14th June – TOKYO / KYOTO
Time to move away from Tokyo for the next leg of my journey.
Packing up my bags early in the morning I left my large case with the APA hotel staff who said that it would get there a day later. No problems, I’m sure that it wouldn’t cause too many issues not having it. I did not fancy taking this case with me as I would have to get it from the APA Hotel on the trains to Shinagawa where I would then board the Shinkansen (Bullet) train and have to book a slot for a large suitcase, further complicating the whole journey. Thie transfer cost £12 for a 23kg suitcase to be sent to my next hotel and seemed like a great idea at the time.
Shin-Okubo
From the hotel up to Shin-Okubo and boarded a JR Yamanote line train that took me into Shinagawa where I tried to use the automated machines to purchase a shinkansen ticket but no joy. The machine I was at was trying to make me pick up some tickets that I’d already purchased, but as I hadn’t purchased any, there was no point continuing. The machines do allow you to see the english language screens but for some reason, whichever route I went with the options it always took me to the screen to pick up pre-bought tickets.
Shin Okubo is known as Koreatown and there are a number of shops, restaurants and businesses that are all owned or operated by Korean families, the signs appear to be Korean in the language they display but as I’m no expert in Japanese or Korean, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference really. the wires in the air are more visible aroudn this part of the city too, they don’t seem to use underground so everything travels above the heads of the residents and visitors. I do like how they make some interesting photos with the streets beneath and the sky, usually empty, is full of cables and poles criss crossing. I was carrying my Q3 around my neck whilst travelling to Kyoto and my 35mm and Canon 5D were safely tucked away in my camera bag.
Shinkansen
I queued for 20 mins at the ticket counter and a helpful member of staff sorted me out when I reached the front presenting me with a £70 ticket for the 10:28 Nozomi Shinkansen and a reserved seat 11D in car 5. I couldn’t get seat E which is sought after due to it’s views of Mt Fuji both on the outwards and inwards journeys. Seat E is always on the Fuji side of the train as they do not turn the train around, instead, when the reach the point to come back, the conductor goes along the train and rotates all of the seats so they face forward. I made a few photographs in the station using both my iPhone and the Q3, mainly of people going around their travelling business and there were some interesting people that I didn’t capture on memory card even though it would have been a photo of interest.
On the journey, a lady sat next to me was getting stuck into her Bento Box or EkiBen and was occupied with eating the huge meal. EkiBen is short for Eki (Station) and Bento (take out or lunch box) and are different in different stations. Some are even self heating , meaning the prospective eater can sit there on the train whilst it heats quickly to eating temperature. Clever stuff. In some meme’s and online tiktoks you see stuff like “Japan’s living in the future” and this sort of invention is part of that, but in many other ways they are still living in the past. The only real sounds on the train are the announcements from the speakers in different languages, nobody really speaks, noone is using a phone for a conversation and headphones with music cannot be heard. It’s a standard part of the culture that you shouldn’t make a noise that might inconvenience others and is the same in trains and elevators too.
I set my laptop up on the tray table and had a look through some of the photos taken since I got to Tokyo. The idea was to pre-select my favourite images from the uploaded images so far. A couple of hours away sat Kyoto, my next destination. I had downloaded the previous few days onto my macbook and also backed up on a lacie 5TB rugged drive, and scoured the photos lookign for some good ones. The only issue was that I knew I would be doing this at home once I’d downloaded all of the images from the two week odyssey so I figured that I wouldn’t waste too much time on adding the keywords or doing edits, as the work would likely be non-transferable over to my Mac Studio once I got home.
Wet Kyoto
When I arrived in Kyoto, it was tipping it down with rain and as I still I had my umbrella I was able to start taking photos immediately, especially as there was no huge case to drag along. I had a wander around the Kyoto Station as the architecture is a mish mash of steel and glass, curves and angles. After going up to the Skygarden and looking out over the Kyoto tower, it was so wet I didn’t hang around here for long. I did manage to find a Skyway where you can walk through a tunnel suspended high above the station before I found a nice place to go and sit down for a piano concert, a lady playing Chopin for a while, and I felt a bit cultured and relaxed. Little did I realise that my Lowepro camera backpack was getting wet, I’d forgotten to pull out the rain cover so it was getting soaked whilst I was ambling around.
