A bonus article about my Kyoto and Nara trip.
There was one souvenir I absolutely had to buy back from Kyoto. It was the original blend coffee beans from “Maeda Coffee,” a coffee shop chain centered around Kyoto.
I could have just ordered it online and saved myself the trouble, but that would have been boring. Since I was traveling there anyway, I really wanted to buy it in person.
I was near Shijo Karasuma, about to head to Nara, when I realized this. If I went all the way to Kyoto Station, it would be harder to find Maeda Coffee, so I decided to look for a shop nearby. Hmm, according to my smartphone…
The closest one seemed to be the “Meirin Branch.” It’s located in a former elementary school building now used as the “Kyoto Art Center,” and Maeda Coffee has a shop in one corner of it.
And since the building of the former Meirin Elementary School I visited was so photogenic, I figured I’d make it a bonus article.
Cool white plaster walls with slanted beams. A hallway with creaking wooden floors. Slightly chilly light streaming through the windows. Photos of places like this really suit monochrome, don’t they?
An empty tennis court on the school grounds. Shot coolly, high self-satisfaction.
And what was important to me that day was Maeda Coffee… There it was, open for business on the first floor!
The classroom… no, the coffee shop was packed, but I managed to buy the “Ryunosuke” blend I was after right at the storefront.
Using the LUMIX S1IIE and SIGMA 20-200mm combo, I confirmed this type of monochrome photo comes out nicely too – a major success, I’d say.
The Kyoto Art Center on Muromachi Shijo—I’d passed by its entrance countless times before, but somehow the timing never worked out. This was my first visit. I regret not coming sooner, given how great the atmosphere is.
And so, the chapter titled “The Former Meirin Elementary School Was a Great Place” comes to a close.
