Kyoto Temples, Nara, & Cats – There is SO MUCH in Japan! Our Trip Planned by Kensington Tours Pt. 2
in part one of Dave Goes Places. Two weeks in Japan and you ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s a travel day and it’s time to learn how to say Shinkansen, the bullet train. Sometimes the journey is the destination. We would be traveling from Tokyo down to Kyoto today. We were in a reserved seat first class car and boy it was something else. Immaculately clean car. Nice wide comfortable seats. Good leg room with a footrest. Snacks and beverages brought to your seat. I could get used to this. [Music] As we departed and we were still in town, it didn’t seem all that fast, but just you wait. In the compartment of the reserved seat car, the space at the back is an oversized baggage area. Time to watch Japan pass by out the window. isn’t over. Okay, there we go. Now we’re hauling. Thank you. While we’re clearly moving very quickly, the ride’s incredibly smooth, and you wouldn’t know that we were moving this fast if you didn’t actually look. And we were in Kyoto by lunchtime. As mentioned in the first video, we were traveling on an itinerary with Kensington Tours. So that meant a private guide met us at the train station and was first responsible for getting us to our hotel. But there was also a lot to see. So after dropping off our bags and checking in, we were on our way again. This involved public transportation, the Kyoto subway to the bus system, and that proved a very efficient way for us to get to our first site. Christianity, this is Kinka Cooji, and while it undoubtedly has cultural and religious significance, it’s mainly just beautiful. It is one of Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage sites, and there’s definitely a nonzero chance that you’ve seen the Golden Temple before. It’s spectacular. As a side note, it was fairly crowded while we were there, but because of the way that it is set up, the presence of other people really won’t affect your visual enjoyment of the site. Almost 100% your dreams come true or I’m not real sure what this guy was up to. Now, you could really immerse yourself into this site, but we treated it more as a walk through the park. It was really enjoyable and definitely worthwhile. I don’t know if you saw it, but next and not far away was the Rioanji Temple. This is another Zen Buddhist temple and another UNESCO World Heritage site. If you ever needed a visual definition of tranquil, here you go. [Music] One well-known feature of this temple is its Zen rock garden. But in addition to the rock garden, there’s some amazing artwork here. This all ties to the fascinating history of Buddhism in Japan with emperors having used this location as a mausoleum of this type of shrine. And for our third shrine of the day, we went to the Kintano Ting Mango Shrine. This one was a little more out of the way and a little less garden-like, but equally fascinating. I suppose the main difference here is it was a Shinto shrine and not a Buddhist temple. and also the usually the and while this was also a fascinating place to visit, the two things I liked best about it I didn’t get any video of. First, it’s very famous as a place for students to come offer prayers for academic success. And there were indeed some students doing just that. The second is this is where we saw an actual tanuki, a raccoon dog, go running across the path. If I’d been quicker, I would have taken some video of it, but you can always look at the statues they make of them. Uh, if you know, you know. You may have noticed a lot of art of oxen in this location and that is because that is the sacred animal of the shrine. And just outside the shrine is a traditional geisha neighborhood. The streets were pretty empty when we were there, but that was okay. People should be allowed to live their lives without becoming the entertainment. As we finished up at the third sight of the day, the rain came. At this point, we’d switched from the public transportation to a private taxi, and we returned to our night at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto. Very nice hotel. We’ll see a little more of the hotel later. If like me, you like various forms of rail travel, you’ll love Japan. on the right. This morning we were leaving the Kyoto station to go to a rashyama. After a short walk from the station, you come to the bamboo forest. And that’s what it is. It’s a very impressive bamboo forest. And then we came to the Nanomia Shrine. It’s associated with matchmaking. And sure enough, there was a wedding. And because of that, we did get a good look at the shrine, but I didn’t take any videos of the wedding itself. And then back into the bamboo forest. Coming out of the forest, we came to some more gardens and some really beautiful vistas. Now this is the area where Okochi Deniro resided. He was a very famous Japanese actor famous for playing samurai. He passed away in 1962. But this is his villa and these are his gardens. At least this part of the hike is not strenuous at all. It is uphill, but definitely worth it if you can do it. Here’s one of the vista points looking back at Kyoto. As you leave this part of the park, there’s a small art installation, some amenities, and then you’re back in the bamboo again. The next site for us to see was the Hosugawa River. You can take a boat ride here or even rent a boat yourself. very traditional way over there in the orange color. You have to wear the right. This is also a place where you can enjoy your lunch and that’s what we did. After another short walk, well for us at least, we came to the Tenrioji Temple, another of Kyoto’s many important Buddhist temples. This one is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The various temples tended to be associated with various sects of Zen Buddhism and also with different emperors. I focused more on their peacefulness and the beauty around them, but that’s actually kind of the theme. So finally he made past the temple was another highly worthwhile garden path. Let’s see. Flowers. So many that filled out the time till midafter afternoon and it was time to go back to the hotel. I’ve