Tokyooo

Day 5: December 31:

Instead of falling down Alice's rabbit hole, we traveled to a sort of tunnel that was Fushimi Inari Taisha. At this shrine, yet again full with new year's travelers, we were able to walk along a path of torii (Japanese gates). Hundreds of these vermillion and black gates lined the trail up to various Shinto shrines.

The temple will be packed on New Year's day with pilgrims.

Each torii has unique characters written on it. 

To do a traditional prayer: 1) bow deeply 2) clap your hands twice 3) pray 4) bow deeply. Kitsunes (Japanese foxes) adorned many temples, as they were associated with Inari, a Shinto spirit, and acted as its messengers.

Women dressed in kimonos complete prayer ritual. 

In addition, a bus ride brought us to Arashiyama, a small town home to a bamboo forest. Major sightseeing points here included the forest, the Togetsukyo bridge, and Nonomiya Shrine.

Spot any pandas?

A pretty bridge. 

Green tea and soybean softserve!

To end the day, we explored Gion, home to the famed geisha street. Although I only spotted one powder-faced geisha, dressed in a pink kimono and carrying lanterns, the streets were still filled with men and women wearing traditional Japanese clothing! (Note: not all of the kimono wearing people were actually Japanese)

Dressing up in kimonos. 

Traditional Japanese architecture lines the cobblestoned street. 

Day 6: January 1:

Transportation was an integral and disciplined part of Japanese life, which we learned when riding the Shinkansen (a bullet train) from Kyoto to Tokyo. The journey only took a few hours, but before we finally found our seats, we had wandered from the first class section, to the reserved green cars, until finally we reached the unreserved section that the train conductor would not kick us out of.

A blurry of Mount Fuji on the train ride. 

A busy Tokyo train station. (There are janitors everywhere!)

Arriving in Tokyo felt similar to a movie scene where the protagonist would look with starry eyes and an open mouth at the sheer density of buildings, trains, and billboards. However, in our case, erase all of the people out of that scene. For arriving on new year's day meant that all the Tokyo-ians were inside at home with their families.

9th floor view of an empty street in Tokyo (Marunouchi)

Movie release poster for Kimi No Nawa!

Nonetheless, it was exciting to explore Tokyo's train station and once again look for food to eat.