Is 6 Hours in a 1,000-Year-Old City Enough Time? (Kyoto vlog)

Is 6 Hours in a 1,000-Year-Old City Enough Time? (Kyoto vlog)

Kyoto, the cultural heart of Japan.
And we had six hours. Not six days, not even a weekend—just one day to 
see one of the most legendary cities on Earth. We rode the bullet train in the morning, 
raced through shrines, dodged the rain, and made it back by dinner.
This isn’t a travel guide. This is what it feels like 
to visit Kyoto in 6 hours. Enjoy! I’m Noelle.
And I’m Jonathan. We’re on a mission to live in 100 countries.
Ever wonder what would happen if you got rid of all your stuff and traveled around?
A few years ago, we would have said that was crazy or irresponsible.
But there’s more than one way to travel. Whether it’s months in Colombia or months in 
Romania, weeks crossing oceans, slowly traveling the world. We’re writing our own story.
Everywhere we go, we meet amazing people. This channel may not be for you, but we’re 
inviting you to come along with us because we’re not just traveling.
Subscribe for free. We were staying in Osaka, so to get to Kyoto, 
we did what anyone on a tight schedule would do. We took the bullet train.
Specifically, the Shinkansen, Japan’s legendary high-speed rail.
From Shin-Osaka Station, it takes just 13 minutes to reach Kyoto.
It costs about 11 USD per person, and we rode the Hikari 646, a 
non-reserved seat on the ordinary car. Fast, clean, and right on time.
We bought our tickets on Klook. It’s an app that makes it easy 
to get tickets for things. I feel like we got a pretty good deal.
We were some of the only people on this train. If you’re coming from Tokyo, these same 
trains connect all the way there, too. In fact, our next video is all about 
our bullet train ride to Tokyo. We honestly love Japan’s public transportation.
It’s clean, well-ventilated, super intuitive, and incredibly efficient.
We each had an ICOCA card, which is just a reloadable transit card.
It made everything simple. So, when we get to Kyoto, there’s really 
no need to rent a car to get around. Once we arrived in Kyoto, we got on the local 
train and then walked a short way to one of the most iconic places in all of Japan: Fushimi 
Inari Taisha, the shrine with a thousand gates. It’s open 24/7 and it’s completely free to enter. This is a Shinto shrine.
Shinto is uniquely and deeply Japanese. It isn’t a religion that has spread across the 
world like Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism. It developed exclusively in Japan.
Shinto is said to be non-dogmatic. There’s no founder, no scripture, and no doctrine. In Shinto, everything in nature can have a spirit.
Living in harmony with nature, cleanliness, showing gratitude, and honoring the unseen 
forces around us—that’s the heart of Shinto. I always thought these gates were red, but 
now that I’m actually here, I can see they’re distinctly vermilion orange.
I love orange! In Shinto, vermilion is believed to 
ward off evil spirits and disease. The farther we walked in, the more we realized 
this might take longer than we thought. I thought there were only a thousand gates, but I’m pretty sure we’ve already 
walked through more than that. I’ve been counting them.
There are actually over 10,000 gates. There are multiple paths that go up the 
mountain, and if you want to hike to the top, it’ll take 2 to 3 hours.
We don’t have that kind of time. We’ve been walking for over an hour already.
We should probably head back. On the way down, we could see 
writing on the back of the gates. I wonder what it says.
There are fox statues here, too. In Shinto, foxes are said 
to be messengers of Inari. Walking through these gates 
has been really peaceful. The forest is quiet.
You feel surrounded by nature, walking under thousands of orange 
gates, gently climbing the mountain. Next, we’re going to a Japanese garden.
Here we are at a Japanese garden. So, this is going to be really cool.
Right in Kyoto. It’s raining a little bit, so 
we’re going to put our jackets on. It’s actually called Kyoto Gyoen National 
Garden. “…from the management office of Kyoto Gyoen National Garden.”
This is massive! Long gravel walkways, streams, tree-lined paths.
It feels like a park. There’s a big pond with a wooden bridge across it. Perfectly placed.
Every detail feels intentional, like someone designed this 
whole garden down to the smallest detail. In the middle of the park is 
something that looks like a castle. Turns out it’s the Imperial Palace.
Unfortunately, it was closed when we went. Still, the open space around 
it is beautiful and peaceful. As you can tell, the sky is gray 
and a gentle rain is falling. And that’s when it really hit us.
Kyoto has so much to see—way more than you can cover in just one day.
The castle walls with the moat. Can you imagine if this was 
your only experience in Japan? It would be beautiful, but also incomplete. All right, time to get some food.
We stopped by the Aeon Mall near Kyoto Station.
I got curry. Noelle got Subway.
Yum. Next, we went to see a five-story 
pagoda: the To-ji Temple. It’s the tallest wooden pagoda in Japan 
and one of Kyoto’s most iconic sites. If you see swastika-like symbols at 
temples in Japan, don’t be alarmed. It’s actually an ancient Buddhist 
symbol of harmony and good fortune. It’s been used in Asia for 
centuries, long before World War II. Now, we had to make our way back to the train 
station—but not before a little souvenir shopping. Kyoto is a major tourist destination, 
and it shows in the gift shops. There were decorative fans, patterned chopsticks, little statues, and some things 
we still don’t quite understand. We didn’t buy anything, not for ourselves 
or for anyone else, but it was fun to look. And just like that, our 6 hours in Kyoto were up.
It wasn’t enough time, but it was a beautiful glimpse.
One day can never capture the full depth of a place like Kyoto.
But sometimes one day is all you get. So you soak it up, take it slow, and 
it’s okay if by the end you want more. In our next video, we are going 
to Tokyo on the bullet train. And this time, we are staying 
there for a couple weeks. So far, we’ve made several videos in Japan. You can find and watch any you’ve 
missed in the description of this video.

It’s about discovering how much beauty, depth, and wonder you can feel in Kyoto—even in just one day.

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We’re Noelle and Jonathan, a full-time travel couple on a mission to live in 100 countries.

As we explore Japan, we’re not just checking off tourist spots — we’re diving into everyday life.

We had just one day.

Not a week. Not even a weekend.

Just six hours to explore Kyoto—Japan’s cultural heart, home to ancient shrines, serene gardens, and centuries of tradition.

This isn’t a guide to everything you should see.
It’s a glimpse into what it feels like to be there, even for a short time.

From gliding in on the Shinkansen to wandering through Fushimi Inari’s endless torii gates and Kyoto Gyoen’s peaceful garden paths, this was a day full of quiet beauty and fleeting time.

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LINKS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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🦊 Fushimi Inari Taisha
• Get ready to hike! There are more than 10,000 Torii gates, lots of fox symbolism, and a spiritual atmosphere.
🔗 inari.jp/en

🌳 Kyoto Gyoen National Garden & Imperial Palace
• Very pretty and great for walking along gravel paths, over bridges, and under trees.
🔗 kyotogyoen.go.jp/en/about/

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6 Hours in a 1,000-Year-Old City (Kyoto vlog)

#kyototravel #japanvlog #shinkansen #travelcouple #slowtravel