Day 346: Navigating Kyoto Trains — Shopping, Deer Feeding and Temple Viewing on a Rainy Day in Nara
For the second morning in a row here in Kyoto I was up for an hour or so around 4am and then eventually fell back asleep until 7:30 or 8. Fighting some jet lag since we’re 4 hours behind New Zealand. We are all in the same room so I’m tentative to get up and workout, fearing I’ll wake everyone up. I end up feeling out of sorts — this is now the third day I haven’t exercised and one had a 11 hour flight. Gotta do something tomorrow AM.
We got breakfast in the room again and eventually got out by 10am. Destination: Nara.
Nara is about an hour south of Kyoto and requires at least two trains. The train situation here in Kyoto (and Japan cities in general) is super-punctual, clean and overall a great way to travel —once you figure it out. We had some good learning today.
We walked to Karasuma Oike Station and took the Subway (Karasuma Line) down to Kyoto Station. We already had funded IC cards so that wasn’t much of a challenge.
Kyoto Station is a massive and beautiful place. Margaret grabbed a perfectly hot coffee in a can from a vending machine. Technology!
We wanted to get on the Kintetsu Limited Express to Nara but instead got on the JR West line, also to Nara but to a different station. No big deal — just had to walk a bit further. On the way back to did get on the Kintetsu Limited Express (after adding cash to our IC cards) but once on the train we realized that “LImited Express” means that you need a ticket with a seat assignment in addition to the “basic fare” you pay with the IC card (learned this from an American guy on the train. Tried to reserve a set on my phone but couldn’t do it for trains that have already departed. We got bounced from some seats once and then found a car with a bunch of open seats. Fortunately a staff member eventually came by and let us purchase the reserved tickets with cash.
BTW we’ve been very surprised at the reliance on cash here in Kyoto. I would have assumed that Japan would be nearly cashless by this point but most restaurants and little shops we’ve encountered have been cash only. Even the automated ticketing machines take IC Card and cash — not credit cards.
Things you can buy that cash include whiskey and water from convenience stores. I loved this country!
Once we were off the train in Nara we met a huge mass of kids and families hitting the food stands on Sanjo dori Street. At first we assumed it was just normal for a popular tourist spot. But eventually we realized it must be a special event and a Google search told us it’s an annual festival and parade that’s been happening every year for… 900 years!
It had been overcast all day and started to drizzle a bit so we hung a right down Mochiidono Shopping Street. Even in a tourist spot like this the little shops and booths have clever, unique, and well-curated products. There was food, sweets, apparel, accessories, everything. Our favorite spots were the vintage shops filled with 80s and 90s American brands — this is absolutely a style here in Japan.
We also loved this little shop selling keychains, magnets, hair things, phone cases, ID cases — but all decorated with little plastic food. Lime earrings. Sushi barrettes. Broccoli magnets… and 10,000 other options.
I found a sushi spot called Marukyo — great reviews on Google. It was down a little side alley from the main Mochiidono Street. Run by a cute little couple, husband was doing the prep, wife was serving. Chalkboard menu. Green tea when we sat down. One small table for four and 3 stools at a bar squished into a tiiiiny little space. The sushi was awesome. We had tuna, salmon and shrimp. Marukyo will forever be remembered as the spot where Willa and James had a sushi breakthrough. They couldn’t get enough of the tuna.
A few doors down on the same little side alley we popped into a shop where a woman was sewing little bags and purses. The kids each choose a zipper purse (“for our arcade coins!”) in any color then picked an animal decal to be ironed on. James got a blue one with a hedgehog, Willa got a red panda on a pink purse. The pickup time was 40 minutes so we agreed to come back on our way out of town.
Over the next couple hours we did a big loop through Nara Park. We walked past Kofuki-ji Temple entering the park and were met by the famous and sacred deer a couple blocks later. We bought some deer crackers and immediately became very popular.
The kids were loving the up close interaction with the deer. We kept feeding them as we walked past the Nara National Museum and grabbed another couple packs of crackers as we approached the Gate of Todaji.
The kids surprisingly didn’t throw a fit when we said we should go checkout the National Octagonal Lantern and the Todaiji Temple.
We had watched a “Nara Top 5” video this morning and they recognized this temple, the huge Buddha inside and the opportunity to crawl through a whole the size of Buddah’s nostril thereby earning enlightenment in the next life. These non-Buddhists jumped at the opportunity.
After a quick but satisfying visit to Todaiji we walked past Isui-en Garden and through a Nara neighborhood on the way back to the train station. Despite the reserved seat confusion mentioned above we eventually made it back to our local subway station and hustled through the now-pouring rain to Menya Yuko for some more ramen.
Margaret and I were looking at the menu so we didn’t notice James playing with the little cup of toothpicks. Then at the exact moment the waiter came to the table to take our order James tipped the cup, spilling half the picks all over the table. Embarrassing — especially since we’ve been all tip-toey given all of the Japanese etiquette that we’re trying to learn.
Margaret and I had the soup and the kids inhaled the Japanese dumplings — we had to get a second order. I continue to be impressed by James’s eating. Mr. Margarita Pizza wolfed down big slices of tuna sushi and Japanese dumplings today.
Another successful day in Japan. We’re really loving it — though it’s hard to explain exactly why. It’s some combination of the creativity, energy, attention to detail and design. Just such a fun and interesting place.
