Serenity in the Imperial Capital

After taking in the sights in Hiroshima, our next destination on this 2-week excursion was Japan's rather grand imperial capital: KYOTO.

From the sights of the Fushimi-Inari Grand Shrine in the district of Inari just 10 minutes by local train from JR Kyoto Station, to the ever-present sakura blooming throughout the city, including the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove which we visited on a rather pleasant day.

Other things that were present during our trip to the city included a rather lengthy visit to the Kyoto Railway Museum in Umekoji-Kyotonishi, just 2 minutes by local from Kyoto Station.

Seen there was a variety of Japanese railway history, from the first steam locomotives to ply their trade under the Japan National Railway or JNR to the more modern N500 and N700 Series Shinksansen units as well as the first-ever 0-Type Shinkansen, seen by many tourists when it first ran on the Tokaido-San'yo Shinkansen back in 1964, as a celebratory achievement ahead of the 1964 Olympics which were held in the city of Tokyo. Also, by complete surprise, I found a manhole cover with two Generation 2 Pokemon on it after exiting the museum. For those who are curious: the two were Azumarill and Totodile.

(Japanese names: マリルリ and ワニノコ).

After exploring the main areas of the capital, we then headed eastwards to the Higashiyama district ahead of our stay in one of Kyoto's ryokan: Seikoro.

The experience in Seikoro exceeded my utmost expectations, as I knew of specific rules beforehand, however, I found the calming atmosphere to really drain away any lingering anxieties that I would've experienced prior to arrival.

One thing that is unique to most ryokan in Japan is the Onsen (温泉) which is essentially a communal bathing facility used by those who stay at the site. Whilst a tad daunting at first, I eventually got used to the idea of bathing with others, my main reason was that I felt an air of what's known in Japan as the idea that we are all equal when bathing or the term Hadaka no Tsukiai (裸の付き合い).

After a relaxing 1.5 days in Kyoto, our sights were firmly set on the capital of the country, the Tokyo Metropolis.

See you on the other side. :)