Kyoto Time Warp : A Jump into the Future and Leap into the Past - the Same Day

I had one foot in 2050… and the other in 778…. I straddled 1272 years!

I have seen the future and it is brown and wet and also delicious.

The fact that Japan has more than half the world’s robots means, of course, that they have applied this technology to the coffee market, which is vibrant in Japan.

Much of the java dispensed in coffee houses here is the pour-over kind.

One company serves pour-over coffee robotically. It’s called 2050 Coffee — 25 years ahead of our time!

2050 serves four pour-over coffees, some hot, some cold, from automatic dispensers.

But they have not automated espresso drinks — not yet , anyway.

The attendant on hand made one of the best cappuccinos I’ve had in Japan.

(Please note: The future is tasty!)

2050 Coffee is at 402 Sakuranocho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-8035,

A Leap into the Past

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple established in 778, which makes it even older than… than…. hmmmmm?…. good old Joe Biden.

The views from Kiyomizu of Kyoto below are breathtaking, but the real jaw-dropper views are of the many temples in this complex themselves.

Here’s an astounding fact: The many temples here were constructed without a single nail! All supports, all corners, were joined in such a fashion that no nails were used.

Kiyomizu takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off nearby hills. Kiyomizu means "pure water.”

Kiyomizu is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The morning air today was mountainous, clear and cool.

If you only do one thing in Kyoto — visit the Kiyomizu shrine complex.

But wait, there’s more!

Not far from the Buddhist shrine we came upon the largest cherry tree in Kyoto — in resplendent, full bloom!

More when it happens….

Jim