traveling japan: kyoto

Hi everyone! How are you doing? Today, I wanna share about my recent trip I had to Kyoto, Japan. I feel like we haven't really share our travel journal / adventure log so I decided to share my favorite spot in Kyoto. My boyfriend was visiting me in Japan for about 7 weeks and we decided to take a little trip to Osaka where my grandma lives, Kyoto, Nara, and Hyogo. I'll share an article about Nara as well so stay tuned!

こんにちは！最近トラベルやアドベンチャー系の記事をシェアしていなかったので、今日は最近の京都旅行で行ったことや京都の好きな場所などについてお話するね。彼が７週間ほど日本にきていて、大阪に住んでいるおばあちゃんを訪れるのとともに、京都、奈良、兵庫に行ってきたよ。奈良については、また違う記事でお話するね！

KYOTO

Kyoto used to be a capital of Japan, and it's located in Kansai region (= west side) of Japan. It has many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and you can totally see some old part of Japan in Kyoto. Main station is Kyoto station. (It's huge.) And pretty much any station in Kyoto, you can get city bus one-day pass (Adult ¥500 / Child ¥250) which what you want for a day trip in Kyoto. Once you get the pass, you can ride a bus to where you wanna visit!

いつも京都では、どこの駅でもゲットできる1日バス乗車券を買うよ。(大人¥500 / 小人 ¥250)

1. Arashiyama 嵐山 /Bamboo Forest 竹林

Arashiyama is in west part of Kyoto which has the famous bamboo forest. Honestly, it was filled with tourists when I got there (it was around 10AM.) I travelled to Kyoto many times since my grandma lives 30 mins away, and if you wanna experience calm and quiet sightseeing time, I recommend you to visit in the early morning. (Same to the other famous sightseeing places.) In summer, I left my grandma's house around 5AM to experience that and I was fulfilled with tranquility and calmness so if you're morning person, please try it! After went through Arashiyama, we walked along the river and found Arabica Coffee so we took a little break having a coffee there.

嵐山は京都の西側にあって、竹林で有名。正直、私たちがついた頃には(朝10時ごろ)観光客で溢れかえってた。おばあちゃんのお家から京都までは30分くらいで行けるから何度か京都にきているけど、もし静かで落ち着いた雰囲気の京都を楽しみたいなら朝一で人気な観光地に行くのがおすすめ。一度、夏におばあちゃんの家を朝５時ぐらいに出て、めっちゃくちゃ静かな京都を堪能したけど、心が洗われた気分になれたよ。竹林のあとは、川沿いをぼ〜っとのんびりお散歩。その川沿いにあるArabica Coffeeで一休みしたよ。

2. Suzumushi Temple 鈴虫寺

It was my first time visiting Suzumushi Temple. My sister loves this place and she's been visiting a few times. I'd never really asked what's this temple for but when we arrived, we just lined up in the queue for a little bit and we all went into the temple. (Taking off shoes and sitting down on tatami with warm green tea and Japanese little snack!) I didn't expect anything but the first thing you see was many boxes filled with about 5000 of bell crickets = suzumushi. A few minutes later, a monk came out to talk to us about life and happiness which was blessing. It was such an amazing way to get a reminder of life. Obviously, I think all the monks are only Japanese so there was no foreign tourist besides my boyfriend. I translated everything to him as the monk spoke.

鈴虫寺を訪れたのは今回が初めて。妹が何度か行っていて、京都にきたら必ずきているらしいので連れて行ってもらったよ。このお寺のことは何も知らなかったんだけど、ついたら列ができていて、少したったらみんな靴を抜いでお寺の中に入っていくの。と言うのも、このお寺では畳に座って、暖かい緑茶を飲みながら、箱に入った5000以上の鈴虫の音を聞きながら和尚さんがお話をしてくれるのを聞ける。人生や幸せについてお話してくれて、当たり前のことでわかっていたようなことでも思い出させてくれて、気分がすっきりしたよ。もちろん、日本語のみなので私の彼以外は海外の観光客はいなかったよ。彼には私が通訳したの。

After the talk, I bought a little omamori for myself and boyfriend to make a wish to the jizo right outside of the temple. Apparently, if you make a wish at suzumushi temple, the wish always comes true. (Well, obviously you can't make a nonsense wish such as: I wanna be rich, make them break up or something heartless.) So I wanted to give it a try. I also saw many people came back to say thank you to the jizo and the temple for making their wishes come true.

