Jo Does Japan Part Two.

Kyoto. 29th December.

Picking straight up from Part One, the next day I caught the train to Kyoto…eventually. Korea definitely does train stations better than the Japanese. Although the Shinkansen was more comfortable than the KTX, albeit bloody expensive, the lack of helpful English signage meant I needed help to figure out what platform I needed to be on. Aside from the fact the English Tourist Information Centre at Kyoto Station was closed for the holidays, I preferred Kyoto to Osaka immediately.

I checked into the hostel, despite the crappy directions-why do hostels always assume you have a compass or an innate sense of direction-“Get off the bus and walk west.” After dropping off my bag I started checking out the sights straight away. I was waiting at the bus stop when a bus pulled up and the driver asked me where I was heading, I told him Kinkakuji. He told me to get on and then he chased down the bus I needed. The problem was that the bus I needed would pull away just as I got near the doors, but my friendly driver would just let me get back on his bus and we’d try again at the next stop-around 5 stops later I managed to get on the right bus.

Kinkakuji or Rokuon-ji Temple-or the Golden Pavilion, was absolutely stunning. Despite the hoards of people snapping pictures too, I could still envision it being a peaceful and beautiful place. It seems when I am alone I visit lots of temples-case in point Taipei. My next stop was Tenryu Temple, aka the Temple of the Heavenly Dragon (picture above), which again was very beautiful, and visitors have the added bonus of being allowed to see the inside of the temple too. Plus it was my first sighting of women in kimonos! The combination of the stunning garden, brisk cold air, and understated yet picturesque buildings made the experience very lovely-and surprisingly I didn’t really mind the fact I spend most my time in Kyoto in some kind of temple or shrine. Behind this temple there is a bamboo grove where I managed to get a couple of good pictures-including one taken by an old man on his knees. (Bless.) After the bamboo grove though I managed to get very lost, I stumbled across some shrines, found the main road, and then ending up in leafy suburbia-with proper houses, cul-de-sacs, and a very confused Jo. Just as it was getting dark I found the main road again, and managed to find a bus stop and get back into central Kyoto and back to my hostel after going to another closed attraction.

I should mention the vending machines in Japan. I didn’t managed to get any pictures of one, but they are impressive-not just hot and cold drinks in cans-like the ones in Korea, but cigarettes and alcohol too….I tried to imagine a similar thing in the UK and all I could see was baying mobs of teenagers with hoods and crowbars.

Kyoto. 30 December.

This was the day I got snap happy with the camera. I was very lucky with the weather too-it felt like spring and was surprisingly warm, though obviously my warm is your arctic temperatures! I took advantage of the nice weather and walked to the train station from the hostel and popped into my first Temple of the day, Nishi Honganji Temple which was undergoing major reconstruction work.

Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan for eleven centuries and was devastated on countless occasions by wars, fires, and earthquakes, but the city was spared from the firebombing during the Second World War. As a result it is one of the best preserved cities in Japan, with 2000 Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines, palaces, and gardens. I certainly made it my mission to visit as many of the most famous ones as I could, particularly on this day it seems.

My next stop was Kiyomizu Temple (above and below) which is famous for the fact not a single nail was used in its construction. This is all the more impressive when you consider that the temple is supported by pillars off the slope of a mountain. The views of Kyoto from the veranda were very beautiful and the temple is well used both by locals and tourists. It was also an odd sight seeing Westerners in Kimonos, but each to their own I guess.

The bus system in Kyoto is extremely efficient and easy to use, making sightseeing very simple. I just followed the stops and visited all the sights I wanted, when I wanted. (No, I haven’t got a job for the tourist board of Kyoto) There were two Temples very close to one another that I visited next. Chion-in Temple and Shoren-in Temple. They were both incredible. Chion-in had Koreanesque stairs (it’s all about the stairs) and a massively impressive gate. But I would move into Shoren-in Temple tomorrow if only for the garden (Two pictures below). It once served, briefly, as an imperial palace, and I had it almost entirely to myself. I think being alone for four days had driven me slightly stir crazy, and I had a bit of fun with the 10 second timer on my camera. Good times.

If you have a spare bit of cash, or you just happen to be in the area and want a nice romantic place to visit I recommend the garden at the Heian Jingu Shrine. The beautiful garden definitely served as a friendly reminder of how alone I was feeling. So to cheer myself up, I fiddled around with the ten second timer some more and drained the battery of my camera.

Next, I went to Ginkakuji-or The Silver Pavilion, but I should have turned around at the entrance when I saw the “it’s currently undergoing reconstruction and there is bugger all to see” sign. I then walked around the outside of the Imperial Palace, the park was very much about trees and rocky paths. The sunset through the trees was very fitting though after the day I had. I tried to see some Geishas in Gion but it wasn’t to be, instead couples dressed in Kimonos were being followed by tourists trying to take their pictures as though they were celebrities.

