wooden slats in the window/ceiling:

Finally, an only-in-Japan exhibit — contemporary artistry in ceremonial tea scoops. Here’s the poster:

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This is only the second group tour we’ve done — I’m not counting bike trips with four to 12 people — and it’s definitely different from our previous travels. The days have been packed full of interesting sites, information, and conversations. This is all good, but tiring. Partly because we didn’t give ourselves a day or two before the tour to lose jetlag and get acclimated, I’m feeling stuffed. (We have eaten very well too.) But that’s just a description, not a complaint.

And although it IS tacky to include it, here’s the control panel from the hotel in Kyoto: