Shinkansen to Kyoto

Waiting at Tokyo station


We checked out of our hotel and headed for the nearest subway station on the Ginza line to Tokyo station. The metro system in Tokyo is just so efficient you begin to wonder whether a minor delay caused by a glitch or an "incident" on the line might clog up the whole system and cause it to go into meltdown.

Having purchased vouchers for a 14-day Japan Rail Pass, these were duly exchanged at the JR ticket office at Tokyo station and we immediately reserved seats on the next Shinkansen to Kyoto which left at 11.33. For 420 euros, a two-week pass is not a bad deal at all and covers the whole of Japan on JR lines. Considering a single to Kyoto would have cost us 13,000 yen (around 130 euros), and we would be covering twice that distance (with diversions) and back, it works out more than worthwhile.


Our carriage awaits

We killed time on the platform whilst the pink-uniformed cleaners went through each of the carriages, reversing the seats back into a forward position as they did so (the train has just arrived from the other direction). The rains are so efficient that there were a precious 4 minutes left to board the train and settle when they completed their task.

This was not the fastest bullet train between here and Kyoto (which takes two hours and requires a supplement for JR pass holders) which takes just two hours, ours took just two and three-quarters. The track stops at Yokohama before skirting round the south of Fujisan (sadly shrouded in mist) and then along the coast to Nagoya before turning inland and going cross-country towards Kyoto and onwards to the port of Osaka.

The Shinkansen is impressive, but once you are flying at top speed (somewhere round 300 kph), you feel too comfortable to notice. You might just as well be flying!


Raph enjoying the feel of speed

As per the norm in this country, the train arrived bang on time in Kyoto at 14.16. We alighted, headed for the tourist information office to orientate ourselves in a new city. Kyoto "only" has 1.73 million inhabitants, so is much more manageable and less crowded than Tokyo (my sort of town!) We caught the 26 bus to the Utano youth hostel where we checked in shortly after 4 o'clock. We were given the keys to our 4-berth dorm in this extremely modern hostel, where Jiman awaited us. Jiman lay exhausted on his bunk as we walked into the dorm, but eventually roused and we introduced ourselves. He was from Seoul in Korea and was spending a week on holiday in Japan, the first time he had ever travelled abroad. For someone who has never ventured beyond their shores before, Jiman had very god English.

We swapped stories about Japan and then decided, with time to spare that we would head out to one of the local temples. At the bus stop 5 minutes later, one of the youth hostel workers, came running towards us telling us not to attempt the journey, most temples around Kyoto closed their doors at 5. After some deliberation and advice from said youth hostel worker, we were persuaded to take bikes out and visit a couple of local beauty spots. And so we ventured out onto Japanese roads on two wheels…

After 5 minutes we chanced on the Hirosawa Pond (pond as in and American pond rather than a small pool I should guess). On the northern edge of Kyoto set against the backdrop of forested foothills, this was an idyllic setting, flanked on the one hand by paddy fields and bamboo groves.


Raph and Jiman at Hirosawa Pond

We sped on further to the Togetso-Kyu bridge spanning the broad Hozugawa river in Arashiyama, backed by wooded slopes, reminiscent in many ways of Heidelberg or Durham, but with an undeniable Japanese look.


Hozugawa river in Arashiyama

We cycled back through a typically Japanese residential neighbourhood criss-crossed by a couple of railway tracks. Japan is truly a train-buff's paradise!

Local line in northern Kyoto

Back at the hostel we had our evening meal and sat around watched the world go by (literally, since there are so many nationalities staying here).


Raph slumming it in Kyoto