Then someone who had been to Kyoto told me that I must go. Even if it was just for a day, I had to go out there. So, I planned on keeping an eye on the weather and taking a bullet train out to Kyoto just for a day trip.
I was sure to wake up early enough to catch the first train out of Tokyo to Kyoto. Actually, the first bullet train to Kyoto is a Nozomi line which takes less stops to get to Kyoto. The Japan Rail Pass does not cover the Nozomi bullet train, so you have to take the next best thing. That is the Hikari line, which takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Still pretty quick.
All bullet trains have a number just like airplane flights. The Hikari 501 was my first experience on the shinkansen. "Shinkansen" is what the Japanese call the bullet trains in Japan. It is everything I thought it would be. Fast, efficient, and super smooth.
Since I bought the green car rail pass, there were only 9 or 10 people on my car and no one in my aisle. The green cars are set up in a 2-2 seat arrangement. I believe the ordinary cars have a 3-2 arrangement and can be more crowded. The seats on the green car are amazingly comfortable and spacious. When you first sit down and the train leaves the station, a stewardess comes by with a warm towel for you to clean your hands with. Then she constantly goes back and forth through the train with a snack and drink cart. A conductor will come by to check your ticket, too.
When I reserved my ticket the day before, I forgot to ask the cashier to seat me on the Mount Fuji view side. Thankfully, he did anyway, and so I was treated to some magnificent views of Fuji-san. Back home, I am familiar with seeing Mount Rainier every single day, so one would think that seeing Mount Fuji wouldn't be any big deal since it's 2,000 feet shorter. But its unique shape and nearly perfect snowline really makes it fascinating to look at.
After quickly figuring out Kyoto Station, I hopped on a local train to Fushimi Inari Shrine. A quick observation of Kyoto is that it's just as compact as Tokyo, but not as tall, giving you a sense of more openness in the city. I was expecting more of a traditional feeling since Kyoto used to be the imperial capital of Japan before Tokyo became the de facto capital in 1868. However, much has been updated, so it's really the abundance of temples and shrines that make you feel like you are walking back into the Edo period.
Anyway, since I had less than 12 hours to spend in Kyoto, I made a list of five places that I planned to see. Fushimi Inari topped that list because of the thousands and thousands of red torii gates that cover their long, winding paths. This provided some incredible photo opportunities.
Each torii has writing on them because each one is donated by a different business in Japan. Businesses, merchants, and manufacturers worship Inari for wealth.
This ended up being my favorite place that I went to in Kyoto. I totally felt like I was walking around ancient Japan.
You know what I just realized would be amazing here? Longboarding.
There were still so many cool places to see, so I was back on the train to my next spot.
This is Keage Incline.
It was used with flat cars to transport boats from the end of Lake Biwa Canal to Kyoto's water system. It's no longer used, but still exists as a tourist attraction.
Cherry blossom trees line the incline. Kyoto's sakura bloom a little later than Tokyo's, but I still arrived on the tail end of their peak season. I thought it was still gorgeous though.
Another gorgeous spot north of Keage Incline is Philosopher's Path.
It's a 2 kilometer path that travels along a canal from Ginkakuji to the neighborhood of Nanzenji.
The path gets its name from Nishida Kitaro, one of Japan's most famous philosophers, who was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University.
Caught these two young ladies in kimono walking along the path.
As I left for my next destination, I saw even more people wearing kimono. What a treat!
I thought the roof of this train station was very nice. This was on the way to Arashiyama, which is a district of Kyoto on the western outskirts. I debated heading out that far from the city due to time constraints, but I just had to see the following.
The bamboo forest of Sagano. I saw pictures online of this mystical place, so I just had to see it with my own eyes and lens.
I kept looking up, expecting to see some Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon people flying across the top of the bamboo.
I have never seen such green, tall, and thick bamboo in all my life. Way different than what I've seen in gardens and stuff here in the States.
After walking the bamboo forest, I wandered around Arashiyama for a bit. There are lots of stores and restaurants to visit. It was really busy here for a Monday!
