Young Magazine is planning a special feature with Mokona and Sayaka Oohara (Yuuko's seiyuu) in commemoration of the 2nd Season of the XXXHOLiC anime.

The talk is set to be published in November and CLAMP-PLA.NET made a special coverage about it.



Translation kindly provided by iamsocool12345.

CLAMP's Mokona and Sayaka Oohara-san's Walking Tour of Kyoto - Special Report

In celebration of the new season of the XXXHOLiC anime, Young Magazine proposed a special little discussion to CLAMP. Sayaka Oohara-san, who plays Yuuko Ichihara in the anime, had the idea to bring us to her hometown, Kyoto, to enjoy its kawayuka¹ and to talk over XXXHOLiC. CLAMP was very excited to accept! And so one day in September, CLAMP and Sayaka Oohara-san set out for Kyoto!

The ladies agreed to talk over XXXHOLiC at night, and enjoyed some free time until then. Mokona asked Sayaka Oohara-san to go on a walk around the city to pass the time. The CLAMP-PLA.NET staff were brought along to record the afternoon, and you're invited, too! So just sit back, and enjoy the beautiful sights of Kyoto!

Ordering Original Fans to Commemorate The Trip

First, the ladies went to a custom fan shop near their hotel called "風香扇"². There were tons of fans inside, from traditionally designed, to very modern, all lined up in rows.

This shop takes orders, and Mokona spoke with the shop owner beforehand about getting fans made for her and Oohara-san. The two of them brought in scraps of fabric to use for their special fans. He helped them to pick out parts to match their fabric, and they placed their orders. He discussed the history of fans with them, and it seemed like he really piqued their interest in Kyoto's culture!

It took about three weeks for them to receive their custom fans. Oohara-san's is yellow, and Mokona's is dark blue. They also got little fan pouches made to match!

Recommended By Sayaka-Oohara-san! What a Beautiful Spot!

Next, Oohara-san lead us to a spot where we could really enjoy the real Kyoto³. It was a shrine built during the Heian era⁴, called "Kouyou no Eienkan-dou"⁵. Zenrin-ji. We couldn't see very much autumn at all, but all of the old architecture surrounded by all of that green was beautiful. It made the whole trip worth it!

"It's been two years since I last came to Eikan-dou. It was fall, then, and the whole place was really crowded, full of lots of tourists. Today, it's almost empty. But that's really nice; it's wonderful to be able to take our time and enjoy!" Oohara-san said.

Mokona laughed, and said, "I'm from Kyoto, but this is the first time I've ever been inside of Eikan-dou!" But looking at all the scenery and the beautiful architecture was amazing. "Now I feel like I could stay here forever," she said.

The Best Way to End a Walk - Eating Something Sweet!

After walking around Eikan-dou, the ladies decided to take a break and get themselves a little treat. Oohara-san showed us to "Gion Kinana"⁶, one of her favorite spots. It was down a little alley, in between tea houses and Japanese restaurants. What a wonderful little shop! It was so Kyoto!

The shop was famous for its ice cream, made with all natural ingredients. Mokona picked a "Kinana Nishu Mori" (on the left), and Oohara-san had a "Kinana Hapon" (on the right)"⁷. Mokona seemed to really like hers. "It's so yummy! The taste of it when it hits your tongue is just incredible!"

They took in Kyoto out of the window while they enjoyed their desserts. "This is the first time I've ever really walked around Kyoto with someone like this. I'm so glad I got to do this with Mokona-sensei! It's so nice to make memories like this together, that we can share." Mokona felt the same way. "I'm so glad I got to have Sayaka-san all to myself for a date like this.... I'm so lucky, it's like a dream come true!" she laughed. "I had a lot of fun today," she said, smiling.

Afterwards, they went back to their hotel, changed into new yukatas, and went out to eat down by Kano-gawa⁸. They met up with Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, and Tsubaki Nekoi, and talked all night long. But you can read all about that in the next issue of Young Magazine, on sale on November 19th. Make sure to check it out!

1 Kawayuka are strips of restaurants, etc. built up on wooden platforms alongside rivers in Kyoto. Really pretty and very very neat!
2 Oops, I have NO idea how this one would be transliterated. XD The kanji are for "wind", "perfume", and "fan", though!
3 Kyoto is absolutely gorgeous, a city with a lot of history, and in lots of places, a very quaint, beautiful, historical feel. It's got geisha quarters, loads of temples and shrines, amazing scenery... That's what they mean by the "real" Kyoto.
4 Approx. 800-1200 AD.
5 It means "Autumn View of Eternity Hall", usually shortened to "Eikan-dou" now - "View of Eternity Hall", or sometimes "Zenrin-ji", like they also mention - "Temple of Forest Zen".
6 Gion is one of the famous geisha quarters in Kyoto.
7 Waaah. Mokona's ice cream translates to something like "Kinana Second Helping", but I'm not sure at all about "Hapon". In any case, cute names is where we're going with this. XD
8 One of those rivers where the kawayuka are.

A huge thank you to Jamie-chan for the perfect translation job ^__^

Here's another little picture of Mokona taken from Sayaka Oohara's blog:


Just a little bit of curiosity now: when they were doing this, it was during the time the last big typhoon hit the region of Tokyo. The train lines leading to Tokyo were out of circulation and CLAMP had to make a detour to Osaka instead ^^" They returned to Tokyo a couple of days later.


And last but not least, there are new SDs of the CLAMP members at CLAMP-PLA.NET!


These are from the home page, available for everyone.

Satsuki is stylish as always.
Isn't that dress the same one from Anime Expo, Ohkawa? xD
Nekoi looks like she's preparing herself to make a guest appearance in Gouhou Drug xD
Mokona and her many kimonos with birds xD

The ones from their Private Boards have been renewed too!