Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Sadly in our Kyoto home we are not provided with breakfast. It is available from an attached restaurant but it is woefully western so we decided to give it a miss instead opting for another Japanese chain restaurant we had passed yesterday that I knew was open and had breakfast options between 5 am and 11 am: Sukiya. Like Yoshinoya, this is another Japanese gyūdon (“beef bowl”) restaurant but we were here to give their breakfast a try.

This branch of the chain was a bit bigger than Yoshinoya last night but a bit more modern. We sat at a table alongside a wall and ordered from a tablet at each seat. Thankfully it had an English option so we quickly placed our orders. Mel ordered the “homemade bacon and egg breakfast” which included, a bowl of rice (natch), miso soup, fried egg, bacon, a “salad” (a couple of leaves of lettuce), seaweed (dried nori strips) and a small bowl of seaweed salad (420 yen).

I had the “beef small bowl bacon egg breakfast” which was the same as Mel’s with the addition of small bowl of gyūdon (shaved beef in a tasty sauce; 520 yen).

We spent the morning exploring the quiet shopping arcades including a visit to Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine inside one of them complete with gardens, a wooden building, and a massive lounging metal bull decorated with a red kerchief. Quite a haven from the busy commercial businesses just outside their main entrance.

Another intersecting arcade led us to Nashiki Market which has a number of food vendors including a lot of street food.

The market has lots of places selling all manner of food but we found a very busy side food court (“Yatai Mura Stall village”) which had some amazing dishes. Despite having just eaten we did order some gyoza and fried chicken pieces (1,000 yen) from a place that is Michelin approved - They were quite delicious. Unusually the gyoza dumplings did not come with a dip because evidently they are so juicy you don’t need it (yes, they were and no they don’t).

Of course there was lots of seafood here with unusual offerings such as sea urchin but mostly it is quite familiar - Squid, oysters, prawns, scallops, all kinds of fish (cured in different ways), crab, octopus, etc.

Leaving the food behind we returned to the main arcade and found, unusually, a store just selling, very nice, toothbrushes of their own design. They were available in different styles, quality, and, of course, stiffness.

The weather was much better than yesterday with blue skies. When we reached the end of one of the arcades we walked to the river before heading into the nearest subway station which was located in a large underground shopping complex, decorated in (plastic) pink cherry blossoms, that I recognized from my first visit to Kyoto many years ago (my first hotel was just a short distance walk from here).

We had tickets for a very special train in the afternoon so we first caught a subway to Nijo station then transferred to a JR Rail train then onto Saga station on the far northwest side of the city (using our JR Rail pass here, of course!). Nijo station had some interesting machines selling cooked dishes: Ramen and Okonomiyaki (Japanese vegetable pancakes).

The station itself is made out of wood and elevated above the street. In the eaves of the station we could see a cluster of clothes hangers that some sort of bird must have used to form a nest.

The train between Nijo and Saga was elevated above the street, providing great views of the surrounding residential buildings and the mountains surrounding us. As we approached Saga the buildings were more spread out, nicer, and smaller with much more greenery. Just before Saga we passed by “Toei Kyoto Studio Park” which is right beside the tracks and I have been told it is interesting to visit with sets that you can freely explore and even dress up to take part in a scene!

Saga station is right beside the mountains with many sites within easy walking distance. We were here to take the “Sagano Romantic Train” to view the cherry blossoms. Given the state of affairs so far we were not holding our breath we would see any on the train but the trip is pretty following a river passing through the mountains to the final stop at Torokko Kameoka Station. The scenic railway station is in its own, modern building beside the normal subway/train station. There is a small gift shop there and, oddly, massive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Having learned of this train when planning for this vacation we had purchased tickets in advance which was a good idea as it seemed to be packed and sold out. A few minutes ahead of the train’s arrival we were allowed out onto the narrow platform to queue for our assigned carriage (4, seats 5 B and C). The train itself was slightly disappointing. Cute in that it is quite small but it looks to be a normal diesel locomotive towing a set of painted metal tourist cars with sliding plastic windows intended to give riders a good view of the surroundings but not too much in the way of comfort. Charming and quaint, no.