お話のあとに私たちはお守りを買って、それを握りしめて外にいるお地蔵さんにお願い事を一つだけする。実は鈴虫寺でしたお願いごとは必ず叶うんだとか。妹もそうだけど、お礼参りできて、また新しいお願いごとをして帰っている人もたくさんいたよ。もちろんお願いごとは普通に『お金持ちになれますように』とか『あの子があの子と別れますように』とかはありえないよ。シンプルなお願いね！だから私も彼もやってみよう〜とお願いごとをして帰ったよ。

3. Tofukuji 東福寺

It's one of the oldest temples in Japan and I think this is one of my favorite temples to visit! I only visited in summer which was filled with green, and winter which was filled with naked trees, and both times were just amazing and calming. Everytime I go, I don't really find many tourists there. It's always pretty empty so I got to enjoy the calmness in the quietness. And I know this is one of the best places to visit in autumn for coloured leaves!

東福寺は日本でも最古のお寺の一つで、あたしの好きなお寺の一つでもあるよ。今回２回目だったのだけど、夏にきた時は緑に溢れていて本当に素敵だったの。今回は冬だったので木々は全部裸だったけど、ここは本当に静かで落ち着く場所。夏も冬も、どちらも観光客が全然いないの！だから静けさを楽しみたいならおすすめ。でもここを訪れるのに一番いい季節は秋！紅葉がすごいそう。次は秋に行ってみたいな :)

夏の東福寺 / Tofukuji in Summer

by @hikarilillynaka / @hikfilm

4. Inari Shrine 稲荷大社

I'd say this is one of the most famous places in Kyoto, and I know that everyone wants to visit if they're in Kyoto. And yes, you totally should! It's so amazing, especially in summer. This time, I visited in the afternoon and I couldn't walk smoothly because of the wave of people. I have to say the place was really loud and busy but still I could find the calmness. Many people don't know but this shrine is a mountain and you can hike up to the summit and look down the city of Kyoto with lines of red torii.

京都で一番といってもいいほど有名な稲荷大社。京都に行ったら必ず訪れたい場所だと思う。もちろん、ぜひ訪れてほしい！やっぱり何千も続く鳥居は本当に圧巻。特に夏に訪れた時は本当に素敵だったの。今回は午後に一番最後に行ったんだけど、歩く場所がないくらいの人混みで、上まで行こうと思ったけれど断念。すごくうるさかったし、忙しくて、なぜか少し悲しくなっちゃった。たくさんの人はこの最初の鳥居たちで終わると思っているのだけど、実は山の上の上の方まであって、頂上まで続いているの。だからもしハイキングやアクティブなことが好きな人はぜひ上まで行って京都の街並みを見下ろしてみてね。

I recommend to go visit in the first thing in the morning. I visited around 6 - 7am before and no one was there. Also, it was beautiful in the early morning in summer to hike up the mountain.

私が夏に行ったときは本当に早朝6時とか7時くらいに行ったの。早朝ハイキングをしているおじいちゃんやおばさんに遭遇するぐらいで、誰もいなくて、本当に別世界だった。だから朝に強い人はぜひ！

夏の稲荷大社 / Inari Shrine in Summer

by @hikarilillynaka / @hikfilm

5. Bits and Pieces / 小さなアドバイス

I totally recommend to visit in the early morning for your main spot to avoid tourists, if you wanna find a calmness and quietness there. And even if you wake up early, if you take a bus with your one-day pass, you can take a nap during your an-hour bus ride.

本当に何度も言ってるように人気な観光地で素敵な写真を撮ったり、のんびりした雰囲気を楽しみたいなら早朝に訪れることをおすすめするよ！やっぱりお寺や神社のいいところは静けさなど心を落ち着かせる場所でもあると思うから、今回めちゃくちゃ混んでるときに行って、本来のそのものの雰囲気を楽しみたいと思ったよ。そして一つ一つの場所は少し遠くて、バスで１時間とかかかるところもあるから、1日乗車券を買ったならバスでお昼寝するのもおすすめ笑 みんなのおすすめスポットやお気に入りの場所も教えてね♡

xx Hikari