From Tokyo, we took a 2.5 hour bullet train to Kyoto, where we were staying for the rest of the trip. While I hadn’t gone into the trip planning on trying to see Mount Fuji, since that seemed like a great way to be disappointed, the weather was amazingly kind to us, and for several minutes on the train we had an amazing view of the volcano out the window. 

Kyoto is one of Japan’s oldest cities, and it has so much cultural and historical significance that it was considered and then thankfully dismissed as a target for an atomic bombing during WWII.

We arrived in Kyoto in the afternoon on Thanksgiving. We walked to a small miso ramen shop for dinner, and then watched a traditional maiko performance at our hotel. I’m not going to pretend to understand all the cultural significance of the dances, but every element was incredibly deliberate, graceful, and precise, and it was a good introduction to the different feel of the city.

Kyoto was very beautiful and incredibly crowded. We hadn’t fully realized that we were going to hit high time for Kyoto’s fall foliage visitors. We normally try to avoid the crowds of high season, so it was a bit frustrating, but the leaves were absolutely beautiful. Everywhere we went, from temples to shrines to parks or just streets, were surrounded by green, yellow, orange, and red accents. 

On our first full day, we went to Fushimi Inari-taisha, the famous shrine with 10,000 torii gates, early to try to beat the crowds. The bottom was annoyingly crowded despite our best efforts, but as we climbed further up the mountain, the crowds thinned and we were able to have small moments by ourselves among the bright orange gates and the beautiful fall leaves. 

Our afternoon excursion, after fighting some more crowds at the other side of the city, was a climb up the mountain to Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama. After a beautiful hike, we arrived at a viewpoint that had both beautiful views and dozens of wild macaques.

The monkeys on the mountainside aren’t contained in any way, but they do hang out at this overlook during the day because they get fed there, and then go back up in elevation at dusk. There were lots of rules about giving them space, not making eye contact, and keeping all your belongings in your backpack, and there were also several rangers making sure that people didn’t get too close, which made me feel better about the safety of the animals. There was an option to buy snacks for the monkeys (to feed the monkeys safely, the humans went inside a big cage), but we just walked around the area and took pictures and were generally entertained.

Aside from being adorable, the macaques are highly social, and it’s fascinating to watch them interact with each other while they groom, cuddle, and chase each other off when they get annoyed.

The next day we took a day trip to Nara, which had two draws for us: the largest bronze Buddha in the world, and a whole lot of very friendly deer. I went into this excursion with pretty open expectations, and I had a great time. The deer, which are just…everywhere, are wild but also very used to getting fed by visitors (people could buy cookies to feed them at official stalls), so they’re not really nervous about humans. They were laying all over the park, following tourists around looking for treats, and just generally hanging out.

The bronze Buddha, which was completed in 751, is in a giant building at the Tōdai-ji temple. The great hall that houses the Buddha (like many fancy buildings in Japan) has burned down and been rebuilt multiple times. When it was built, the original building was the largest wooden structure in the world. Both the current Great Buddha Hall and the statue itself were incredibly impressive.

The next day we took an afternoon trip to Osaka, where our plans were to wander around the ornate Osaka Castle and find some good food. Immediately upon getting off the train, we walked straight into a Santa Parade, which was unexpected and kind of amazing. There were hundreds of Santas mulling around, and a band playing rock covers of Christmas songs.

The main attraction we went to in Osaka was the Castle, which was built in the 1580s and was originally the largest castle in Japan. We didn’t go in since the lines were so long, but the grounds are beautiful and the outside of the castle is ornate and commands attention every time it’s visible.

We also spent some time walking around the Osaka waterfront, which is a feast for the eyes. The Don Quijote (an amazing Japanese everything store with casino vibes) even had a ferris wheel. Osaka seems like a very cool city (including all the locals, who were definitely cooler than me) and I’d like to spend more time there.

On our last morning in Kyoto, we spent some time wandering around the city before heading to a tea ceremony we had booked.

Our tea ceremony was at a cultural center with two other couples, one from Finland and one from Germany. Our instructor, Suzuki, told us about how she joined a tea ceremony club in school because it was the only way to eat sweets while at school, and then fell in love with the art and teaching ceremonies.

We had a wonderful time in Japan, and we’re excited to come back (next time, we want to head north and explore Hokkaido). Until then, I have memories of blue skies and red leaves to get me through this winter.