Kyoto to Hiroshima

Transit day. We woke early to pack down our room and say farewell to Kyoto. After a quick checkout process at the hotel we hit the street for the short walk to the subway which would deliver us to Kyoto Station for our bullet train to Hiroshima.

The first issue of the day came when we realised the only subway access in our vicinity was via stairs. No lifts. No escalators. Stairs. I lugged our suitcases down two flights of stairs and then back up one on the other side to buy our tickets. Mercifully, there was an escalator to the platform.

The subway was relatively packed but we made it on without issue and only had to go one stop anyway. It took a little bit of work to find our Shinkansen line at Kyoto Station, and more stairs, but we made it to our appointed platform with 20 minutes to spare. The stair/suitcase pattern I’d been wrestling all morning meant I felt sweaty and gross and in need of a shower.

Teneille looking cute in Kyoto.

Our bullet train arrived on time and we boarded for the two-and-a-bit hour ride to Hiroshima. That’s a five-hour trip by car in two hours on Shinkansen. Imagine the possibilities, Australia.

Upon arrival in Hiroshima we decided the 25-minutes walk to the hotel with suitcases in the blazing sun was not in our best interests. We headed for the taxi rank where one driver said he couldn’t take us - five people is always problematic - then changed his mind. Suitcases stowed in the boot, Teneille up front and four of us in the backseat. I haven’t felt in danger in any car I’ve been in across Japan and today was no exception. This did nothing to alleviate Emily’s concern at being unable to use a seatbelt with four in the back.

A colourful side street in Hiroshima.

Stackable parking.

Lack of seatbelts aside, the six-minute journey was uneventful and we arrived at our hotel. We had a brief wait for our room to become available and then headed upstairs for showers and a rest. This room has two queen beds and floor mattresses so Aiden was happy to take the floor if it meant not sharing a bed and we were able to stack the mattresses to give him extra softness. The room also has its own washer/dryer. Score.

I threw on some washing while Teneille worked out dinner. I’d attempted earlier to find somewhere for lunch when we thought our room would be a while off but all I could find were cafes that didn’t open until 9pm. What the?

Hiroshima by night.

Teneille settled on a Japanese steak restaurant a short walk from the hotel. Just that quick journey has made me feel as if I’ll like Hiroshima more than Tokyo and Kyoto. I can’t quite explain why. The vibe of the place just speaks to me more. It feels more colourful and vibrant.

Dinner was great and we chatted to a UK couple next to us who were heading to Kyoto next. We exchanged notes before wrapping up our evening by walking back to the hotel via a different route. Lots of colourful neon signs and interesting posters throughout this particular area. I wonder if our hotel is located in a questionable neighbourhood. Oh well, I’ll ask our guide tomorrow.

Fushimi Inari Taisha and the thousand gates

Today is our last full day in Kyoto and the plan is to visit the shrine we were going planning for on day one if not for the rain - Fushimi Inari Taisha.

You might not recognise the name but you’ll likely recognise the pictures of the red torii gates. There is a thousand of them along the path ascending Mount Inari.

Not too much walking to get to our destination today, a mercy given the heat in the sun. There is a subway stop five minutes from our hotel and it has a direct line to the shrine. Another type of rail system meant another slight variation on the ticket machines. This one clearly assumed everyone knows their subway route intimately. In Tokyo you could search by destination number or name. here, number only. So, unless you’ve memorised the Kyoto subway codes you’ve got no chance just rocking up and buying a ticket. I retreated from the machine for a few minutes to get my bearings on the subway map on the wall above. After picking a number which was a guess at best I bought tickets and we were in our way. Yes, we had to stand on the subway.

The huge torii gate signifying the start of the path.

When we alighted at the other end I held my breath for a moment as we fed our tickets through the barriers but they were accepted and so we emerged back into the harsh rays of the sun. I say harsh but it was really just hot. The Japanese sun hasn’t burnt us at all since we’ve been here despite the heat. I packed, but haven’t been using, sunscreen (don’t tell mum or she’ll make Marge noises at me) and there hasn’t been any issues.

