This page contains images of Kyoto that aren't of its ancient temples.
Kyoto was our first city in Japan, so we were experiencing both the old
and new at the same time. I recommend that you visit a modern city first,
so that once you get to Kyoto you can focus on the beauty of ancient Japan.
Nonetheless it was in Kyoto we met vending machines, throngs of Japanese
tourists on bus tours in their own country, throngs of schoolchildren,
strange Japlish on all the shirts and signs, and the most friendly people
you'll find anywhere.
You have to be careful about asking for help in Japan, at least outside of
Tokyo, as you will get it. Stand still for a while in puzzlement and
somebody will come to try out their English. If they toured abroad, they
will have decent English, otherwise they will be better at writing it than
speaking it.
Ask how to get somewhere and they will not give you directions, they will
insist, insist upon guiding you there personally, even if it is easy
to find or a long distance away. It's a good thing they won't give you
directions, because you will get lost following them, and they probably
know that and thus would feel guilty doing so.
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There seems to be a vending machine every 20 yards in Japan. I'm not kidding. They are everywhere. Mostly they sell coffee, tea and soft drinks, but also soup and more. And of course, Pocari Sweat, a nice piece of Japlish, which is really a Japanese Gatorade. I loved trying all the dozens of new brands of soft drinks, mostly fruity ones with great names like Qoo, Bikkle, Life Partner and more. The Melon drinks are good, and the milk teas.
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Trains everywhere, and bikes for all the locals. This is the bike parking at Kyoto station and it goes on forever. And most of the bikes aren't locked, and the ones that are locked have very simple locks. Makes you feel sad for our society with its penchant for giant Kryptonite locks.
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Yes, the subways and trains are crowded. And we never got into the real thick of rush hour.
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A (fairly empty) Pachinko parlour. Pachinko is now supposedly one of the top recreations in Japan. It's a pinball-related gambling game with little skill. Gambling is illegal, so you win prizes that you can then go next door to redeem for money. There were Pachinko parlours everywhere
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Along the river in Kyoto. One of my few shots of modern Japan. Most of middle-class modern Japan is, as often reported, ugly -- a contradiction when you consider the great aesthetic sense the Japanese display in other fields.
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One of our first sights in the park -- An American singing for tips. He tells me he used to sing in the BART stations. Polite Japanese put tips in even if they don't stop to listen to him. They love "Stand by Me" and, of course, the Beatles
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This is the monument to the unknown soldier of WWII. Odd to be there when the allies are the guys who killed the unknown soldier. The Buddha is hollow, and you can go inside it.
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The older houses of Kyoto, leading up to the view at Kiyomizu-dera. The shops are all -- of course -- souvenir shops, thronged with Japanese tourists
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Sunset view of Kyoto from Kiyomizu-dera
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Kyoto from the 10 storey mall next to the train station. You see the train tracks, and the elevated Shinkansen tracks below
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Our first sight of Japan -- the modern train station building. Fully decked out for Christmas in early November. Surreal.
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The Kyoto train station mall at night, with the glowing tree, and angel in lights on the glass wall. The tree is reflected twice. It played loud music all night -- the same 4 songs -- including of course the Divine Lennon's Happy Christmas song.
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Japanese loved to pose on the stage of the tree, so we did too. We didn't ring the bell, which they all did because it's a Buddhist tradition.
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Kyoto is filled, filled with crowds of schoolchildren on one of the their three expeditions. Usually the high school one. Though the schools are mostly co-ed, they still tend to keep apart. Here a crowd of boys waits near Sanjusangen-do Temple, with its 1001 Kannon statues
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By the train station, teens gather Friday night to socialize and -- a little behind the times -- break dance in a synchronized fashion to their boom boxes
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Two Shinkansen pull into Kyoto station at once. They come every few minutes, and are great. Amazingly, our first is 40 minutes late! People are absolutely shocked.
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