KEY TO KYOTO

Looking at the map it was an unbroken grey grid without nuisance or charm, listening to the Japanese talk about its mundane sounding wonders, and reading about them in a rather pompous Lonely Planet (most of the authors of this edition live in Kyoto we discover) I was quite ready to pass it by entirely. However, flight times and weekends falling as they did I found that I had three days at the end of my stay in Japan and that unless I spent them in Kyoto I would place my chances of catching my plane in severe jeopardy. Thus I boarded the 23:00 overnight bus from Hiroshima, surrendered Y6020 and at 5:58 the next morning I rolled into town – Kyoto would have to prove itself or be damned. Here is what happened.

Kyoto is not cheap. Approaching it on my usual frugal budget I found life pretty hard. Eating at cheap places like McDonalds or ramen (noodle) houses, staying at a hostel, taking fewer snacks that you might ideally want, generally scorning public transport and taxis and passing a few temples by in the name of economy. To convert the prices that follow a pound is currently about 195 yen, as opposed to the 180 yen it was when I went to Japan 6 months ago. A daily budget would be hard pressed to fall below Y4000, and could easily be four times that for the hotel alone if you wanted it to be.

SHRINES AND TEMPLES

My favourite of Kyoto’s glut of temples, this bustling temple is also the most touristed and developed as an attraction. It’s a good walk from the main road up a heavily touristed street or alongside a packed out cemetary of marble stacks. The tourist street, called Chawan-zaka (“Teapot Lane” according to the LP) is packed with small restaurants and souvenir shops – some of which are worth a look. The temple itself is great and excellent value at only Y300. Supported on huge wooden pillars the main hall is built out from a cliff over thick forest. Behind this is a series of smaller shrines and temples set amongst the woods, or winding back upon themselves. There’s all sorts of things to buy from “ema” (wooden plaques, often decorated with a decent looking horse, upon which you write future wishes to hang at the temple) to talismans supposed to avert traffic related accidents if hung in your car. Partys of high school students stumble their way between two small boulders, eyes closed, hands searching the air. If you make it you get a wish and will be lucky in love. If you miss you’d better have a friend on hand to make sure you don’t go toppling over the cliff to your untimely demise.

While most of Kyoto’s shrines and temples are a rich brown, this exubarent place of worship is painted orange and red with green frames. Reasonably central it is easily recognised for the enormous, red steel torii (shrine gate) 500m to its south. This is in fact the entrance to the shrine itself, which is, as you might have guessed from the wild colours, a pretty recent affair dating back to only 1895. Entrance to the main concourse is free, as are the toilets. The shrine has two real claims to fame – the first its expensive (Y600) Chinese style gardens, the second an enormous parade that takes place here every 22nd October. This is a parade to celebrate the history of Kyoto. There is also a No (traditional Japanese masked theatre) festival here on the 1st and 2nd of June. Two large art museums on either side of the torii provide a brief break from temple touring.

Holidaying Jedi looking for a suitable locale for a showdown with lightsaber wielding adversaries would do well to run and investigative eye over Higashi Hongon Ji, just north of the station. Below huge wooden halls an airy museum is built around a great concrete cone housing a vast theatre, with balconies and steel catwalks a plenty – it looks like something wrenched from the guts of a benevolent Deathstar. Steel blast doors smoothly seal off the small portal of light at the top of the cone and in pitch darkness you can watch a half hour video in Japanese about the history of the shrine, shown once an hour – a timetable outside. The museum is large, but in reality contains few relics or explanations. The advantage this place has over the other temples is its central location and the fact it is free. On the surface it has somewhat wild gardens with some nice twisted trees, a decent pagoda, some enormous golden halls with tatami floors and a few curious relics – not least a rope made from human hair used in the construction of the main buildings.

Nanzen Ji

Built in 1601 Kyoto’s castle is still standing and for a steep, but worthwhile, Y600 you can have a look around it’s walled gardens and pleasant grounds of Ninomaru palace. Huge stone walls plunge into two cold moats and the outside looks very intimidating indeed. Inside it turns out to be a bit more ballroom than barracks, a number of well appointed wooden halls dotted about ornamental gardens. The most interesting feature by far are the “nightingale floors” – wooden floors than whistle and squeak at even the most delicate footfall, designed to alert guards to unwanted intruders. The very informative English guide you get free with you ticket shows how they were carefully constructed with clamps, nails and special hinges to achieve this eerie effect. If you are in the palace at the same time as a tour group let them pass or march ahead to get a passage on your own to give the floor a proper chance to impress you. The numerous halls and chambers of the palaces are decorated with wonderful gilt and pine tree paintings, but they're a little too gloomy to really rival that superb floor. Photography is not permitted within the palace. This is yet another UNESCO heritage site, easy to walk to, with good eating opportunities just to the west. There’s a post office to the east, behind the International Hotel and ANA Hotel Kyoto both of which look incredibly well-appointed and expensive.