We stopped at a restaurant for some very late breakfast. I ended up with jam on toast after giving up my preferred meal to Kairi who had ordered eggs on toast and decided she didn’t like it. Do you know the last time I had jam on toast? Never according to my official recollection of life. You can imagine how happy I was. Kairi also ordered a banana drink (gross) which she also didn’t like. Teneille lost half her orange juice as a result.

Foxes are believed to be the messengers of Inari.

The path up the mountain takes you through rain forest.

After that debacle we resumed our short stroll to the shrine. A huge cobblestone path passes beneath the first of the torii gates leading up to the shrine proper. The crowds were pretty full-on, as they have been most places we’ve visited in both Tokyo and Kyoto. It is a peak tourist season with Australian school holidays but places like the shrine and the bamboo forest are open 24/7. Had I not been weighted down by offspring on this trip I would have visited this shrine at 6am and enjoyed a crowdless experience.

We looked around some of the main buildings of the shrine, which is still used as an official religious site. There were a few people in the areas reserved solely for those of the Shinto faith where there were also signs prohibiting photography. That didn’t stop one obnoxious tourist with an SLR, Teneille informed me at one point. I never saw the woman but the signs were clear and everywhere so it was a flagrant act of disrespect. I resisted the urge to find her and smash the expensive camera she probably didn’t know how to use anyway.

A mountain lake. This is where we left Teneille and Aiden.

We continued moving along the path as it began its climb up the mountain. We passed through hundreds of torii gates as we went along with the incessant masses of tourists who kept stopping in the middle of the congested passage to get a photo. Some meant against the gates with head tilted and one leg in the air. You can’t visit a significant religious and cultural site without looking totes cute right? I barged past these morons whenever possible.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of more than 30,000 other Inari shrines scattered across Japan. It honours Inari Okami, the god of rice, agriculture and business. Fox statues can be seen everywhere in tribute to the animal believed to be the messenger of Inari. The torii gates are believed to be the threshold separating our world from the spirit realm where many of the Shinto deities reside. The red or orange colours that made up the bulk of the gates we passed through are meant to ward off evil spirits.

The higher up the mountain we went the more the crowds thinned out as the vapid selfie crowd realised sweating profusely in the humidity wasn’t conducive to the perfect photo. We lost Teneille to a bung knee and Aiden to a lack of testicular fortitude about a quarter of the way up. I would have ideally gone on by myself but Emily and Kairi wanted to continue also. I estimate we got about halfway before the girls packed it in and we were forced to descend. I couldn’t just leave them to wait for me and so Mount Inari remains in conquered.

We headed back down, collected Aiden and Teneille on the way, and made our way back to the station. We had an afternoon siesta at the hotel before venturing back into the subway system to find the Kyoto Botanical Gardens.

While travelling to the shrine earlier in the day, Teneille had found a brochure for a light installation at the gardens in celebration of their 100th anniversary. We booked tickets during the afternoon and headed out at sunset to make our time slot. The subway exit was right at the garden entrance which was a positive

The lit up arboretum.

Aiden taking in the serenity.

The installation, titled Light Cycles, was staged throughout the massive arboretum at the gardens. There were four areas meant to represent nature or some shit but the lights were pretty.

They had light beams filtering through bushes and canopies mixed with smoke machines and music. Some parts of the installation were quite amazing but the best part of the whole thing was the crowds… or lack thereof. There were a few people wandering through but that was it. I think I counted maybe eight people other than us and just as many staff. It was bliss.

Teneille catching starlight.

We meandered our way back to the subway afterwards and went to bed. Packing in the morning and a bullet train to Hiroshima are the agenda for the day.

The way of the samurai

The sun was back when we woke which meant it was going to be hot outside… and it was. We sweated away on the 20-minute walk from our hotel to the Nishiki food markets for breakfast.

