Family Visit: To Kyoto & The Singing Castle

It was an early start of 7.30 on Tuesday. Well, 7.30 for me, my family had to be up earlier to pack their bags and check out of their hotel.

We met at 8.00 at Suitengumae station to take the Hanzoumon line to Tokyo station. They had to take all their luggage they brought with them so we all struggled up and down the escalators with the huge suitcases.

We went to Otemachi station and followed the twisting passages (and lots of escalators and stairs!) to JR Tokyo station.

I had previously reserved the Shinkansen tickets so we were all booked in for the 9.10 Nozomi 700 (the newest to date) to Kyoto.

We found our platform (number 14) without too much trouble and had nearly half an hour to spare.

Once we were there, all present and correct, I could relax and get excited about going to Kyoto. A few minutes later, the Shinkansen made its sleek entrance.



The Shinkansen are very modern and clean. They look like aeroplanes inside, and have infinitely more leg room, even by long-legged Western standards. There is room for luggage at the back of each carriage (there are usually 17 cars!!) and in the racks above the seats.

Usually carriages 1-3 or 5 are for unreserved passengers. I had a peek inside and was surprised to see that everyone had a seat! Maybe it's not so bad to not reserve, but I bet there's a rush to sit down as soon as the doors open.

Announcements were in Japanese and English (would you expect anything less?) and top news stories (in Japanese only) scrolled along the screen at the front of each carriage.

There was a trolley service with food and drink, and my brother kept asking me what "Anything from the trolley, dears?" was in Japanese.

The train was incredibly smooth but my mum and youngest brother felt a bit motion sick from the way the train seemed to bob up and down on the tracks as it sped across the landscape.

And speed it did. Before we knew it we had passed Nagoya (Japan's not-very-famous fourth largest city) and were well on our way to Kyoto.

Halfway through, a man entered and bowed deeply and then said something very quietly and quickly, before checking everyone's tickets.

The journey took 2 hours and 18 minutes in total, and arrived within the minute it was scheduled to. Apparently the average is that they get to their destination within 6 seconds of when they're supposed to. Wow.

We got our stuff ready before we pulled into Kyoto station because it didn't seem to wait for very long at each stop.

The machine swallowed our tickets as if they were ordinary train tickets as we walked into Kyoto station's famous high-roofed central hall. It was quite chilly in there but I've heard it's a lovely refuge from Japan's infamous heat and humidity in the summer months.


Because we booked quite late, all the traditional ryokan we would have liked to stay in, with tatami mat flooring and futons etc. were full. This meant my parents had to shell out for a 4-star hotel attached to Kyoto station itself, the Granvia.

It was very nice, but obviously very expensive! I'm so grateful as I'd never be able to stay there out of my own pocket.

We checked in and left our baggage with them, not being able to get into the rooms for a few hours. So we got straight on with touristing, by taking the subway (it's virtually the same as Tokyo's) to Nijo-jo mae station, to see Nijo Castle.

It may look like other similar places in Japan, but the difference is that the floors inside the castle as you walk through them squeak and sing like birds. It was designed to do this as a warning in case any intruders tried to break into the castle.

Sometimes it just sounded like creaky floorboards, but occassionally I would put my foot down and be met with a twittering just like dawnbreak. It was very different to other places I'd been to.

We were inundated by school-children visiting at one point. I actually thought Kyoto would be heaving with tourists, as it was cherry-blossom viewing season, but the weather was lovely (19C on one day) and it wasn't crowded at all. We were so lucky!
There were pretty gardens attached to the castle grounds.

After the castle, we took the subway back to Kyoto station, and wandered round the area, until we found a nice looking place for dinner.
The restaurant we chose had salt outside the door, I assume to ward off evil spirits.

This was the passageway leading up to the door. It was very atmospheric.

We were given the choice of a table, or a tatami room to ourselves, so of course we took the mat room.
Everyone's legs hurt by the end of the meal, but we had the proper Japanese experience of taking our shoes off, and going through the sliding doors and sitting on tatami, eating at a low table. Plus the food was delicious.

After that, we went for another wander round the area, and my brother Dominic hugged a random bear outside a hair salon.

Near the station is Kyoto Tower. It's not as impressive as Tokyo Tower, but it's a good landmark, as you can see it from most areas nearby.

We went back to the hotel and settled down for bed. The beds were lovely and soft, the type that you sink into and can just lie there feeling comfortable. Great!