Kyoto Station

These are shopping and entertainment areas built around the Kamo river in central Kyoto. Walking south from Uno House you’ll find yourself approaching the covered malls of Teramachi after 15 minutes or so. Underground and overground shops will flog you anything from stereo to sushi, walkman to wasabe and everything in between. Many souvenir shops can be found here, and a 100 Yen Plaza with all sorts of daft bargains for the determined shopper. If you can’t find a restaurant to suit your taste and budget here you are either picky to the point of neurosis or deeply stupid. The Nishiki market running east to west through this covered block might help you out if you’re looking for a picnic, traditional Japanese food for sale beneath a stained glass roof. There are several shrines here too. Heading east this area blends into the discos and dance clubs that line a few small canals and the river. This is a good place to spot Geisha flitting between appointments, and it’s an exciting area of town regardless. Pontocho is a very narrow alleyway packed close with traditional establishments, recommended by the Lonely Planet and worth a look. On the eastern side of the river is Gion, which is similar, but rather dirtier in feel. Amongst the discos and bars neon signs proudly boast of red light dens and massage parlours giving the small streets a rather seedier edge than you might be looking for. Though the area is not threatening a rougher feel evolves as the night gets late – it’s best not to carry valuables or large sums of money about openly!

I stayed in the well placed budget haven that is Uno house. At only Y1650 for a dorm “bed” this is probably the best value accommodation in all of Japan. Easy to locate if you get lost (just at the south eastern tip of Kyoto-gyoen (the imperial palace grounds), it’s an easy walk to a number of metro stations (Marutamachi is a few hundred metres to the west) and a quarter of an hour walk south into the centre of town. Kawaramachi-dori (the main north-south road just one block east of the hostel) is flush with buses, including the useful No.59 that will take you to Kinkaku-Ji. You can easily pick up taxis here too, at any time of the day or night – I caught one here at four in the morning without a second’s wait. From the station to Uno House by taxi costs Y1300.

The hostel itself is a rundown maze of labyrinthine corridors, stairs, ramps and rooms. In the corridors and around the washing machines and communal bathrooms lingers an uncomfortable damp smell, and the whole building gives off a downtrodden aura of better days seen. However, the rooms themselves are well kept and cleaned daily. The sheets and roll out mattress are simple, but comfortable and the dorm rooms are dry. It can get noisy at night, as only thin sliding doors separate you from communal areas where other guests will be chatting. There is a midnight lights out policy though and the place is plastered with signs informing you of this rule.

The guest house is full of traveller annotated maps of the neighbouring streets. From these I found two sentos (public bathhouse) within a few hundred metres of the door. One was particularly close – walking out of the front door you can take a short cut through the atmospheric shrine that faces the hostel. Once out the other side of the shrine cross the street and dip down the opposite alleyway – easily seen by the huge whale at the end of it. Duck under the whale and have Y350 ready. This is an incredibly well equipped sento with several hot tubs, an acrid sauna and tropical steam room, a violent purple mineral bath, an ice cold wallowing pool and the dreaded healthy (read “painful electric”) bath.
There’s also a double rank of taps and showers to strip away the grim and dirt of a hard days sightseeing. Remember – at a Japanese bath you wash with soap first and only enter the soaking pools once clean and thoroughly rinsed.

The other sento to the northeast of Uno house was further (5 min walk) and less well equipped, but quieter. If you are not looking to practice your Japanese, or have others practice their English on you, perhaps this would be a better bet – I only saw 2 people in the hour I was there, compared to 20 or so at the other. It costs the same though, Y350.

I cannot comment on other accommodation, but have heard that Kyoto is a good place to try the traditional Japanese “Ryokan”, a sort of inn or traveller’s lodge. They are not to everyone’s taste. If paying through the nose to receive prissy food in small quantities while scheduling your day to a brutally regimented timetable sounds worth the luxury of these service intensive establishments then splash out for a unique cultural experience. To my mind they sound infuriating and overpriced, and I’ve heard of people that grew to hate them and resent the large bill. Others love them, and as I have never stayed at one I can only suggest you find out for yourself if interested.

Walking is my preferred way to see a town, but the sheer size of Kyoto and some rather boring areas mean you’ll probably want to take the odd bus or metro somewhere along the way. From Uno House the 59 shuttles you up to Kinkaku-Ji and surrounds and the 250 will take you to the station. The metro service is clean, efficient and wide reaching. Most buses use a Y220 flat fare and the metro tickets vary around a similar price. You purchase a ticket not to a destination, but to a given value – check on the map for the fare you want and then buy an all purpose ticket worth that amount. At around a pound a throw these aren’t expensive, but could easily mount up if you wanted them too.

GETTING TO THE AIRPORT

“Nan ji desu ka?” = “What time is it?”

“Gomen” = “Sorry”. Another “Sorry” for when you really were at fault!

“Bai bai / Sayonara!” = “Bye!”

THE VERDICT