We had a pretty big schedule today but it was all in the vicinity of Nishiki so once we were there it wasn’t too much walking between destinations.

Food on offer in Nishiki

Mini octopus, anyone?

Nishiki food markets is great. It is an enclosed road that runs for about 200m. Maybe ‘road’ is too generous a term. Perhaps alley is a better description. Either side of the alley for its entire length are food and drink shops. Some are proper walk-in shops while others are more like stalls. You can get everything from fresh seafood and fruit to baked goods, dessert items and a variety of street foods.

We stopped at a bakery which had a hidden garden out the back to sit and eat. We’ll return to the Nishiki food markets later.

After eating we made the short walk to a samurai and ninja museum. The kids found the museum fascinating with all of its historical explanations, authentic armours and more katanas than you can throw a ninja star at.

Teneille holding a really big gun.

The museum experience starts with a guided tour through each of the rooms and then you can back track at the conclusion of the session and spend as much time looking back over things now you fully understood the meaning behind everything.

Our guide, Mae, explained the societal structure during the time of the samurai. He showed us various weapons, armour and other tools used by people at the time. Aiden wasn’t overly impressed when Mae explained a child born into a samurai family would be sent to the battlefields once they turned 12. Kids these days. Honestly.

Japanese society during the samurai age had a strict pyramid structure. The emperor sat at the top of the pyramid although the role was largely ceremonial. Shoguns sat below the emperor and ran everything. Below them were the daimyo who where like the governors of their districts. Then came the samurai who made up about 10 per cent of a district and below them were the ninjas, whose primary function was really farming the land. Merchants and artisans came last.

The age of the samurai ended with the invention of the gun. The shoguns didn’t want to give up the old ways while the emperor figured gun trumps sword. A civil war broke out which the emperor won because yeah, guns really do beat swords. The capital was moved from Kyoto to Edo (later renamed Tokyo) and the age of the samurai came to an end.

Samurai armour with moustaches built in to hide the warrior’s true age.

Our tour allowed us to handle weapons of the period, include several katanas, which Aiden was super keen on swinging, as well as guns from the period which took 30 seconds to fire. The tour ended in a styrofoam room where the 30-ish people in our tour were each given a ninja star to practice throwing at the targets painted on the wall. After a few attempts Mae declared the last throw would be judged and the closest to the bullseye would be the ninja champion. I don’t want to brag or anything but my shuriken was closest so I’m like totally a ninja or whatever. I got to keep my shuriken as a trophy.

We went back through the museum at our own pace including a corridor lined with fake bamboo on either side. No-one even asked if it was, like, real bamboo, like. Because it was obvious.

Kairi dressed as a ninja.

We had a traditional green tea ceremony in the afternoon so headed back to the food markets after the museum experience to have a further look around. The kids had some candied fruit and pancakes at a little dessert stall. And Teneille tried sake at another. She did not care for it.

Aiden enjoying the food of Nishiki.

We had our tea ceremony at Nishiki Orizuruya, a 100-year-old townhouse that used to belong to a geisha known as the ‘Cinderella of Japan’ after marrying into a wealthy American family.

Before the ceremony we had to split into two groups so we could get changed. Aiden and I headed to our change room to select kimonos while the girls did the same. Aiden and I ended up waiting a while longer after we done because girls take ages to get ready. That, and theirs also included getting their hair done.

Once suitable attired, we headed upstairs to the tea room where our host Ryoto explained the ritual of making green tea and the four key principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. We all knelt on the mat, ate our mochi cake and then made our matcha tea using the bamboo whisk provided. Ryoto said the last sip of you tea should include a bit a slurp to show respect to your host.

The kids didn’t care for the tea but did well drinking it and were very respectful. We had to wait to leave after the ceremony ended because my legs had completely gone to sleep and the pins and needles that followed were intense. Luckily, I have a very supportive family who just let it pass without pushing on my feet. Once circulation to my legs was restored we went back downstairs to get changed and head into the evening.