I wasn’t able to check into my new hotel, the ALA Kyoto until 3pm so I was in no rush. I walked out of the station and across to Yodobashi camera. I was using my Q3 as I strolled around the Yodobashi shop and the nearby area. I had a look around at buying a replacement suitcase because mine had been wrecked by AIr France (Air Pants) and then scoped out the cameras and other tech. I was checking out the Canon Selphy printers as I had recently bought one at home and found them to be excellent, but I wasn’t sure if the refills would work with my model so I left them. From there I visited a McDonald’s ordering a McNuggets meal and remembering to ask for ketchup dips (“ni ketchup kudesai?” ) as they are not immediately available and something in my belly I made my way to the hotel to check in.
Hotel ALA
After checking in l went up to my non-smoking” room, 737, and it smelled of cigarette smoke but I didn’t want to complain and be that person so I switched on the humidifier and air con on to see if that might clear the smell out a little. It did make a bit of a difference in the end, but I wasn’t overly happy as I thought I might get fined for smoking in there even though it wasn’t me. It’s really odd that they allow smoking in hotels, in smoking rooms, and even airports, trains and restaurants, but in Tokyo and Kyoto it is illegal to smoke on public streets. They often have a smking shelter for people to gather in to partake in this hazardous hobby.
I unpacked all of my gear from my backpack, now realising that I’d forgotten to utilise the rain cover. The cameras were in the main part of the pack and as a result quite dry but the leaflets, paperwork and book (Tokyo Express) in the back of my camera backpack were soaking wet so I laid them out on the sofa in the room to begin drying out. As it was around the right time of day to call back home, 9 hours in front of british Summer Time, I had a quick FaceTime with my wife, Jo to catch up on the recent events at home and to share my adventures so far. Once finished with the lovely catchup I went back out with the camera. I needed my umbrella and went out with my Q3 and 35mm M6 for a brutalist adventure.
Conference Centre
My destination for the afternoon was Kyoto International Conference Centre, a huge concrete building that I had researched before leaving the UK. It is oft mentioned in books around Brutalism in Japan so I was eager to see what it looked like through my 28mm lenses on the Q3 and M6. It was pouring with rain while I was there too, so I had a wander around and took some photos of the concrete structures, the surrounding land and even a couple of deer that were milling about the grounds. The angles and design of the concrete structures was interesting as seemingly large gutters had no downspout until I spotted that it sported a huge hole that fed down into a large font-like bird bath feature which then drained away. Taking photos of the externals is all well and good but there are often many angles and wonderful scenes to capture inside these large buildings so I entered the front door and asked the receptionist if I could just take a quick photo of the interior, but I wasn’t allowed in much past the desk where she was sat.
Irish Bar
After taking a few images I walked back to the station and a journey back to Kyoto station. The next day I was due to hire a car so I wanted to find where the car rental place, so I wouldn’t be late in the morning. Once I’d found the rental office I noticed a nearby Irish Bar called “The man in the moon” so I sat in there and had a pint of Guinness. I was watching some of the Japanese baseball that was on the TVs.
Listenign to a couple of Americans discuss their long and happy marriage with another Japanese couple who were somewhat quieter, I quietly drank my pint whilst earwigging. A 30ish year old Japanese lady came in to the bar and there were no spare seats so she asked if she could sit at the table I was currently at. After about twenty minutes of her keeping her head down and using her phone I felt a bit rude so started a conversation, about how she uses her keyboard to type messages. She spoke very little English and I spoke even less Japanese. She explained by showing me her phone whilst she typed, although I didn’t fully understand it. Using Google translate we had a short conversation about where I was from and where she was from, what was I doing in Japan, and shed been to the Expo in Osaka where I planned to go in the next few days. She had been working at the Expo for her company and was heading back to Nagano but wanted a quick drink in a bar first, she said that they didn’t have bars like this near her home. She explained a little about the expo and finished by showing me a photo on her phone of the expo mascot, a blue and red shaped character who had eyes all over, and she was chuckling to herself about an “eye on his butt”. She tried to tell me some good places to go in Kyoto and I had a couple of them on my list already, but she told me about a big hil with a golden temple near it, I didn’t try and go here as it was a bit out of the way. After I finished my drink I wished her well on her journey and went back to my hotel, whilst taking some photos of people with umbrellas which is the main reason I was here in Japan in June..
Once I was back in the room I watched the Kevin Smith film “Dogma” on my laptop, the tv had no really watchable channels, not even BBC World Service. There was baseball on many channels and then what looked like drama and soap operas as well as the shopping channels.
Sunday 15th June
Hire Car Concern
I woke up really early consumed by worry about my international driving permit (IDP) which I thought was in my suitcase, that hadn’t yet arrived because it’s in the mail.
The car was booked from 08:30am until 9pm but I wasn’t sure I would be able to go and pick it up with no IDP.
