11 KiB
| title | draft | date |
|---|---|---|
| Traveling to 日本 | true | 2023-01-31T09:28:13-08:00 |
At the beginning of April 2023, {{< tess >}} and I traveled to Japan for two weeks.
{{< ruby Kyōto ja >}}京都{{< /ruby >}}
After a twelve hour flight from San Franciso, we landed in Osaka around 2:30 in the afternoon on Sunday. We cleared customs, and headed to the {{< ruby Haruka ja >}}はるか{{< /ruby >}} Express from KIX to Kyōto. After taking a brief walk around the neighborhood to get our bearings, we found dinner at a tiny izakaya in an alley on the western side of Kyōto's biggest river, the {{< ruby Kamogawa ja >}}鴨川{{< /ruby >}}.
Day 2
The next day we were up bright and early -- thanks jet lag! -- and headed to {{< ruby "Fushimi Inari-Taisha" ja >}}伏見稲荷大社{{< /ruby >}} a Shinto shrine taking up an entire mountain known for its [sprawling pathways][fushimi-inari-torii] lined with bright vermillion {{< ruby torii ja
}}鳥居{{< /ruby >}}.
{{< figures/image name="fushimi-inari-path.jpg" >}}
We had lunch with Tess' friend and colleague Florian and his wife Namino at a nearby spot known for its grilled eel. That afternoon, we walked from our AirBnb up to [{{< ruby Kiyomizu-dera ja >}}清水寺{{< /ruby >}}][kiyomizu-dera-post] temple, a Buddhist temple in the hills on the east side of Kyoto, then wandered back through Gion and down the arcade shopping streets in central Kyoto. We ended the night at a newly-opened craft beer bar run by a French man with a substantial selection of craft beers from all over Japan.
Day 3
The third day, we were up early again. We got a quick breakfast at a local place, and hopped on the train to {{< ruby Nara ja >}}奈良{{< /ruby >}}, the ancient capital city of Japan. Nara's main city park is home to hundreds of wild deer that tourists can feed with rice crackers bought from stands throughout the park.
The main draw for us was {{< ruby Tōdai-ji ja >}}東大寺{{< /ruby >}} temple, a Buddhist temple in the middle of Nara Park that houses a truly enormous cast bronze Buddha. After visiting our biggest buddy, we grabbed lunch at a cafe in Nara and hopped back on the train to Kyoto.
Once we made it back, we took a bus up to {{< ruby Kinkaku-ji ja >}}金閣寺{{< /ruby >}} temple, a.k.a. the Golden Pavillion.
{{< photo "2023/kinkaku-ji" >}}
We ended the day with a stop at [Beer Pub Takumiya][beerpub-takimuya], staffed by three gregarious and friendly Japanese guys. We got some much-needed time off our feet and had a good time chatting with them, and the Austrailian guy who sat next to us. After struggling to find a noodle place, we ended up at a small izakaya in a tiny alley off one of Kyoto's busy main streets.
Day 4
Our fourth and final full day in Kyoto was rainy. We started with a stop at Lorimer Kyoto for a real Japanese breakfast. The food was fantastic, though we were both a little put off by the constant stream of Christian praise music they had going. We stopped at Walden Woods for a coffee on the way back to the Airbnb.
After collecting a load of laundry we'd left in the machine downstairs, we took the train north a few stops and walked over to {{< ruby Heian-jingu ja
}}平安神宮{{< /ruby >}}. (Explanation of what this shrine is.) Wrapping around the shrine itself is a beautiful garden filled with native trees and plants, ponds and rivers. It was lovely to wander the pathways in the light rainfall.
We walked from there to the [Kyoto Handicrafts Center][kyoto-handicrafts-center], stopped in a place for udon, and took a bus over to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto-Gyoen. We had hoped to catch an English language tour, but it was canceled that day, so we took a brochure and wandered the grounds, marveling at the blending of Heian and Edo period architecture. The grounds have some lovely gardens.
On the way to the palace we happened upon [Tozando][tozando] where they sell martial arts gear, including {{< ruby iaitō ja >}}居合刀{{< /ruby >}} and real {{< ruby nihontō ja >}}日本刀{{< /ruby >}}. One of my goals for this trip was to find and purchase a sword, and I did!
After our stop at Tozando, we met our friends Ana, Megumi, and their new baby Sen for dinner at their apartment near Kyoto University. Ana and Megumi are real foodies and pulled out all the stops for us: two very interesting bottles of sake, a 60-day dry aged ribeye, and a number of {{< ruby kyo-yasai ja >}} 京野菜{{< /ruby >}}, or locally grown veggies. We wrapped it all up with freshly made mochi wrapped in mulberry leaves, and some popcicles.
Day 5
Thursday was a travel day. We had breakfast and coffee in the morning, then packed up and checked out of our AirBnb. With a few hours to go until our train to {{< ruby Kanazawa jp >}}金沢{{< /ruby >}}, we did some shopping and wrote some postcards. After a quick bowl of ramen for lunch, we caught the {{< ruby Thunderbird ja >}}サンダーバード{{< /ruby >}} Express from Kyoto to Kanazawa.
{{< ruby Kanazawa ja >}}金沢{{< /ruby >}}
We arrived at our ryokan almost two hours late. They had clearly been waiting for us. We were greeted warmly by the staff and led to our room where we were given tea and a sweet and educated about how to wear our yukata and samue by a very sweet and patient Japanese lady. We took some time to get settled in our room, bathed, and enjoyed our private onsen bath. Dinner was at 19:00: an elaborate {{< ruby kaiseki ja >}}解析{{< /ruby >}} meal made up of a multitude of small dishes of all different kinds.