31st December 2008.

I checked out of the hostel, and caught the bus to the airport. I probably could have done a bit more sightseeing but Japan is very expensive and I was pretty content just to chill out at the airport and people watch. From my brief visit to Japan I would definitely want to go back there in the future, but I think I should stop travelling alone. Maybe it’s simply because it was the holiday season but on this trip I was very conscious of how alone I was. It’s not that I am sick of my own company; I think it would just be nice to share the memories with someone else. Still, it’s not everyday you get to be in Japan-unless you are Japanese I guess-and it was a great way to end 2008.

Jo Does Japan Part 1

A last minute booking meant my plans were all very last minute, I wasn’t even able to buy a travel book. Unfortunately, since it was the holiday period I couldn’t find a hostel online in Tokyo, so instead I went to Osaka and Kyoto. It just means (when I have lots of money) I will have to go back to Japan, so it’s not all bad.

Because my flight was at 9:45 in the morning on 27th December I had to spend the night before in a motel in Seoul. For around £15 I got a gorgeous room all to myself, complete with en suite, a computer with access to the internet and a massive plasma screen television, oh and of course it had ondol (under floor heating). For around £15 a night in Osaka I got a tiny room, a TV with no English shows, a foot heater in a room with single glazing (see above)….oh and the website said shared bathroom-I didn’t realise it meant with the rest of the neighbourhood, I mean hostel. It is fairly safe to say that Korean Love Motels (free condoms and bad porn channels anyone!) have slowly destroyed the backpacker in me!

Osaka. 27th December

There are three things you should know about me when I travel. First, I like to plan, or at least have a vague idea of where I am going. This is very difficult without a guide book or in the case of Kyoto when the tourist information centre is closed for the holidays. Second, I don’t like asking strangers to take my picture. It only reinforces the fact I am alone. Third, I don’t like eating out alone. It’s a feeling I am slowly conquering, and if I have a book to read –see the first point-it’s easier to deal with. There probably are other factors too, such as if I can’t sleep I fidget, and I have a tendency to babble if I have been alone for too long. Oh, and I hate asking for directions and I get agitated if I screw up when I am the leader. But hey, no one is perfect.

I had hoped to find a guide book in Osaka so I wasted half a day looking for a book shop (I managed to find a guide book for Germany in Spanish, but nothing relevant for this trip.) When I went back to my hostel that evening there was actually a copy of the Lonely Planet guide there. So I spent the evening copying out the bits I needed into my notebook. I pretty much winged Osaka, which is definitely a new experience for me on the travel front.

After giving up on the quest to find a travel book I hopped on the subway to Osaka Castle (picture above). Like all good castles it had a moat, so I was impressed. Originally built by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, it’s safe to say the castle has been rebuilt a number of times following fire, natural disasters, and the bombings during World War Two. Not as impregnable as he first envisioned I am guessing. There was an interesting museum inside with the obligatory miniatures of “what the castle looked like, probably.” But the real treat was the 8th floor viewing deck where you can see the grounds and the sprawling nature of Osaka, as well as the surrounding mountains. Oh, and a Giant Ferris Wheel. I spent the evening walking in Tenjinbashi-suji, the longest shopping arcade in Japan at 2.6km. I just soaked in the atmosphere and window shopped.

Osaka. 28th December.

My first stop was Tennoji Zoo. In my entry that day I wrote in my journal that “I think I hate zoos.” Although I have to admit I did like the one in Taipei. What can I say, I am a walking paradox. While I appreciate that zoos are often vital in ensuring the survival of many species of animals, I just hate seeing wild animals in tiny, lifeless enclosures being forced to move around for spoilt children and their parents who tap impatiently on the glass. At this zoo one pig had more space than the polar bear, I know the ice caps are melting but that’s doesn’t mean enclosures have to replicate reality (it’s not as if real ice is made of plastic).


My next stop was the park next to the zoo which had an abandoned feel to it in the cold. I saw my first of many Japanese Gardens, and I was very impressed. It was extremely well kept and felt serene and peaceful. The Lonely Planet guide had mentioned when things were closed over the holiday period, so to avoid disappointment I skipped over those entries. Unfortunately, it didn’t mention that the Open Air Museum of Ancient Japanese Farmhouses (hey, I like old things!) was closed, a fact I would have also found out if I had been more observant at the subway station. I guess it was all good exercise though.

I ended the day at the Umeda Sky Building, which has been dubbed a “space age version of the Arc de Triomphe.” It was definitely the highlight of Osaka for me, particularly as I arrived in time for the sunset over the city. There is definitely more individuality in Japanese architecture than in Korea. Plus, spending a couple of hours on the subway made it very apparent that Japanese fashion is a lot more interesting and edgier than Korean fashion-at least in my eyes.

Next stop was Kyoto, as you'll see in Part Two.