I had been down to reception to ask about my suitcase and what time it might arrive but they had no answer other than that I could check on the website so that’s what I did. I would have to wait until my bag was delivered before I can go and get the car. I looked at the baggage transfer receipt and there was a website to track it, it was the Japanese equivalent of the Royal Mail website and it said it wouldn’t be arriving until later in the day.
I carried on waiting for my suitcase and thought that I should tidy up my mementos from the Tokyo leg of the trip that had got wet yesterday. It consisted of magazine leaflets from the photographic museum and a book etc so I had them I spread them out on the chair in the room. This is when I looked in a leaflet and noticed my international driving permit (IDP) was there, in the words of Mark Renton “fuckin’ dancer”
With my driving licence, IDP, and camera gear in my messenger bag, I went to the Hachijo exit of Kyoto station to pick up the car. I arrived at the rental office, about 9:30am and filled in all the paperwork. They showed me some documents written in English as to correct behaviour on the road which was useful and then allowed me to get into the Nissan Dayz kei car. It was a tiny little thing but had lots of head room and most importantly some air conditioning.
Road Trip
First stop was at a Lawson Station konbini (convenience store) to pick up some drinks, crisps, fruit and sweets for the day. I had planned to go for a drive into the countryside around Kyoto. Once I’d shopped I came out to the car and could not find the reverse gear, I kept putting it into park instead of reverse. I can’t have been fully awake and was stuck in the middle of parking lot until I figured that one out. The rest of the day went smoothly with the car.
Takeshima
Next stop on the road trip was Takashima and nearby Lake Biwa. I stopped at a parking place next to a graveyard and shrine of some sort and made a couple of panorama shots. The route I chose carried on around the coast where I came upon a seemingly abandoned VW Beetle. I stopped around the corner in a safe location and walked back to capture the bright yellow car on film and sensor. A man came out to see me while I was there, and in Japanese, he said it was his car and it was advertising a coffee shop but it looked like a ropey old garage and I wouldn’t have gone there for coffee.
As I continued on my way I came across a disused building that was reminiscent of the UK’s Little Chef or Happy Eater buildings. It was all destroyed on the inside, nothing usable left anymore or vegetation growing everywhere, there was a boat outside there too for some strange reason. The inside of the building was all ripped and torn apart, with the roof being open and allowing the rain and humidity in to continue the destruction. It looked like a restaurant as there was a kitchen as well as a dining area. After wandering through the long grass to get some photos my mind went into a questioning mode as to whether there were venomous spiders in Japan, a quick google search using my iPhone connected to my pocket wifi told me there were indeed venomous arachnids in the country. I promised myself to be a little more careful from there on in when it came to looking where I was going and not paying attention.
Dam
I drove to a place near Wakasa Kumagawa called Kouchigawa Dam which is impressive. There were a couple of nice bridges and a little village there too.
A large red bridge there was very photogenic and I had a nice walk around the village. It was quite calm and peaceful with clouds on the tops of the hills, it wass quite humid but it wasn’t too hot. Birds in the trees were making some great sounds too, but as soon as I pulled out my iPhone to record them they went quiet. I did notice that there were also some other bird noises being sent out of speakers possibly to scare of pest birds. There was a small number of buildings and what looked a bit like a hotel, these overlooked the reservir at the top of the valley and it seemed a pretty idyllic place.
I walked across the top of the dam and made som eimages of the dam from all sorts of different angles, there were angles of the face, the steps that snake all the way down each side of the structure and even some of the concrete buildings that host the watchout point at the top. One of the images I captured with my iPhone as it has a zoom on it, unlike my 28mm fixed lens on the Q3, was this below scene of a spillway. I made this image as I thought it looked like the building above the water release point was being sick. Even the “eyelids” look heavy on the windows like it’s a proper hangove.
Oshima
To aim the sat nav I had selected a place called Obama and on the way there I visited an island called Oshima Peninsula, where there’s a nuclear power station so I went down to drive to see if I could see it. A huge red bridge took me over to the island and I stopped to take photos of a rusting old boat with large painted Japanese Katakana characters painted on the side. As I was finding angles through the ropes and other boat related items, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, something moving. Little bugs that popped out from their hiding places, then when I moved closer, they scurried away, and when I moved away again they reappeared. I would say that they were about the same size as two pennies next to each other. Google helped me identify them as Wharf Roaches which look like large woodlice with long antennae sticking out of their arses.
After a drive around this little peninsula, through some tunnels that were cool, but without seeing a nuclear power station I headed to Takahama where there was a lovely little coastline and some little islands off into the sea. There were a few kites (as in birds) flying around on my way to drive to Sunny Seaside which was my next waypoint on the satnav in the Nissan.