This is Moon Crossing Bridge, which travels over a river. The river starts out as the Hozu River upstream to the west, but turns into Katsura River as it flows under the bridge towards the east. Very serene area with views of the different trees on Mt. Arashiyama. I remember seeing this bridge on K-On before. ^.^
Some cherry blossom trees were still in bloom here. Great little area to sit, relax, and grab a bite.
This was a sort of scary moment when something behind these birds scared them, causing them to all fly right towards me.
I bet this hillside is incredible in the fall.
I took this shot from Moon Crossing Bridge.
Cute stone statues like these are all over the place in Kyoto.
After some considerable time in Arashiyama, it was time to head back to the main part of Kyoto. Specifically, my next stop was the most popular tourist destination there. Since I was taking trains and walking the whole time, I was going faster than these tour buses, which were full of people waiting to visit the temple. I highly recommend figuring out the transit system in Kyoto rather than relying on these tour groups the whole time.
This is just the road leading up to the temple. You can see why there was a traffic jam.
Kiyomizu-dera Temple is a Buddhist temple that was built over 1,200 years ago in 778 AD. As extravagant as this is, this is just the entrance.
Kiyomizu-dera had some full sakura trees on its grounds!
There's a capturing 3-floor pagoda at Kiyomizu-dera. Still, that's not the part of the main temple.
This Caucasian girl wore a kimono to the temple and was an instant hit with the tourists and Japanese nationals.
This is the main part of Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It's huge and sits on top of a fairly tall hill giving you views of the temple ground, as well as the city of Kyoto itself.
Here is another view of the temple with the Kyoto skyline in the background. A bit hazy that day.
If you look down and out from the balcony, this is what you see. Otowa waterfall on the bottom left; another pagoda in the upper right.
Here is that waterfall where folks can catch the water in cups on long sticks and do whatever they want with it. I'm a little disgusted with drinking the water. I hope it's super clean.
The steps that lead down to the waterfall.
After Kiyomizu-dera, I planned on walking north to Maruyama Park. When you do so, you walk on a curvy path passing by many traditional looking shops and houses.
There was a Studio Ghibli shop there. I bought Coral a little Ponyo plushie doll. Stuff in here was expensive though. I noticed that Narita Airport has similar items at a gift shop and they were much more affordable.
Did a silhouette of Kyoto. Reminds me a lot of the video game Limbo.
The next time I visit Japan, I'm staying longer in Kyoto.
No matter where you walk, you are going to stumble upon so many temples and shrines in Kyoto. This is Yasaka Shrine next to Maruyama Park.
When I made it to Maruyama Park, people were still having picnics under what was left on the sakura trees.
Maruyama Park is where a fairly large cherry blossom festival is held. The park itself is also beautiful.
The festival was exactly how anime series depict them. Lots of people, many dressed in traditional kimono or the likes. Tons of different food stalls with the typical takoyaki (octopus balls), yakisoba, yakitori, okonomiyaki, ikayaki, taiyaki, shioyaki, and every other kind of 'yaki' you can think of.
As it got darker, the park became a lot more magical. Can you imagine snacking on some Japanese snackies with some beer under the lights and sakura trees here? Zen.
This is the giant weeping cherry blossom tree in Maruyama Park. It was definitely the biggest I had seen during my entire trip. I bet it's unbelievable when it's full.
I didn't want to miss my bullet train back to Tokyo, so I made sure that I gave myself plenty of time to get back to Kyoto Station from Maruyama Park. On the way to the local station, I saw Minami-za, which is the primary kabuki theatre in Kyoto.
There is tons to see and do in Kyoto that even a week there would likely not be enough. However, I'm glad I went, even if it was just for less than 12 hours. Kyoto Station is a fascinating place to explore in and of itself with all of the restaurants and stores inside. I bought some drinks and snacks there, including some exclusive Kit Kat flavors like sakura green tea and yatsuhashi, which is a baked cinnamon cookie. Both tasted great, but the cinnamon cookie one was incredible!
I enjoyed my goodies and a nap on the calming train
ride back to Tokyo. I was thoroughly exhausted by the time I got back to
my hotel. I covered a good chunk of Kyoto, as you can see, but there is still a lot more. I'll visit again!
Next time: Day 6 - Ikebukuro, Tokyo SkyTree, and Roppongi.
Day 1 is here.
Day 2 is here.
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