Up very early this morning. Kyoto, even in this non-peak super hot season, is flooded with tourists. And not the intrepid culturally sensible kind. And there’s only one way to beat tourists like that – get up very early. And so it was.
Our destination was Fushimi Inari Taisha. A shrine made up of a collection of about 10,000 vermillion coloured gates in the hills of Kyoto. I tried to find out what the Pantone code was for that vermillion but failed. Anyway there are about 30,000 inari shrines across the country but this one is the OG. The gates are laid out over a very steep hillside in a loop covering about 4 kms. It’s quite a challenging hike in the humidity. Unfortunately every tourist in Japan knows how cool this place is so that’s why we were there early. Jostling sucks.
Anyway, the walk was spectacular, dare I call it delightful? I will… it was delightful. Tourist numbers were relatively low and people were behaving more or less respectfully – not always a given.
We were back at our accommodation in time for a late breakfast. After a while kicking back we headed out into the Kyoto rain for a bit of light shopping including a trip to a v cool record store called Jet Set Records. Lots of great Japanese indie stuff. The staff seemed a bit taken aback by my strident enthusiasm for music – happens to me everywhere actually. And while we were record hunting, we also stopped by for a couple of beers (they were craft and delicious) and a casual browse at Hachi Bar and Record Store. We’d visited last time we were in Kyoto in 2019 and it was great to go back and find it still happening.
We wrapped up a great day with dinner at Yakitori Torito a delicious yakitori place just over the river. My fave “chicken shoulder with leek” char grilled to perfection. The menu was mostly in Japanese and the staff were very patient with us gaijin idiots.
Up and out early. V early.
Temple. Fushimi Inari Taisha.
Same temple. Different angle.
Smiling at 6 am. Impressive. Fushimi Inari Taisha.
Reminds me of another dog I know that likes sticks – although obviously this is a fox. Fushimi Inari Taisha.
A rarity. A shot with no pesky tourists in the frame.
A crow at the top of the Fushimi Inari Taisha walk. Actually there were two Crows there.
Dragon?
Omikuji – little prayers or wishes to ward off bad luck left by visitors.
Tour leader. Fushimi Inari Taisha.. Not very sensible shoes for the hike ahead. Not pictured – the 150 tourists trailing along behind her. We made it down just in time to avoid the flood.
Jet Set Records Kyoto. V cool, some might say too cool.
Hachi Bar and Record Store. My two favourite things in one convenient location.
Dinner at Yakitori Torito. Smoky deliciousness and we even at a few green things.
Walking home – wet.
Wet. My recycled brown paper bag carrying my organic groceries got soggy and split, spilling the contents on the floor of the packed No. 5 bus. V embarrassing.
flyeelookee 