20110618

Travel Postcard: 48 hours in Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital

by Reuters

Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital, is a laid-back counterpart to Tokyo that was first established more than a thousand years ago. Far to the west, it is a good place to forget the current capital's woes. Kyoto's wide avenues follow a grid pattern that invites easy walking, one of the best ways to explore. Strolls reveal a modern city, but one where traditional touches -- a tiny shrine, upswept temple roofs -- are never far away. FRIDAY 6 p.m. - Walk through one of the hanamachi, or geisha districts, and you may see a geisha or apprentice geisha heading out for the evening. Sightings of these women in elaborate kimono, thick white makeup and gleaming hair are especially likely in the Miyagawa-cho district, where taxis line up to whisk the geisha away to engagements at exclusive traditional restaurants. (Reuters)

'Miraculous lone pine tree' branches growing

by Yomiuri

Four sprigs of the "miraculous lone pine tree" that survived the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate Prefecture, are growing well after they were grafted to rootstocks in April, an independent administrative institution said.Those sprigs will eventually become seedlings, preserving the original tree's DNA. The Forest Tree Breeding Center of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute plans to keep one tree and plant any others near the location of the original tree in three years.

The original tree is the only tree in the Takata Matsubara forest, which was a popular scenic spot, that survived the March 11 tsunami. (Yomiuri)