Arashiyama, Kyoto

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There were a lot more sakura in Arashiyama than we’d seen in Tokyo and Kyoto.

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More sakura!

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Togetsukyo Bridge, also known by its more romantic name, “Moon Crossing Bridge.” Mount Arashiyama in the background.

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The Hozu River. Mount Arashiyama in the background.

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Hozu River Cruise boats.

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Togetsukyo Bridge, also known by its more romantic name, “Moon Crossing Bridge.”

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I had sakura-flavored soft serve. This may be the same river as above, but was a different bridge.

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A street in Arashiyama.

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We were looking for a lunch spot. This is one of the places we checked out. A lot of places have these fake food displays to show you what they serve.

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I noticed this street vendor selling dried strawberries. He was giving out samples and I had one. It was so good, I bought a bag of them! So sweet, but not sugared. I want some more right now!

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We had lunch at a spot that specialized in soba noodles. I had the soup with shrimp tempura.

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This was our lunch bill. The only thing we understood was the last line, which meant 2 beers.

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This store was selling purses and some other things. I like the building.

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A street vendor in Arashiyama. Actually, there were a lot of street vendors selling everything from takoyaki to soft serve to pickles to dumplings. We even saw small whole fish speared on a stake and grilled for sale.

On our second day in Kyoto, we hopped on the JR again and took a short ride to Arashiyama, a district in the western outskirts of Kyoto. This place is a quaint little town and is so pretty. We knew we’d be spending a lot of time in ultra-urban Tokyo, so it was nice to see rivers and bridges and trees and mountains, a more rustic setting. Our main reason for visiting Arashiyama was to see some monkeys (more on that later!) but these are some photos of the town itself, which was also very nice.

Shinkansen Train to Kyoto and Back with the JR Pass

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Waiting for the Shinkansen at Tokyo Station.

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Our Japan Rail Passes. They say Ordinary because they’re not the Green Passes, which are first class passes.

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Inside the Shinkansen. On the way there we had unreserved seats because all the reserved seats in non-smoking cars* were sold out. The rows are two-seats wide and three-seats wide. We were in the two seat wide side. On the way back we got reserved seats, but they were on the three seat side and an older gentleman sat next to Dallas for part of the ride. He just kept to himself and read a a book written in Japanese. The tourist couple across the aisle wrote about 100 postcards before getting off the train! *Yes, there are still smoking trains! Smoking is till very much a part of Japanese culture.

The easiest way to get around Japan is by going on the Shinkansen, a fast train also known as the “bullet train.” The network of trains is operated by JR (Japan Rail). We wanted to take a side trip to Kyoto and heard that the fare for Tokyo to Kyoto is roughly the same as a 7-day JR Pass, if you buy it ahead of time before going to Japan, so that is what we did. Then we weren’t out anything and if we ended up using it more, it was like getting extra trips for free. When you order the JR Pass, you are actually FedExed vouchers. Then when you get to Japan, you exchange the vouchers for the actual passes. I did this when we were at the airport waiting for our shuttle into Tokyo.

The JR from Tokyo to Kyoto was pretty easy to figure out. All the signs and announcements were in English as well as Japanese and the attendants all spoke both. We found that when we were in Kyoto and took the JR to the western outskirts it was a bit more difficult. Most things were in only Japanese, but we still figured it out without too much problem.

The Shinkansen trains themselves look awesome on the outside. Inside, they’re pretty much like the Amtrak (no chargers, though).

The ride between Tokyo and Kyoto is about 2.5 hours, I think. It wasn’t too bad. I liked seeing Japan out the window. Japan outside of Tokyo and Kyoto. We passed by big cities, small villages, and people fishing on riverbanks. We saw industry and farming. There were greenhouses and mountains and the ocean. It was very hazy, but we made out Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan. We saw the Nagoya Dome, where the Chunichi Dragons (pro baseball) play. We also saw a lot of building with big brand names in Japan, including this crazy Panasonic Solar Ark. Dallas was against spending a lot of time on the train and “wasting” time on the train, but I thought it was pretty interesting. And 2.5 hours each way isn’t that bad.

Here are a few videos I took:

Shinkansen train pulling into the station at Kyoto.

Pulling out of a station between Kyoto and Tokyo. You can hear the announcements in Japanese and English. As a bonus you can hear Dallas cracking open a beer.

A clip I took of some towns between Tokyo and Kyoto. Really doesn’t look too different than home.