New Years in Kyoto


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January 4th 2010
Published: January 4th 2010
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Early MorningEarly MorningEarly Morning

We had to leave for Kyoto on the 7 am train
After a whirlwind trip home, I made it back to Japan in one piece, met Jim in Tokyo and we headed to Kyoto for New Years. It was the first time in Kyoto for both of us and my first impression is that the city has a lot of personality. It's an incredibly large city, but it never felt that way and it was incredibly easy to get around on trains, subways and by foot. Since we were only there for a couple days we unfortunately didn't have much time to venture down side streets or visit Gion, the geisha district, but I suppose that just means we'll have to go back for a second trip 😊

Our first day there we met up with some friends and headed over to the Nishiki Market to poke around. Everyone was buying and selling for new years celebrations so it was pretty crowded. We bought some delicious sake and these incredible ginger snap cookies! There were so many cool things to see there - art, pottery, fish on a stick! It was just awesome!

After all that walking we were getting pretty hungry so we tried to find a place to eat. A sign for "Ninja Labyrinth" caught our eye down a side street and we just had to check it out. Turns out it was a ninja maze. Everyone who worked there was dressed like ninjas and they gave us all flashlights and told us we had to walk through the maze to find different kanji on our card. Then they'd just randomly pop out of doorways or drop down from the ceiling! It was a riot! We didn't end up winning anything, but James scored himself some ebi cakes (think rice cakes that are shrimp flavoured. They were disgusting).

After buying some ninja souveneirs (I got a shuriken/ninja star) we went for lunch at a more traditional Japanese place. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but the food was decent and a good price. We ended up getting some sushi, kimchi, fried cheese and chicken wings. Oh, and beer. Of course, beer. Once lunch was over we stumbled around Kyoto a bit more and found ourselves at a shrine. There was a creepy demon thing in a box that gave out fortunes for 100 yen so of course we had to try it. Mine was written in some kind of code but I think it meant that I will have good crops. I don't have any crops to speak of, but I tied it to the tree just in case.

Our groups parted ways after that - James, Jeremy and Jake headed out to explore some temples before heading back to Osaka while Jim and I got on a train to visit the Arashiyama foot bath. At Arashiyama station you can get off the train, pay 130 yen and soak your feet in the nice hot water. It was pretty relaxing after so much walking and the hot water helped to keep out the cold (a bit). Once the sun set it was freezing so we didn't stick around long. We were more concerned with trying to find a hotel and taking a nap (thankfully we managed to do both!). Thank you Tokyo Inn for being affordable, comfortable and excellently placed!

(A word of advice to other travellers - when visiting Kyoto get the day or weekend pass for the subway/trains if you can. It is very reasonably priced and you will be constantly hopping on and off of trains, especially in the winter. Trust me, unless you plan to walk everywhere in Kyoto, you will save yourself a lot of money this way!)

New Years itself was an experience and a half! We'd read in a guidebook about Mibu Temple and how they have a bell ringing ceremony and give out a hot ginger drink on New Years. It sounded pretty interesting and conveniently enough it was only a couple of blocks away from our hotel so we headed over there around 11. The temple itself was pretty incredible. It's a Buddhist temple that was built in 991 AD. It had one large temple building, a few smaller shrines set up and a big bell tower, too.

There were a lot of people there but it wasn't nearly as crowded as some other places. It kind of reminded me of seasonal Catholics who only go to church on Christmas and Easter. The bell ringing started at 11:30 and after waiting in line for a bit Jim and I got to go up and help ring the bell. It was pretty neat! They took us in groups of 10 or so because the thing is so heavy. After that we got to try this hot, sweet ginger drink they were giving out for free and got a fortune. While waiting for our fortune it started to snow just a little bit - talk about a magical scene! I have no idea what my fortune says, but I'm keeping it in the hopes that by next year I'll be able to read it.

It was pretty damn cold out at that point and we were super hungry so we found one of the only open izakayas and popped in for a drink and some eats. I got some squid and melon chuhai and Jim got some meat on a stick. After a couple of drinks I thought it would be a fabulous idea to select some meat from the 'other menu'. The options were things like chicken tail, chicken ovary, heart, etc. I went for the chicken heart and you know what? It was actually pretty damn delicious! So now that takes my tally of weird meats up to horse, pig ear, tongue and intestine, and chicken heart! Mmmm! And strangely enough, with the exception of the intestine, everything else was delicious! A little bit of adventure with food isn't such a bad thing I guess 😊

Next up - New Years day in Kyoto and Nara



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Group shot!Group shot!
Group shot!

From the left: James, Jeremy, Jake and Jim
Cow IdolCow Idol
Cow Idol

People were giving it offerings of sake and rubbing it for good luck
Family prayerFamily prayer
Family prayer

Families lined up and would throw money into the box before ringing the bell and saying a few prayers
Fortunes Fortunes
Fortunes

People tie them here if they are good and they want them to come true. If they are bad you're supposed to burn them.
Aarashiyama foot bathAarashiyama foot bath
Aarashiyama foot bath

Mmmm warm! I wish we had foot baths in Canada!
Me throwing myself in front of a trainMe throwing myself in front of a train
Me throwing myself in front of a train

Nice sunset over the mountains though


4th January 2010

Great stories and pictures as always, glad to hear you had a wonderful New Years Eve Love Mom xo
6th May 2010

It's always my pleasure to read your blog.

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