So, I rather feel like the umbrellas are serving as a metaphor (or maybe a synecdoche) for something here that I think I’m not quite picking up on. Anyone out there who’s better at reading between the lines?
This is my second book club this week that’s included a しおり on the chapter’s title page (if I had a dime…), and I didn’t stop to think about it the first time, but it struck me now: why on Earth does しおり mean both “bookmark” and “guidebook”?
For a real world location I probably don’t need to link, that’s the northern face of Kyoto Station in the background on the title page there, with Kyoto Tower over the road reflected in the facade. The following page features the stage at Kiyomizu-dera, the pavilion at Kinkaku-ji, and the bulls at Kitano Tenman-gu. (I’m visiting Kyoto in November with the parents for their first trip there, and while I’m definitely trying to avoid the worst areas for crowds, I’m somewhat terrified that the entire stay is gonna be packed like this…)
The third page after that (my copy’s numbered by the magazine’s pages, so I couldn’t say what the actual page number is supposed to be) shows Shinkyogoku Shopping Street in the first panel. For the rest of the page they’re in a fast food restaurant - there’s a partial image of the logo on the next page, which makes me pretty sure it’s meant to be a Mos Burger, but the nearest one is over here, and not on the shopping street.
The ロンドン焼き is from London-ya. Two pages after that they’re at Kifune Shrine and, haha, that is not close to Shinkyogoku - over an hour by public transport (and from the girls’ dialogue, it does sound like they’re taking public transport).
Real-world stuff aside, the main plot of this chapter was just painful.
The chapter opens at Nishiki Market… which is right next to where they were before they headed up to Kifune, so they’re certainly getting around.
Second page, for an explanation of the 上ル and 下ル that has Kenta confused:
Third page, the first two panels are the shopping streets they were on before, I think, but the third panel is Chishiro Tofu, which is quite a distance away. Fourth panel is the western gate at Yasaka Shrine, I think, but I admit I’m not completely certain. The fifth panel is the Void of Utter Discombobulation, though Google Maps doesn’t seem to have a location for that. Dunno about the sixth panel - another shopping street somewhere. Maybe back at Shinkyogoku. Or Pontocho?
Fifth page and subsequent… I’m not certain on the specific location here, but it’s Gion somewhere. Maybe Shinbashi-dori? Though there’s no signs on the buildings like the manga has…
That was fast - we just did 100 and we’re already on 102.
We still at Sanjusangendo this chapter. The sign over the ticket window reads 普門閣, which I’m fairly sure is the name of the specific building they converted into the ticket office (and the temple office too, according to the temple’s Wikipedia page) - 閣 means “plan”… I mean, “pavilion”, or “tower”. As per 金閣寺.
Gotta say, though, I’m not sure “they look like people you want to meet” is a particularly special power of the Kanon statues - sometimes when I’m looking for someone, people look like people I want to meet.
