Wayfinding -- with help!

For Design Week Kyoto 2020, we picked out three sites to visit over 3 days:  Masahiro Japanese Sword Factory, Miura Taikoudo traditional Japanese drums, and Sato Kiyomatsu-Shotern Urushi lacquer.  The pounding of sword making and the hot fire do not fit easily into a downtown Kyoto neighborhood.  So we took a train up beyond the edge of urban Kyoto, then 20 more minutes by taxi.  We wondered how we were going to get home, since there was clearly not a taxi stand at this remote location.  But, kindly, the folks at the sword-making shop ordered up taxis for us to carpool back to the station.

The administrative support for the Temple and guesthouse was not available to draw us a route to the Lacquer shop.  Instead, coming to our rescue was the English-speaking priest at the Temple.  He called it up on the computer, printed it out, and explained it to us.  In thanking him, I indicated that he was the spiritual head, the intellectual head, the administrative head, and everything else.  At least when I was dean I did not have to be the spiritual head...

With good connections, we got to the intersection, and were within a "one-minute walk".  But which direction?  And was this a one-minute minute or a 5-minute minute? My "sumimasen" -- excuse me -- got the attention of an elderly woman hunched over her cart.  Turns out she spent time in South Carolina while her husband studies, and still spoke good English.  She walked along with us until we got to the exact location.

And to get to the drum making, the guesthouse staff had called the factory -- and the boss picked us up at the station!

Many kindnesses!