Dinner at a little restaurant we found in a side street.

While walking back to the hotel we found a small restaurant in a side street we thought we’d try for dinner. Emily ate her bowl of udon noodles and Kairi made a good effort at her fried chicken and rice. Aiden wasn’t keen on his wagyu strips because they were very lightly cooked and now what he had expected. It was a cute little place with traditional Japanese tables you use by sitting on the floor with cushions.

It was then home to bed. Tomorrow we visit a shrine.

Bamboo and Geishas

Our second full day in Kyoto dawned with a grey sky and still some light rain around but it was scheduled to clear. So we headed downstairs for the hotel’s “fresh” pastry breakfast before walking 20 minutes to Kyoto Station. We won’t be doing that again. The pastries, I mean. Awful.

Having arrived at Kyoto Station without rain impacting us, we bought tickets that would deposit us closer to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. A different train system to Tokyo means a slightly different way to buy tickets - I could purchase return tickets in one go and avoid finding another machine at the other end. Win.

A family shrine we walked past. You can tell it is Shinto by the red Torii gate.

As with 99 per cent of our train journeys in Japan so far this one was just a journey of a few stops and again, we had to stand most of the way. The Japan rail system may be hugely efficient but they don’t have a lot of seats on their trains. Actually, there aren’t a lot of seats anywhere - something that has proven problematic when you have small children with sore feet. Maybe that’s why you don’t see obese Japanese people - they can’t put on weight because they never sit down.

Anyway, I digress. We arrived at our station and alighted for the short walk to the forest. We are out in the suburbs now so it is interesting to see streets and laneways of small dwellings away from the multi-level apartment blocks and hotels in the city.

The bamboo forest, with huge natural bamboo trees towering above you, is like stepping into another world. Bamboo walls the path on both sides to shut out daylight and noise. At least, it would shut out noise if there weren’t about a gajillion other tourists doing what we were.

Too many people blocked the path to try and get a photo or a selfie. I’m sure I’ll be in a few. There are too many people around for others to be expected to pause and stay out of the way. Get any photo you can get them get out of my way.

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest’s path winds along until it reaches Tenru-ji Temple, a place of worship for Buddhists of the Zen persuasion. The two main faiths in Japan include Buddhism and Shintoism. Temple equals Buddhism and shrine equals Shintoism.

A lot of coins in that pond.

The Japanese garden at the temple.

We walked the grounds of Tenru-ji Temple after purchasing entry only to find if we wanted access to the halls that would be an extra 300 yen per person and you’d have to walk back to the entrance to pay. Ah, no thanks. Maybe tell people this information when they are already at the entrance buying tickets.

Tenru-ji Temple, or the Temple of the Heavenly Dragon, has stood at the site for more than 700 years although most of the buildings are much newer than than that - it has been ravaged by fire eight times, most recently in the late 1800s. Because of this some buildings are as recent as 1912. The gardens, however, remain untouched, making them some of the oldest in Japan and dating back to the fourteenth century.

We took a seat next to the pond at Tenru-ji because it was covered a light rain had started to fall. The pond was full of big carp and what I think was koi. Aiden picked up a rock from the garden and asked to keep it. No, I said, as an elderly man picked up a nearby rock and pocketed it before walking away. The disrespect some people show in these places is mind-blowing.

With the rain looking to lighten, we headed back into the bamboo forest to finish walking its length before turning and retracing our steps back to the station. We came across an American tourist asking all the right questions of her friends on the way back. “This isn’t real bamboo is it,” she asked while standing in the midst of a giant natural bamboo forest. I honestly don’t know how some people figure out how to get out of bed in the morning.

We lucked out getting seats on the train back to Kyoto. Nah, just kidding. Of course we didn’t. Stood for every stop but the last. We attempted to find food in the shopping centre below the station but without luck - did I mention there is just nowhere to sit in Japan? We eventually admitted defeat and grabbed a taxi back to the hotel so we kind try for something a little closer to home.

