Okay, we actually didn’t walk; we took a night bus.
This past March, two of my friends and I went on a four day trip to Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto is known as the Old Capital, where many historical buildings from the days of the Samurai reside. The adventure was fantastic, tiring, expensive, and absolutely wonderful.
Let’s meet our cast of characters… There’s me–the hyper and bouncy American, there’s the German named Melanie–a queen of all things dark and cynical, and there’s the Chinese girl, Kaki–the cutest and sweetest person in the whole wide world. Melanie and I both speak English, but Kaki only speaks it a little bit. We therefore communicated in a smattering of “Japlish,” or “Engrish.”
Our adventure began late in the evening, as we boarded the night bus from Tokyo that would take us straight to Kyoto. The trip was around six hours long, and I have yet to master the Japanese art of sleeping while sitting up. I was highly uncomfortable throughout the trip, and at one point seriously considered just sleeping in the aisle of the bus. I’ve done it once before when I was younger, and I had my head stepped on. I chose not to this time.
We arrived at the buttcrack of dawn, and proceeded to get lost on our way to the youth hostel where we would be staying. Eventually we found the way, dropped off our things, then headed straight to sightseeing. While in Kyoto we were able to buy a day bus pass, but navigating the bus routes was a science that required a PhD. in cryptography. I’m also pretty sure our map was outdated. I left it to Melanie and Kaki to figure out where we were going. We often had to stop and ask for directions. Well, I say “we,” but really it was Kaki who asked since she is nearly fluent in Japanese.
We visited many shrines and temples while in Kyoto. (What’s the difference, you ask? A shrine is Shinto, and a temple is Buddhist). One of my favorites was visiting the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. This shrine has many torii, or gates, that mark your entrance into a divine space. These gates are donated by people or organizations. You can even go on a hike that takes around two hours, just passing through countless gates, constantly entering a holier and holier place. The shrine is dedicated to Inari, the god/goddess of fertility, rice, foxes, industry, and other things. I bought a cute foxy stuffed animal as a souvenir.
We also visited Toei Studios. It produces many period dramas, the shows set in Samurai times. These are very popular and abundant in Japan. We were able to walk around the set that was a recreation of an old town and is used for the dramas. This studio also produces the Power Rangers shows, and much popular anime!
Our second day we went to Osaka and saw a castle. It was plum blossom season, and we were able to engage in flower viewing. I took way too many pictures, but the blossoms were absolutely gorgeous. It was the Osaka Castle’s own plum garden, and it was crowded with people. Flower viewing is very popular in Japan. People will just plant themselves down, grab a snack or drink, and enjoy the beauty of their country’s nature. We didn’t enter the castle itself, but we were able to walk around it.
The third day was my favorite day, because we went to Nara Park, a place famous for its deer. I absolutely love animals, and being able to see, feed, and pet the deer was just the best possible thing for me! The deer, or shika, are larger than a Great Dane, but much smaller than the deer we have in Michigan. They are able to roam free and aren’t hunted in the park. Legend has it a god visited the area, riding a white deer. I did way too much buying of little crackers to feed to the deer. The deer will even bow to you sometimes, if you hold the cracker over their heads! They will also follow you if you’re eating food — this was something Melanie learned the hard way, as she was trying to eat a sweet potato, only to end up kiting around a deer who wanted very much to eat the people food.
Our fourth day was seeing more temples and shrines in Kyoto, doing a little shopping, and our return. Again, another uncomfortable ride on a night bus, but it actually didn’t seem that long. Again, we returned at the buttcrack of dawn, to a rainy Tokyo. We hopped on the train, went to our rooms, and I ended up sleeping away nearly the entire day, just absolutely exhausted.
Kyoto was amazing. I love being able to visit shrines and temples, and simply being in a city filled with so much history is fascinating. It was a great trip, with great pals who put up with me all the way.
Editor: Noel Carlson