Kyoto, Koyasan and Kleptomaniacs!
Well, this is going to be a little break from the diving posts as I’ve not been diving for a while (hopefully thta will all change tomorrow if the weather is good). I’ve just come back from a week in the Kansai area of Japan, and thought I should give a bit of a travel report.
My travel companion for this particular trip was my current dive buddy, Lindsey. In fact, I only went on this trip as she was going and invited me to come along. But I digress… The first few days were spent in Osaka. Now this is a very industrial and business-centred city, very much in contrast to Kyoto. All of the services and amenities offered are for the working community, and not really for tourists. That’s not to say you shouldn’t go there if you visit Japan - it’s certainly worth a visit. Accomodation varied from a capsule hotel (not dissimilar to an oversized coffin), to a freezing temple halfway up a mountain, to a love hotel! Now the last 2 in that list probably need a little explanation. We decided to stay at a temple in a small town called Koyasan, about 90 minutes on the train from Osaka. We didn’t realise that when we got there it would be snowing and -1C! Slightly chilly when you’ve come from Okinawa and a warm 24 degrees. We found out this temple had only minimal heating, and so spent most of the evning and night huddled round a small gas heater, which seemed to work for about 3 hours before shutting itself off! Well, it was an experience…
And as for the love hotel, well first off they are certainly not the seedy places that would instantly come into your mind! They are surprisingly underused and I would recommend them to anyone who is coming to Japan and needs to find a decent enough hotel or bed at short notice. You walk into the hotel and the first thing you notice is that there are no people. You will see a wall with pictures of all the rooms, the ones which are available will be lit up. If you want to buy a “stay” at a room (that is usually from around 10pm to 11am) then it will cost around 8-10,000 yen. You press the button on the room and the light will go out. You then go to a counter where you pay the money here. The main thing about these hotels is the discretion offered - you never actually see someone else’s face. You put the money on the counter and then go to your room. Now these rooms can be very nice - the one we stayed in had DVDs, karaoke, Playstation 2, very sizeable bath and shower and lots more. Others will come with jucuzzi or even exercise equipment in the room (just incase you wake up at 3am and decide you must get on that treadmill!). Even for the experience they are worth doing, and it does make a nice change from a capsule hotel. Don’t have any pics from the love hotel but I can provide a link. The place I stayed in Osaka was near Namba station and was the Club Chapel Hotel. It’s next to the capsule hotel down there and very convenient if you miss the last train back home.
Wow - that took some explanation! Where was I… ah yes, my Osaka trip. Highlights included going to see a football game (Cerezo Osaka vs Kufo) and seeing my first cherry blossoms starting to bloom. Another thing you should do if you ever visit Osaka is go to Amerika Mura (known as “Ame Mura” to the Japanese). It is like a mini-Harajuku, with crazy fashions all over the place. I love people watching and this is one of the best places in Japan to do it. Goths, lolitas, girls in Victorian dresses - they’re all here on a weekend, vying for attention and envious glances. The fashions confuse me completely, yet I’m fascinated by them as very often they just seem to work.
And then after a few days in Osaka it was time to move to Kyoto. Now this is a beautiful city, and would be my 2nd choice of place to live behind Okinawa. It has a lot of history, a lot of culture and as far as I know was pretty much spared during WWII. Highlights of this leg of the trip included visiting Sanjusangendo (a huge temple featuring 1000 statues surrounding a central buddha figure), and Kinkaku-ji (a gold-covered temple in beautiful gardens). But the best part for me was probably on the first evening we were in Kyoto. We went for a walk around Gion in the early evening, which is one of the geisha districts of Kyoto. The walk along the canal was very pretty, with cherry blossoms starting to bloom and cobbled streets glistening from the earlier rain. Across the canal you could see into exclusive teahouses and restaurants, where salarymen were being entertained and served by geisha and maikos. And then I heard a gasp from a few people as a geisha appeared from a side street, on her way to an appointment. As someone with a strong interest in Japanese culture and tradition, this was amazing to see, and I was pleased to see it and get one photo of her before she disappeared off to her workplace.
At this time I should also give big credit to the ryokan we stayed at the first night in Kyoto, Ryokan Uemura. It’s a great little place and the owner will do everything she can to make you feel welcome and enjoy your stay. If I head back to Kyoto I will definately try and stay there again.
So that’s a very quick roundup of my stay in the Kansai area. If you’ve been and have any further comments on what I’ve written, let me know. Or if you’re planning a trip to that area and want some advice then get in touch and I’ll be happy to help you out. Just found out I’ve got a dive buddy for tomorrow, so diving is on! Back to normal service and diving posts in the next couple of days.
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- Big in Japan | A weekend in Kyoto and Osaka pingbacked on April 5, 2007, 12:32 pm
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- Big in Japan | Good diving day (and cuttlefish closeup!) pingbacked on August 6, 2007, 2:26 pm
Great report Dave and lovely pics of the statues