We had opted for a covered carriage as you never know what the weather will be like…thankfully it was still sunny. The train was quite full but even so we had a set of two (narrow) two-seater facing benches to ourselves.

The trip from Saga to Torokko took about 25 minutes, alongside the fast moving, winding Katsura river though the mountains. Our first stop was the small “Torokko Arashiyama Station” which is in the “Arashiyama Bamboo Forest” just outside of the mountains where we had a great view of the impressively tall bamboo growing there. There were a lot of cherry blossom trees sadly without any blooms alongside the tracks that even had lights set up to illuminate the blossoms…whenever they arrive. It will be quite spectacular when they do. The river carves its way through the mountain rocks causing amazing looking rapids along the route.

After crossing the river our next stop was “Hozukyo Torokko Station” where there were a family of “tanuki” statues on the platform to greet us - These are anthropomorphic raccoon dog statues with hats (and often big testicles) meant to bring good luck and prosperity. Here there was a pedestrian bridge where walkers could get out for a stroll.

The mountains suddenly stopped making way for a large flat expanse and our final stop at Torokko Kameoka. I had intentionally chosen the return train two hours later for the return trip to give us time to relax and explore the area but there is not a huge amount there. This is obviously a commuter town for the city with a large train station nearby and plenty of houses in quite a pretty rural landscape. On the map (Google!) we noted a shrine nearby on the edge of the mountains we had just passed through nearby (Kuwata Shrine). Other than the people on the train there were not many about as we made our way alongside a drainage canal before crossing a road and passing through some houses up the hill to the shrine.

The shrine turned out to be at the end of a tarmac road running alongside some rather dilapidated houses. A large weather-beaten “tora” (gate) was at the bottom of steps leading up the mountain to the buildings of the shrine. The shrine itself consisted of several wooden buildings with great views through the trees of the surrounding countryside. The edge of the path was lined with short rectangular granite memorial markers with the person’s name in black kanji (Japanese characters). While there we attracted a bit of attention with local tourists wanting to take our picture (of course we obliged).

Leaving the shrine we retraced our steps stopping at a tourist information shop at the train station car park where we had coke and coffee from a vending machine (and used the toilets). Here there was a rare find - A small Cherry Blossom tree…in bloom! So we snapped a few pictures before passing under the bridge back to the station though we turned left instead of right so we could have a look in town before we left in a couple of hours.

The nearby town was quite small with a few small shops that in no way catered to the tourist trade. Of course, there was one of the ubiquitous Lawson convenience stores here as well.

It was all quite boring so we returned back towards the station continuing past it to have a closer look at the river, taking in views of the large looking “Uketa Shrine” shrine on the opposite side (evidently accessed by a local road but there is no bridge here).

We were a bit early for our train and the gift shop in the station had closed so we rested against the outside wall looking down onto two vending machines, a fruit/vegetable seller and a food van. We noted with some amusement (and shock) that the apples were going for 700 yen each!

Just before our train arrived we were let onto the narrow platform. While waiting we were repeatedly accosted by the staff blowing their whistles and demanding that we get behind the yellow line as passengers all tried to take videos and pictures on their phones of the train arriving. On the trip back we sat beside another couple so it was a bit crowded though they got out at the bamboo forest as part of a large group so we had a short period of comfort before returning to Sago. We had windows on the return trip as well but on the same side of the train meaning we saw the same view (there were not a lot of free seats when booking the tickets online) but we knew better what to expect and when to take a picture.

Back at Sago Torokko station it was all closed up. There were a few places to eat here but they were all now shut so we would have to find dinner elsewhere (it was already past 5 pm).

