Philky on 10/5/2007 at 16:18

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Kyoto is a excellent place to use as a base, as there as so many things to do both in kyoto and the surrounding areas. Kyoto station itself should be quite interesting for you if you are into architecture and design, as its quite impressive.

Few things I'd recommend around the area (and further):

-Himeji castle: An impressive castle not far by bullet train to the west of kyoto, I got a free english tour guide when I visited last.

-Nara: Only about 45 minutes south of Kyoto station, theres a bunch of temples featuring a massive budda statue, and also some really nice gardens to see there. Beware of the 'tame' deer! In particular 'isui-en' and the garden next to it. Also if you take a local train on the nara line (instead of the express) and stop off at the 'Inari' station, thats got a hill with thousands of Tori gates going up it, which you may have seen from the movie 'memoirs of a geisha'.

-Hiroshima: It really doesnt take that long to get anywhere in japan via shinkansen (bullet train) so i'd recommend at least 2 days to visit hiroshima, and also miyajima island where the famous floating tori is. Also a must is the Atomic bomb peace park and museum. I highly recommend you try hiroshima's version of 'okonomiyaki' which is like a savoury pancake, but in hiroshima cooked with udon or soba noodles included (both japanese style noodles). Get it from 'okonomiyaki mura' which is like a floor of a building with many small joints all serving the dish, its at the end of the main shopping arcade in hiroshima.


I recommend getting a lonely planet guidebook, as it has a huge amount of things you can see and do, I believe there is also a seperate book dedicated to kyoto itself!

Getting around in japan is easier than you might think, as pretty much all stations have english as well as japanese signs, and in Kyoto the buses have english pre recorded announcements for the larger touristy stops. Buses can get very crowded though, but thats an experience in itself :).

One thing you should definitely do (in my opinion) is learn how to pronounce japanese correctly. It is very easy, the lonely planet guidebook has a reference, and there are only 5 sounds, ie vowel sounds are always the same. It will help when asking a japanese person something, as they'll actually understand what you are asking :p. You'll probably learn quite a bunch of useful phrases by the time you come home!

One more thing, if you thought you might do a fair bit of travelling within a few days, it may be worth getting yourself a 'japan rail pass', as it basically gives you free reign on any JR line including the shinkansen. You must purchase an exchange order from your home country though, you cant get it while you are in japan. You can get 7 day, 14 day or 21 day passes. They may seem expensive, but if you are doing a decent amount of travel, its well worth it.

Mr.Duck on 10/5/2007 at 20:50

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Bring back pocky, hentai DVDs and some funky techno gadget that's still in Japan only.

And bring me a japanese wife too.

:cool:

PS. Have fun!

Morte on 11/5/2007 at 09:09

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First, get a Lonely Planet guidebook. They're awesome. Kyoto has insane amounts of temples and such to see, so you"ll find plenty of stuff to do in your immediate surroundings.

Other than that, Philky's recommendations are pretty solid. Nara is a must-visit since it's so close, and Himeji is probably the best castle in Japan. Just be aware that unless you have a Japan Rail Pass, the Shinkansen is quite expensive.

You should be able to get by without knowing the language, restaurants usually have pictures on the menus and/or dishes on display outside, so you can just grab a waitress, drag her outside and point if need be. If you want to be fancy you could try to learn the (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana) katakana syllabary, which they use for writing foreign words like beer, hamburger and curry.

How to not get in trouble: do not go inebriated to a convenience store in the middle of the night while being scary and foreign, especially if you have big black people with you. Just smiling and being obviously clueless well let you get away with a lot of things though.

I'm staying in Osaka until August, so if you have any questions, need any help, or just want to get drunk I can probably be of assistance. :D

Also, Tonamel is either mad or desperately unlucky, the food is great.

shadows on 11/5/2007 at 22:44

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I've also heard that in Japan they have some toilets that don't use toilet paper but shoots a jet of water to clean you off. Not sure if it's true or not. :wot:

Navyhacker006 on 12/5/2007 at 13:05

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I understand. A little better, at least. Thanks :)