Procession
As I was continued along the coastal areas, ignoring the satnav telling me to turn out onto the main roads, I came across a large blockage in the road, with two policemen and their glowing red batons, keeping the people safe beyond. I could see past them to a procession happening, a service of some kind so I parked in a handy little spot and had a walk. There were many people in traditional dress playing a taiko drum it sounded like local competition between the youngsters and it was overseen by the elders of the the community. Once they’d completed this challenge, they all started marching off up the road carrying the drum whilst still playing it, and also a large shrine on top of a raised frame lifted by around thirty men. I made a few images here with the Q3 and the M6 as well as a couple of videos from my iPhone and some zoomed in shots.
I continued onwards to Takehama after that which was nice but they were waiting for the procession to loop around to the town centre so I didn’t hang around in case I got stuck there and unable to get the car back in time.
Kei Returns
It was getting late by this time, about 18:00, and the car had to be back by 21:00. Google maps told me I had about two hours worth of driving to get back so I left around fifteen minutes later and using a few toll roads whch weren’t too expensive at all I got back to Kyoto at about 8:00pm. I had a small incident with two cyclists who shot out onto a zebra crossing when the lights had already changed to green for the cars, the first cyclist stopped before hitting me, I stopped before hitting him, but the second cyclist ran into the back fo the first. They were seriously pissed and flipped me off before riding off. It seems that not all Japanese people are shy about expressing themselves.
Nissan rental had given me some places on a map to refill the fuel before the return and on the way to one in the satnav I came across another, nearer petrol station, where I worked out how to use the self service pumps with the credit card and filled the tank to the top. By the time I had got back and had the car looked over and checked for damage, it was 9pm so I walked back to the hotel, not physically tired but mentally drained from the driving in a foreign country, even though they drive on the left side f the road. The car and I had been over 280 miles in the course of the day.
Bath Time
Once at the hotel I showered, visited the laundry to put some washing on and then got up the guts to visit the onsen on the 10th floor. I read up on all of the etiquette that was required, tried on the slippers provided in my room, which were five sizes too small and the supplied yukata (robe) which was three sizes too small. I made my way to the locker room where you deposit everything, clothes, phones, room keys etc. Needless to say I left my cameras in my hotel room. There are no clothes allowed in the onsen bath, not even a swimming costume or shorts, so I strutted into the room appearing to be confident rather than shy or timid holding on to my junk. I slipped into the chest height water (sitting down) and there were two other locals in there and in the other bath there were some German tourists. There is a separate male and female baths and no mixing is allowed. I was sat in the water for around twenty minutes before I had to get out because it was so damn hot. The onsen was so hot it was unbelievable, the natural minerals in the hot bath are supposed to be good for your skin and you shouldn’t wash it off afterwards so I didn’t, and then later on my arm pits were red raw and inflamed as well as being super itchy.. annoying to say the least. After the onsen I moved my washing from the washer into the dryers at around 11pm and retrieved it all at midnight. The use of these facilities was free but you paid 100 yen for a washing liquid capsule.
Once back at the room I had seen a note under the door that my suitcase had arrived and was ready for pick up in reception, so I headed down to go and get all the rest of my belongings. I’d at least have som efresh clothes for tomorrow.
After a long and tiring day I got into the bed and had a good nights sleep.
Monday 16th June
Kyoto Railway Museum
Today I got out of the room about 09:00 and headed over to the Kyoto Railway Museum that opened at 10am. On the way there I stopped at a 7-Eleven to pick up a couple of drinks ’cause it was 32°C and the day really hadn’t started warming up yet.
The museum was packed with large exhibits and small exhibits, some really interesting historical parts about Trevithick and Stephenson before seeing how the Japanese rail systems were regional and then made national. There were some huge locos on display, some you were allowed to walk into but most others you were not. The evolution of the bullet trains and engineering was quite interesting and an overall similar vibe to the York Railway Museum, which also was seen in a cabinet as they had donated a bullet train to York many years ago. There was a roundhouse, or half of one and a huge turntable in front, and in one fo these bays was a Thomas the Tank Engine. As he was talking and his eyes were moving around, the language coming out was in Japanese, which whilst not surprising, I still found odd. I stayed for two and a half hours and had a ride on a vintage steam train that just drives you into the nearby park and back again alongside the main line into Kyoto. In the shop I bought a ruler and a fridge magnet of the Fuji line logo. Then I jumped on the train at Umekoji-Kyotnishi station for a short trip back to Kyoto main station.