Day 6
In the morning, our Japanese hostess brought us breakfast. Tess enjoyed the onsen in our room while I explored the public onsen on the grounds. Our ryokan has three public baths: one large gender-segregated bath downstairs, and two baths on the roof that swap between men-only and women-only at set times of day.
At 10 we took a shuttle to Mattō station and a local train to {{< ruby "Kanazawa Station" ja en >}}金沢駅{{< /ruby >}}. When we arrived in Kanazawa, we walked to [Curio Espresso][curio-espress] for a coffee. (Breakfast didn't include coffee, and neither Tess nor I are quite able to give that up.) From there we walked to Kanazawa Castle and the {{< ruby Kenrokuen ja >}} 兼六園{{< /ruby >}} garden.
On advice from Ana, we tried to go to [7th Gyoza no Mise][7th-gyoza], but it ended up being too long a wait. From there we got back on the bus to Kanazawa Eki, got some lunch in the station, and took the local train back to Mattō.
Back at the ryokan, we had a langorous soak in the onsen and another beautiful and delicious kaiseki meal before turning in for the night.
Day 7
Time to leave the ryokan. In the morning we had breakfast at the ryokan and then got ready to check out by 10:00. We took the shuttle to Mattō station, and the local train to Kanazawa. There, we bought a pair of tickets for the {{< ruby shinkansen ja >}}新幹線{{< /ruby >}} to {{< ruby Tōkyō ja >}}東京{{< /ruby >}}.
Fast trains gonna go fast.
{{< ruby Tōkyō ja >}}東京{{< /ruby >}}
Our train dropped us off at {{< ruby "Tōkyō Station" ja >}}東京駅{{< /ruby >}}, which is quite an introduction to the hustle of Japan's biggest city. In terms of sheer size and number of people, Tōkyō is on another level from any city I've been in. We made it successfully to the Uedo line that brought us to a stop near our hotel, the [New Otani][new-otani].
After we got settled, we went for a walk around our new neighborhood. We both needed a little pick-me-up, and we found [Hocus Pocus][hocus-pocus], a small nearby cafe selling donuts and pour over coffee.
Despite the rain, we still wanted to get out and explore a bit. We took the train over to {{< ruby Shinjuku ja >}}新宿{{< /ruby >}} station where I got some good pictures of the bright lights of Shinjuku in the rain. We got soup curry at [Dominica][dominica-maps], a hard-to-find spot down an alley and a flight of stairs, and one of Tess' favorite spots. It was fantastic. She was also excited to show me some of her favorite spots in Shinjuku 2丁目, Tōkyō's gayborhood, so we closed out the night with drinks at [Rainbow Burritos][rainbow-burritos-maps].
Day 8
After more than a week in Japan, this was the first that I actually slept until a reasonable wake up time: 7:00. Imagine!
Tess and I were up and out reasonably early this morning, and took the train to Shibuya where we found coffee and toast at a small boutique shop called [Rec Coffee][rec-coffee]. This place was great. Tess bought some beans to take home. ☕️
After coffee, we walked back to Shibuya station to say hello to the goodest good boy that ever was good, Hachiko.
{{< photo "2023/shibuya-hachiko" >}}
We crossed the Scramble and spent a while perusing the floors of [Hands][hands], where we (fortunately; more on that later) bought umbrellas, and then dove into Harajuku.
We got [souflée pancakes][souflee-pancakes] for lunch at [Rainbow Pancake][rainbow-pancake] and wandered down Cat Street checking out shops along the way.
Tess' friend Ray met us at the end of Takeshita-dori as it started to rain. After a rather intense and very brief rain storm (including some hail and lightning -- so glad we happend to buy umbrellas earlier!) we sat and chatted at Blue Bottle, bought some gifts at [Kiddy Land][kiddy-land], and I bought a yukata at a vintage clothing store called Chicago.
- [Five G][five-g] synth shop
- Seiko Seed
- Meiji-jingu
We wrapped up our day with dinner at [Sushizanmai][sushizanmai] and a drink at [Goodbeer Faucets][goodbeer].
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
[fushimi-inari-torii]: {{< ref "/photos/2023/fushimi-inari-torii" >}} "Fushimi Inari Torii" [kiyomizu-dera-post]: {{< ref "/photos/2023/kiyomizu-dera-pagoda" >}} "Kiyomizu-Dera Pagoda" [kyoto-handicrafts-center]: # [tozando]: # [beerpub-takimuya]: https://maps.apple.com/?address=%E3%80%92604-0836,%20%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%BA%9C%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%B8%82%E4%B8%AD%E4%BA%AC%E5%8C%BA,%20%E8%88%B9%E5%B1%8B%E7%94%BA400&auid=18427312708155676432&ll=35.012182,135.760673&lsp=9902&q=BEER%20PUB%20Takumiya [curio-espress]: https://www.curioespresso.com/our-story/ [7th-gyoza]: https://www.white-gyouza.co.jp/branch/kanazawa.html [new-otani]: https://www.newotani.co.jp/en/tokyo/ [hocus-pocus]: https://hocuspocus.jp/ [dominica-maps]: https://goo.gl/maps/spLdi6JwYfcFPdmY8 [rainbow-burritos-maps]: https://goo.gl/maps/p3wx1Rs3yXVmPaU76 [rec-coffee]: https://rec-coffee.com/pages/shibuyahigashi [hands]: https://info.hands.net/ [rainbow-pancake]: http://rainbowpancake.net [souflee-pancakes]: {{< ref "/photos/2023/souflee-pancakes" >}} "Souflée Pancakes" [kiddy-land]: https://www.kiddyland.co.jp/ [five-g]: https://fiveg.net/ [sushizanmai]: https://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/sushi/cheapo-sushi-sushizanmai/ [goodbeer]: #