26/05/2023
It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to travel abroad and get on the ground and make the connections with local woman guides and hosts that I value so much. I’m grateful to the X Games for the chance to visit Japan and the opportunity to travel after.
In Kyoto, I stayed with Emiko who owns the Kyo-Anthu Inn. Emiko and her family remodeled her grandmother’s home of 60 years before the pandemic turning it into a quaint guest house. Emiko runs the Inn and lives there with her grandmother and parents.
Emiko was the perfect person for me to connect with as I set off to visit Japan on my own. She greeted me at the train station, invited me to have tea with her mother and grandmother, and she even took the time to help me get a tough stain out of my shirt when I did laundry.
I just loved meeting her family. Her mother, Yoko, was so giggly and her 93-year-old grandmother, Kazuko, melted my heart. These small connections when I’m traveling change the experience for me and are such a contrast to the stark indifference of a hotel.
The Kyo-Anthu Inn is tucked away in a quiet part of Kyoto but still close to the train station. It was the perfect place for me to walk to many temples and shrines and discover the Gion district of Kyoto, which is where Japan’s most famous geisha live and work.