Towering
Once back in Kyoto I headed straight to the Nidec Kyoto Tower and used my 900 yen (£4.50) voucher to get to the top. I had a look around took a few pictures could see how close the hotel was to the tower and the railway station. Some pictures of the scenery showing the temple just up the road and then I visited Towerland which is a bar at the lower end of the tower. It was 30° I had a bottle of Corona and sat in a little booth was lovely I stayed there until about 2:00pm. Taking photos in these towers is very tricky as the reflections off the glass are very troublesome and the views are often very flat. With my 28mm lens on the Q3 I was a little restricted but I could use my iPhone with it’s 5x zoom to capture some distant details. I did have my 105mm lens for the Canon 5D in the hotel but I didn’t want to carry all of that around all day. I mainly use that for lower light situations.
Temple Time
A quick walk up the street to the big Shinto shrine Higashi Hongan-ji with some koi carp swimming around in the moat surrounding it. It is by far the largest temple/shrine I’d seen so far, even beating Sensoji in Asakusa. The buildings were impressive architecture made of wood with gold paint or gold leaf around it. Interestingly, if there was a face of a timber that had been cut and faced externally it was painted white and the rest all black. It was quite striking. It was also a little cooler inside the temple and as long as you take your shoes off and act with respect you’re allowed to walk in and take a scout around. Inside and out were endless boxes where you could deposit your money as an offering which I find uncomfortable but hey, it’s not my culture, and they have to pay for the upkeep so visitors can wander in for free.
Nishiki Indoors
It was so hot with the temperatures getting up over 33°C by this time, I headed over to Nishiki Market which was a long covered street featuring people selling all sorts of food, drink, gifts, clothing and other specialised produce, octopuses with quail eggs inside them being one. There were many stalls selling chocolate covered strawberries which seems to be a popular thing with the Japanese. At one point I nearly tried a shot of Saki for ¥100 but it meant going into the restaurant and I felt like it might be a ruse to then hit you with a cover charge so I left it alone and carried on taking photos around the area.
Gion Then
On the google map, and on my Onenote notes for the day were was the Gion district, a more traditional area where there are sometimes geisha and people dressed in traditional clothing walking the streets. Some areas are signposted to prevent you from taking photos and you have to be careful as it could land you in trouble. The area has also seen many foreign tourists hassling locals trying to get the instagram pic that they want so bad, that it has greatly offended the locals and as a result closed off a few areas.
Now You Fushimi
Next on my Onenote list of ideas for Kyoto was a trip on the metro to head over to the Fushimi Inari and a walk up a steep hill through the 10,000 Torii gates. I walked through the first gate at 6:30pm with many hundreds of other tourists and got to the top at 8:00pm. It was hot and humid but the huge crowds thinned out as the light faded. I stopped at a couple of resting areas to buy a bottle of water from the vending machines and had a couple of chats with a few lads from London, I’d see them again at the top. They and other people I spoke to, once they realised I was from England ( I was wearing an England t-shirt), asked what football team I support, I don’t really support any teams so I was unable to go that route, and they were surprised that an English man didn’t follow football. Anothe rchap walking up with his girlfriend asked me if I wanted to swap my shorts for his trousers. I did not, as it was sweltering, I woudl regret this though as I got a few bites from mosquitos whilst walking the route.
Walking down again in the dark was a bit spooky and the threat of wild boars and monkeys being around made me tune my hearing in to every noise. It was also tricky finding the steps with the shadows from the lights outside the gates, hiding the profiles and making it difficult to walk safely. A couple of times I had to use my phone torch to light the path. I made it to the bottom at 20:40 and was knackered and absolutely soaked with sweat unable to get a dry piece of a T-shirt to clean my glasses. At the foot of the trail I spoke to a couple of other people who asked me to take their groups photo with a phone and then I headed back to the station and perched on the edge of a seat so I didn’t leave huge sweat marks on the back of it.
Knackered
I thought about getting changed and going out into Pontocho area for a walk but didn’t have the energy for it. I also figured that after getting changed at the hotel and showering , then going out would not have left any time for photographs before I had to catch the last train back to the hotel area, the metros stop at 11:45pm. I decided it would be a mistake so I stayed in the hotel room had a bath and then watched Starship Troopers on the macbook before bed.
The next day would see a short rail journey to get to Osaka for the next part of the Japanese Journey, I had decided I would take my suitcase with me to avoid the day delay in not having any clothes etc…
More photos from this leg of the journey will be shared in a later post, once I’ve selected them.
A google earth map of the destinations featured in the part of the journey can be found at the link beaneath.
https://earth.google.com/earth/d/1wTWaPdedFzQk6dEwEuGa41we7Kvti6ly?usp=sharing
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