mentioned the hotel a few times now. So, let me show you around it a bit. This is the Hyatt Regency Kyoto. It’s modern and luxurious. We enjoyed it quite a lot. If you’re looking for a more traditional lodging, this isn’t it. [Music] Our booking came with an included breakfast, which we enjoyed here in this location. And the hotel itself had a Zen Rock Garden. Well, time to rest up because the next day is going to be a weird one. Judging from my itinerary planner’s reaction, I don’t think Kensington Tours has too many people insist on going to see the station master cat, but we did. Oh, like the pros they are, they nailed it. We were headed to Wakiyama Prefecture, which is not all that close, and specifically to Kishi Station. Why? Because Kishi station, at least until recently, had Tama, the super station master cat. Now they have Nitama, or second Tama. And we knew they’d done some things to take advantage of their cat history. But oh my goodness, we saw a lot more than we expected. They know what they’ve got here. When you get off the separate line in Makayyama to go to Kishi, you start seeing all the signs that you’re going someplace special. The station clock does have cat ears, but then it got nuts. Check out this train. It’s a rolling museum dedicated to Tama. And according to something I was told, it’s also a tourist attraction that saved this railway service. Keep in mind, I’m showing you around the inside of the car. Just judging this as a railway car, it’s beautiful, but it’s probably better judged as a cat lover’s fever dream. I mean, take a look around. I want to live here. Now, keep in mind this is an actual working train. We have about 14 kilometers to go to get to the cat station master. See you guys. [Music] can be spent finding cats, cats, cats, and cats. Well, if I haven’t convinced you I’m an entire cat lunatic yet, I’m certainly about to because now we’re at the station. And that, my friends, is Nitama. Nama’s work hours are posted. If you collect station stamps, here’s your opportunity. And what better place to have lunch than the Tama Cafe? Okay, between you and me, there’s probably a lot of better places to have lunch than the Tama Cafe. I mean, uh, look at the hot dog. But hey, now let’s look at the gift shop. And now let’s look at the station itself. It’s a cat. Now, most people aren’t going to adjust their itineraries to go this far off the beaten path just to see a cat station, but I sure am glad I did. And here’s our return ride. A different cat themed train. If you’re collecting stamps, be sure to check on the train, too. I believe I mentioned that there were two stations that had the cat station master and this is the other one. I believe this is Gotama. [Music] But it was growing late and it was time to head back to Kyoto. And on our return, we learned that cats were not the only animal featured on the trains. [Music] 39 [Music] Say it with me now. back to the hotel and the next morning back on the train or at least back on a train. There’s a whole bunch of them. To the surprise of no one who understands Japanese geography, when in Kyoto, Naro is an easy day trip. From the park, we approached the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. This is a Shinto shrine associated with the Fujiwara family. And the main hall is like a house for I got no bridges. One of its big features are these lanterns which are given as offerings to the shrine itself. So that’s why they just assembled. As I understand it, once a year all of these lanterns are lit up and it’s amazing. Well, they don’t do that just for the tourists, but they do have one darkened room where you can go in and see what it must be like. One more thing about these lanterns is you can identify the donor from the lantern itself. Back outside, we went into Nar Park, which is famous for its deer. You could say they were tame, or you could say they know when they’re about to get some free food. I’m not going to lie though, I really enjoyed seeing the deer. Stop bowing. We were crossing the park with the destination in mind of course. So after passing by a bit more Shinto influence and after passing by a few more hungry deer and unfortunate tourists, we came to the Toadai Gi Temple. This is a major Buddhist temple, one of the most important in the world. 800. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site to no one’s surprise. And here’s where you will find the Great Buddha Hall. This structure is immense. And while this isn’t the original construction from the 8th century, it’s really impressive. And when you go inside, sure enough, you’ll see a giant Buddha. Looking at my video now, I have to tell you, I never really captured just how large this is. 400. The great hall also includes some body shapa and they’re not tiny, that’s for sure. Afterwards, we took the time for a little shopping and a little lunch in N itself. The covered streets form these malls and they are full of all sorts of shopping. We found several great souvenirs here. But then it was back in a taxi to the train station on the other side of town to our final destination for the day. Traveling in May to miss the rainy season hadn’t quite worked out this day, but this was a must-see attraction. This is the Fushimi Inari Shrine. There’s a good chance you know the Shinto shrine without knowing you know it because this is the one with the hundreds of Tories. And despite the rain, we had to take the walk down the path. And that was our day in Nara. Now, as I make my way to the end of the video, may I ask you if you would please subscribe to the channel and if you liked this particular video to click that like button. And now, maybe you’ll want to go these places and maybe part three will be more your jam. Give it a view.
In May 2025, we traveled for two weeks in Japan on an itinerary curated and guided by Kensington Tours. I can’t say enough good things about this experience. In this second installment, we go to Kyoto and its UNESCO World Heritage Site Buddhist Temples, Nara and its temple and shrine, Arashiyama, and, as a surprise, to Wakayama to see the famous cat station and its cat master. This is a fun one.
AloJapan.com