Letter transcription:

Tuesday January 28, 1964

Dear David: Still no stationary so will use this room service sheet. We took an all day tour of Kyoto yesterday with a stop back at hotel for lunch. The weather finally cleared but it is still awfully chilly. It can’t get much below freezing because there are so many green things and we saw several blooming shrubs yesterday. On the way to Nara today saw many green fields – rice, cabbage, peas, etc. I wore a synthetic dress – warm as wool – today and to insure more warmth wore 3 petticoats, my winter coat, fur cape & scarf. I wasn’t too well wrapped. After seeing a Shinto Shrine and the largest bronze Buddah in the world, we visited an old, old Buddah temple, then had lunch Japanese style sitting on cushions, on floor and eating typical Japanese food with chopsticks. It was all very good but I felt like I have been stuffed, and it is now 4:30. We came back to Kyoto at 2 p.m. and it is raining so we have decided just to relax and hope for sunshine tomorrow. Dad plans to attend Rotary at Kyoto Hotel tomorrow noon. We would like to just take a walk if the weather permits. Thurs. a.m. we leave for Atmi and that is by train. It will take us about 5 hours. Fri. & Sat. we have nothing planned but we will be in Fuji area so if weather is clear will be able to take more pictures. We can buy film here at this hotel, so may stock up before we leave. There is a Methodist University and Labor Center here in Kyoto and if I can find someone who can understand, will try to find the locations. I don’t think it would do us much good to look in telephone directory. We do get English newspapers, but there are no directories in rooms. We saw the King and Queen of Belgium yesterday. They spent Sunday night in this hotel and we were in the lobby when they left. We were too timid to ask one of the security men around them for permission to take a picture. We were standing where we could have had a perfect picture. The Queen is Spanish and is very lovely. She was dressed a turquoise suit and hat and light fur cape. Dad has been reading one of the books I brought along “My Life in Court,” and I have been writing so think I will take a little siesta. You would never recognize this room as my abode. It looks pretty untidy, but come tomorrow evening everything will have to be packed, so will get things in order then.

Love Mother

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
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