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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Dumbidiot1323 on 2024-03-06 20:34:22.
With September out of the way, I am finally motivated to write properly again! The next two months were packed with lots of travel and some of my favourite moments during my time in Japan. As always, you can find previous reports down below.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Tokyo
Something I failed to mention in my September post is that during that month, I made a Japanese friend in Tokyo! I found her on Hello Talk (previously mentioned in my first Sapporo report when I had a random meetup with someone there) and we met up when I got back Tokyo to go to the Berserk exhibition. Both of us were fans of the series and I still vividly remember the day I woke up and got news that Miura had passed away. The manga holds a special place in my heart, to say the least. This exhibition was absolutely amazing. It took quite a bit not to tear up at some of the panels and especially when I saw Guts' greatsword like this. Would have loved to pick up some merch but it was obscenely overpriced, unfortunately.
My time in Tokyo was rather short this time because as the title of this thread suggests, I finally made my way to Kyoto. Another thing I don't think I mentioned so far is how different the Shinkansen experience is on Nozomi trains compared to Sakura/Hikari ones as a regular tourist with the JR Pass (RIP to that one nowadays, though). The Nozomi train was/is not included in the pass and even when borders reopened, the trains remained relatively empty compared to the other types, which was great.
Kyoto
And so I made my way to Kyoto, the city I have somewhat of a love and hate relationship with. The first time I went there, I barely even remember what I did because I suffered from some sort of food poisoning. The second time I went there, I didn't enjoy it all too much because it was so unbelievably packed back in 2019. Granted, we always hit the usual spots back then but still - it was not that enjoyable to walk around Kyoto as it felt more like an open-air museum than a city.
But I had the benefit of being able to visit Kyoto before regular tourism resumed and it was so, so different. Just writing about it is weird because on one hand, it was an absolute joy to wander the streets with barely anybody there and actually seeing the sights without fighting hordes of people or rushing to not stand in someone's photo while on the other hand I knew that a lot of people relied on tourism to keep afloat. Somewhat mixed feelings in my mind about that time.
On the day I arrived, an obligatory visit to Fushimi Inari in the evening was a must for me. I was even lucky to be there when there was some sort of lantern illumination event. I'll let the pictures do the talking for this one. Mind you, this was at around 6-8pm - which in normal years would still have plenty of people around.
The following day, I went to Kiyomizudera for the first time ever. I will keep repeating myself and it might get annoying but... aside school classes, there was barely anyone there so I got to take some great pictures of a relatively empty temple. Since it was around the corner, I also checked out the Yasaka pagoda and strolled (can't exactly remember what place this was), towards Maruyama park, ultimately ending up at Yasaka itself.
This was a rather long day because I also then walked to Heian Jingu. I could have probably taken a bus at any point but to be honest, I was in the mood for walking (as per usual) and it was probably the correct decision. Once I checked that out, I made my way to the final destination of the day, which was Ginkakuji, the less famous "brother" of Kinkakuji. At the time, this place was pretty damn empty. I really enjoyed this one much more than Kinkakuji. Kinkakuji is just one golden temple and you walk through the area in like five minutes. Ginkakuji might not be as shiny, but the garden around it makes up for it. I also got there at the perfect time for sunset! As the sun set further, I made my way back to the airbnb I was staying at, enjoying the peaceful streets.
I actually went to the pagoda a day later in the evening to try and get some better pics and...unfortunately, this car just didn't move away from this spot for ages so it ended up on the shot one way or another. On another day, I actually did go to Kinkakuji and this was basically right after borders had reopened. I didn't expect too many people there and even though it was still rather empty, there were already a few tour groups around. A sign of what was to come in the months ahead! I also visited Ryoan-ji, which I strolled to from Kinkakuji. The north-west side of Kyoto is pretty much never mentioned when people talk about the city and I've only really checked this place out but am absolutely planning to visit this side of Kyoto more in the future. It's very quiet, a bit more residential and made for a really nice, relaxing walk through the side streets. Topped the short trip here off with a katsu curry in a small, local shop!
Nara
Of course, a visit to Nara was obligatory. I think I've only been there once before and barely remembered much due to being sick at the time, so this was basically a brand new experience. I must say, I am not the biggest fan of the deer and think they're kind of overrated and more...annoying than fun. So I somewhat beelined to Kofuku-ji and then Todai-ji. The latter being extremely impressive, which is probably nothing new to people who've read trip reports before. But damn, it's so damn huge, it made me wonder how people built that back in the day. I also went to Nigatsu-do and took a little break in a restaurant across it, having some curry udon. The last stop of the day was Kasuga-Taisha - which I have actually just never been to before, despite it being quite famous apparently. It's quite the beautiful place, both the shrine and the surroundings itself since it's pretty much in the middle of the woods. There's also sort of a "dark room" where you simply walk through, only lanterns faintly burning inside.
I was quite exhausted at that point if I remember correctly, so I headed back to Kyoto, had an amazing ramen and then turned in for the night.
Uji
Another day with brilliant weather lent itself well to visiting Uji at the time. It is a short train ride away from Kyoto and known for its matcha, but there are also a few shrines and temples worth visiting. Most notably Byodoin. Uji river looks fantastic at this time of the year. One of the many things I love about Japan is that this sort of scenery is found all across the country. Wide rivers, forests to the side, shrines nestled within them and hills or mountains in the "background". I never got enough of these sorts of views. On my little hike I visited Ujigami shrine, of which I only took these two pictures of
Somewhat close to Ujigami is Kosho-ji, which doesn't even have a reception or anything - you can get a ticket at a vending machine in front of the place and nobody checks. It's an often repeated stereotype, but a lot of things in Japan truly are built on trust. Nobody would notice if anyone were to walk into this place without a ticket, but everyone buys one all the same. You can walk through the interior sanctuary and check out the well maintained garden here. This was a while ago of course but even now I don't think this would have many tourists flocking to it, so if you want to check a more "off the beaten path" location in Uji, this one is it!
Kifune Shrine
Speaking of "off the beaten path" locations, Kifune shrine is rarely mentioned in travel itineraries either. That might be because it's outside of Kyoto city, to the north. If I recall correctly, the train ride takes about 30 minutes from Demachi-Yanagi station. Once you arrive at Kibune-guchi station, you can either take the bus up the road to the shrine, or you can walk 20-30 minutes. As always, I opted for the walk, which was fantastic. That being said, you will be walking right next to the road, so if you don't like the occasional car or bus driving past you, take the bus itself. The road is surrounded by mountains and there's a river ...
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