Bullet train - or Shinkansen

Tuesday, July 4 th 2006 – Tokyo and Kyoto

The following morning we made the crucial error of traveling from Ikebejuro to Shinjuku Station during the madness of the early morning rush hour. This was a lesson in how to do Tokyo at the wrong time as the crowds of people become an unceasing tidal wave rushing to get someplace. Stepping into this fray laden with back packs didn’t win us many friends.

We made it to Shinjuku but it took us a good 30 half hour to get our bearings and find a locker in which to store our stuff for a few hours. Out intention was to explore the Shinjuku neighborhood for a few hours prior to our Bullet train journey from Tokyo to Kyoto. Once again we wound up wandering aimlessly around the streets of Shinkjuku and with a sense of uneasiness defaulted to a breakfast of Egg McMuffins at a McDonalds as not many other dining options presented themselves. Krissy was ashamed of me as at home i'd regularly denied our son Stuart a visit to this most American dining cesspool, but with little in the way of choices I happily chewed down a few greasy treats.

On our way back towards Shinjuku we came upon a collection of lost looking guys lined up like Zombies in front of several Pachinko Parlors. We were confused as to what to make of this phenomenon, but it seemed to us that these were some of the lost souls of this massive society. The wretched refuse who take what income they can derive by way of luck instead of the compulsive career path of the average salary man.

The vastness of Tokyo is crystallized by wandering into just one of it’s massive department stores. We decided to check out one of the largest: The Times Square Tachimaya. This temple of commerce is 14 floors of immense consumerism with several floors of restaurants, appliances, electronics, toys, stationary, luggage, sporting goods, men’s, women’s and childrens wear and a vast basement food court with uncountable installations offering Sushi, Gyoza, Bentos and rafts of unidentifiable food stuff. We spent too much time on elevators, escalators and the miles of aisles within this immense edifice and I urged Krissy to exit so we could find our luggage and head to Tokyo Station for our impending Bullet train.

We got lost for a good 15 minutes in trying to locate the lockers where we’d stashed our bags. The architecture, engineering and design of these transit complexes is vast and bewildering and it was no surprise to me that we'd gotten lost. Finally we hit the familiar JR Yamanote line to Tokyo Station and tried to grab a snack before getting on board the Bullet to Kyoto.

The Shinkansen trains are fast, clean and quiet but everything seems to wiz by at 300 MPH and it’s tough to get a proper feel for the landscape as you speed by it. As well, everything in this country runs on time – so being there promptly is an important part of life in Japan.

We didn’t see much of the Kyoto Station in our first moments in this lovely city (but toward the end of our 48 hours we got a big taste of this impressive edifice). Instead we hopped a subway a few stops north of the station to “Oike,” subway stop, then we wandered about 8 blocks to the Hirota Guest House.

Hirota Guest House – Kyoto

Our initial moments at Hirota were pleasing and surprising as the Hirota’s directed us toward a rice paper walled room with a low table and two cushions. We sat and our hosts set up a cooling fan and offered us cold tea, biscuits and chocolate. We cooled ourselves down from the traveling and then Mrs. Hirota, aka “Sunshine,” joined us and provided us with a free hour of her time by rolling out a map of Kyoto and drawing a number of interesting routes and hi-lighting what we should see on our brief visit. Sunshine was a fantastic host and I heartily recommend a stay at this guest house if you are ever in Kyoto.

Our quarters at Hirota guest house were wonderful. This facility was formerly a small Sake Factory and we were provided with an entire 2 story guest cottage with entry hall, dining room, kitchen, bath and bedroom. We got comfortable for a while and I watched the Yomiuri Giants play BesuBoru on TV.

Geisha and Maika?
No way to know for sure.

A few hours later we walked from Hirota Guest house about 2 miles southeast towards the Gion (old town) part of Kyoto. This area is known for sightings of traditional Geisha Girls and the Maika gals who aide and assist them. We didn’t’ witness any of these mysterious ladies on our long walk as we wound up getting a bit lost in this beautiful area filled with tiny alleyways and intriguing temples. To be honest we felt hunger and frustration mixed with confusion and a sense of intimidation at such a foreign landscape. Eventually we wound our way toward the Kamo River which we found bustling with kids on this hot summer evening. A few blocks later we found reasonable dining at a rotating Sushi Bar, an entity similar to a few we have experienced in San Francisco.

After a fulfilling meal of sushi we strolled back across town and back to Hirota for a few hours of weird Japanese Serial TV and a good night’s sleep.