The Geisha District by night.

We rested at the hotel for a couple of hours until sunset and then we headed out for an evening stroll to the nearby Geisha District which is not too far from us.

We walked along Hanamikoji Street which is beautifully lit at night with hanging lanterns. A couple of Geishas could be seen walking to their appointments. As with most places we’ve been in Japan, the crowds were excessive. We walked the length of the street and got out of there.

Sunny forecasts for tomorrow. That means heat. I think I prefer the rain.

To Kyoto like a bullet

This is a two-day post for two reasons: nothing much of interest happens on a transit day (famous last words) and the following day was full of rain.

Day one

We got up reasonably early to get everything packed so we could head to Tokyo station for our 11am bullet train to Kyoto where will spend our next five nights. It’s only a small apartment in Tokyo but it’s also amazing how much stuff three children and a Teneille can spread across a tiny space. We sorted our suitcases and a bunch of shopping carried shopping bags given all the stuff everyone had bought around Tokyo - we may need to buy an additional suitcase for the trip home.

Having packed everything and swept the apartment for loose items we checked out and walked the 20-minute stroll to Tokyo station. Teneille was not impressed about halfway through when one of her suitcase wheels appeared to give up under pressure. Not sure what she expected from a cheap Kmart suitcase she only bought because it was pink but there you have it.

We arrived at Tokyo station and grabbed a snack from the cafe before using the QR codes I’d printed to try and access the gates. The codes worked and the gates issued proper tickets for us to use for the journey. We headed for our platform and found the area where carriage five would pull up. I was quite stressed about finding where we needed to go but everything was relatively easy which meant we were on the platform 40 minutes before our departure time. I’m not even sorry.

Our bullet train.

Our bullet train, or Shinkansen as it is known in Japan, arrived on time as expected of the Japanese transport system. The drive to Kyoto would be almost two hours. Our train will do it in just over two courtesy of 300kmh+ top speeds. My only gripe with the bullet trains are the limited storage capacity for big suitcases which means first in, best dressed. We, as it turns out, were not best dressed. Oh well. A little cramped with our seats then.

We arrived in Kyoto on time and opted for a taxi to our hotel given the bung wheel on Teneille’s suitcase. It would have been a roughly 25-minutes before our walk otherwise. The ride only cost 1000 yen or about $10. Bargain. A similar ride in Sydney would have charged my like $30 I imagine. A Sydney cabbie would charge you $10 just for looking at their car.

We headed into the lobby to check in to our Kyoto home for the next week and the receptionist asked for our passports to log into the system. Our passports. Instant dread washed over my entire body. I’d left them I. The room safe of our apartment in Tokyo. An absolutely monumental fuck up. No other way to describe it.

Interesting carpet choice in our hotel.

I called the complex in Tokyo and explained our situation. The lovely woman on the phone said she would go check the room straight away and could I call back in 10 minutes. What followed was 10 minutes of Teneille telling me it was going to be ok and thank God she didn’t leave the passports behind. When I called back they said they had found the passports and could courier them to us in Kyoto. They also kindly scanned each passport and emailed it to me so we could check in at the Kyoto accommodation as well.

We finally got settled into our new home which is an out-and-out hotel as opposed to an apartment like we had in Tokyo. No kitchen here or decent-sized fridge but we do have two adjoining rooms which means the kids each have a proper bed. The hotel is apparently styled with a manga inspiration which makes for some interesting carpet and wall patterns.

The view from our room.

We had dinner at a place directly across the road which was similar to the one we ate at on our last night in Tokyo except the machines had an English setting.

We then retired for the night although I was still uneasy about our passports being somewhere other than my hands. The Tokyo apartment staff said we should have them within two days. Fingers crossed they arrive safely or the kids might get to love in Japan permanently.