This is quite a picturesque area and we noticed a good number of people returning to the JR Rail Saga-Arashiyama station so we decided to see where they were coming from. We walked along a paved road separated from level sidewalks with only a white line. There are a lot of shops along the way selling souvenirs but also snacks and art. Most of the shops are quite modern and chic, mostly stainless steel and glass, with beautifully arranged items on display and for sale.

A few minutes later our walk took us to a complex of three buddhist temples: “Kogen-ji”, “Shogani” and “Tenryu-ji” which were all closed but we were able to walk around and admire them as the sun set over the mountains. All of the buildings are made of a dark, black wood with the classical Japanese slanted tile roof. As some of the last visitors it was quite quiet and we were able to spot a heron and egret in amongst the dead foliage of a pond in the temple gardens. Despite things not being open it was nice to walk around without the crowds.

Returning to the street and continuing to follow the crowds we ended up at a long wooden bridge, “Togetsukyō Bridge”, over the “Katsura River”. This is the same river we had been following on the train. Here there were lots of people walking around and enjoying the views as well as a number of rickshaw owners looking for customers.

Looking across the river which is quite wide here we had a nice view of the rolling mountains we had just passed through. There is another temple on the opposite side (“Hōrin-ji”) but we knew it would be closed and we were getting tired so decided to return back to the station for the trip back to the hotel.

Instead of following the same road we had taken from the station we opted to trust Mr. Google and follow a path through the houses which turned out to be a great choice. The quiet, local path was lined with houses crammed into one another but often with the most gorgeously tended gardens and topiary. Needless to say it was also spotlessly clean. We did have to stop for a few minutes at a level (train) crossing to wait while a slow moving local (purple!) tram passed by.

We took the JR Rail this time directly to Kyoto station as I wanted Mel to see it. Lit up at night it was quite impressive - The street level platforms are covered by an incredibly high metal scaffolding ceiling 7 or 8 stories high. There are multiple levels suspended above the platforms with shops, restaurants and the like.

We took a subway back to the station nearest the hotel (Shijo) then walked the length of the station underground and noticed it kept going. We found an underground walkway that appears to travel the length of the street from our hotel down to the river (east-west) with occasional exits to the street much like what you might see in a train station or airport. It was nice to get out of the cold.

At this point we were quite hungry so we were in search of food. Earlier I had noticed an “okonomoyaki” (Japanese vegetarian pancake) restaurant just inside the entrance to one of the covered arcades so we decided to try it. “Mr. Young Men” turned out to be a small 20 seat (or less) restaurant.

When we entered we were faced with the messy griddle where the chef was hard at work making the pancakes.

This did not in any way put us off, in fact, we were more intrigued so entered with the waitress seating us at a table by the window.

With a slight bit of difficulty I explained I wanted a “set” meal (which typically means the meal will include a soup and a side dish) with my okonomiyaki rather than just the pancake. Despite there being only 10 people in the restaurant (half of which having already been served) we waited about 30 minutes for the chef to prepare our food. My set meal came with a small bowl of miso soup (what else?) along with two small nigiri sushi pieces and some pickles.

Each of our okonomiyaki were served on a round hot iron skillet nested in a wooden serving tray. The pancakes were piled high with bonito flakes (shaved dry tuna) - Mel is not a huge fan - and okonomiyaki sauce. We were given a metal spatula that you use to cut the large pancake into more manageable pieces for eating. I had the prawn while Mel had the pork. Very delicious indeed and worth the wait.

Tomorrow morning we are getting up quite early (6 am) as we are headed to Nagoya for the day so we stopped at a convenience store to pick up something for breakfast - A couple of pork cutlet sandwiches. We learned that the staff did not want us to present them with the money but rather they showed us how to use a machine that they had typed the order into - Just pop the money in the top and the change comes out the bottom.

Mel was not happy with the rather thin pillows so we stopped at reception for another couple for the room and while we waited we admired their small rock garden.

Early to bed (9 pm), early to rise.

>> Next: Day 13