Day two

We awoke on our first morning in Kyoto to rain and opted to have a relaxed day instead of our original plans. A lot of the Kyoto activities are outdoors so rain is not ideal but it is scheduled to clear the following day.

We decided to wait for a break in the rain before walking to a local shopping centre for lunch and a look around. We also decided to use the additional free time to get some washing done at the hotel.

I wonder what this restaurant specialises in…

Before we could leave, though, our room phone rang. We had a package downstairs at the front desk. Our passports had traveled through the night and arrived before lunch. About 15 hours from door to door in the end. I cannot describe the relief at having them back in my own hands. Phew. Buoyed by the return of our documentation, we walked up the road to the shops.

Kyoto is an interesting city. It is like it has multiple personality disorder and can’t decide who it wants to be. Along the main roads everything is modern. Shops and restaurants and hotels and apartments and high-end department stores. But just one street back from these modern finishes and you find old Kyoto just beneath the surface - wood panel homes, sloping tiled roofing, power lines going everywhere. It is really quite fascinating.

Kyoto means capital, because that’s what it once was. Japan’s imperial rulers governed from Kyoto for 11 centuries until 1869 when the capital was moved to Tokyo. Kyoto was originally considered as an atomic bomb target by the US during WWII due to a belief the loss of such an important city might force Japan to exit the war. The city was spared, in the end, after US officials opted to replace Kyoto with Nagasaki instead.

A narrow side street off the main drag.

As we walked to the department stores we saw glimpses of the pre-war buildings that Kyoto is famous for thanks to the virtually non-existent bombing it endured during the war.

We went straight to lunch when we arrived at our destination, with Teneille choosing a wagyu steak place. It was pricey but they steak really did melt in your mouth. After eating, we explored the multi-level building as well as the one across the street. There were more AI companion robots, a Nintendo store and a whole bunch of other stuff. Here are some pictures of all those things:

We eventually headed back to the hotel to do some washing and that was the day thanks to all the rain. Hopefully tomorrow comes with a little sun.

Hello Kitty world

We spent our last full day in Tokyo ticking off Emily’s Japan wish list item: Sanrio Puroland AKA Hello Kitty world. Not how I’d choose to spend my last day in Tokyo but hey, it isn’t just my holiday.

We stopped out our bakery for breakfast. No God cars this morning much to everyone’s relief. After feeding the children we headed to the station for the 45-minute train ride to Tama, where Sanrio Puroland is located. Annoyingly, this required a full change of train systems as Tama is outside the Tokyo rail network. That meant buying tickets from Kanda to Shinjuku on the JR system then going through the barriers and finding barriers fore the Keiko line for which we had to buy separate tickets.

Kairi being Kairi.

We eventually made it to Tama and the short walk to our destination. Sanrio Puroland is really like a giant multilevel warehouse they loaded up with Hello Kitty stuff. Areas inside have been set up as the houses of various characters, there are food courts and shops, a couple of rides (and I use the term rides very loosely here, and in the centre of the complex is a giant tree around which characters parade at certain times.

Emily enjoying a spot of tea.

And a bath.

We visited a couple of the houses, had something to eat, wandered the shops and had a quick photoshoot with Hello Kitty and My Melody. I don’t get it. But the kids liked it so that’s the whole point, I guess.

We then retraced our steps along the train line to our apartment to make a start on packing ahead of our departure tomorrow.

Hello Kitty giving us the finger?

Emily with My Melody.

Dinner was a restaurant-type place we’d walked past a few times near our apartment that Teneille was keen to try. You simply walked in, ordered what you wanted from a screen near the doors and then sat at a table until your order was called. A very kind staff member helped us out as the machine was Japanese only. Everything we ordered was too big and we felt bad not being able to eat it all. The food was ok but probably not what Teneille had expected when she first saw the place. Very reasonably priced, though.

We stopped at 7 Eleven for ice cream and went to bed. Bullet train to Kyoto tomorrow.