Sam Byford

This is the second part of my Tales From Japan series, a collection of posts that delve into my 2023 trip to The Land of The Rising Sun. Don’t forget to check out Part 1 first to learn about our escapades with high-speed conveyor restaurants, Shintoism, and miserably failing the language test on our first meal out.

The final morning in Tokyo started bright and early with me feeling a mixture of emotions. Tired because the Norwegian lads had gone on an all-night bender and stumbled into the dorm at 5 a.m. Excited at the thought of properly starting our tour, and finally sad to be leaving such a great city. I adored Tokyo’s constant buzz, great food, and stunning sights. Hands down one of the best cities I will ever visit and I look forward to the day I return.  

At around 7 a.m., with the Norwegians running on near empty, we began our trek through the city to catch the first Shinkansen. These bullet trains are the world-renowned jewel of Japanese transport. Reaching speeds of up to 200mph and boasting a perfect safety record, the platypus-looking locomotives are the envy of rail networks across the globe. Inside, the appearance was comparable to an airplane rather than a train, except with 20 times the leg room.

We were soon zooming towards our first stop, Nagoya, where we would then take a slower regional train to Takayama in the Japanese Alps. Snaking through the Hokkaido countryside, even catching a brief glimpse at the monumental Mt Fuji, or Fuji-San (Mr. Fuji) as the Japanese like to say, we didn’t feel like we were going that fast. So it was quite a sight when Bodie opened up a speedometer app on his phone and showed us happily coasting at around 180mph.    

Once in Nagoya we quickly grabbed Bento before catching the connecting train. Bento is to Japan what the Meal Deal is to the UK. Set lunch boxes that can contain any items such as rice, meat, fish, and vegetables. The one we picked was fried chicken, it was okay but nothing extraordinary – Not even close to the meal deal perfection of a BLT sandwich, Salt & Vinegar McCoy’s, and an Innocent Strawberry smoothie. 

The ride up through the mountains was beautiful though, passing through small hamlets, deep gorges, rice paddies, and, thanks to the colder climate, we even saw cherry blossoms along the way. 

Takayama is a small city in the Gifu Prefecture that is famous for its Edo-period architecture and Takayama Matsuri – A float festival held in both spring and autumn that attracts thousands of visitors. Our first stop was the Hida folk village, an open-air museum of around 30 old farmhouses illustrating the traditional architectural styles of the area. From here we caught glimpses of snow-capped mountains peaking out from above the clouds far in the distance, rang a big bell, and attempted to pogo walk—another ‘normal’ morning in Japan.

However, for all the nice architecture and scenery, there was only one thing I had on my mind in Takayama…Beef. I love steak and Wagyu beef, specifically that of the A5 grade, is considered the best of the best. Beef caviar if you will. Part of the reason I wanted to come to Japan was to try some. Unfortunately, due to its quality, it is also extremely expensive with an entire steak setting you back well over £150.

Alas, I had my goal and I knew that Takayama was the best bet. I had heard that in the city there was a street food vendor offering small skewers of this five-star cut for a significantly smaller price. So when we ventured into the main town and finally spotted the stand, my heart began to race.

Flustered by this meat-induced trance it took me some time to figure out how to order. You had to go to the vending machine, choose one of the multiple skewers they had on offer, and insert your money. It was around £10 for 3 cubes of A5. Jackpot. You then handed the ticket in at the counter where the chef would prepare and cook the beef directly in front of you. The wait nearly killed me but finally, I got my hands on the goods. This was it. 3 years of planning. 2 COVID cancellations. It all came down to this moment. I took a bite and was immediately transported to another plane of existence. One of savoury, meaty perfection. It was like butter, a taste that was hard to describe but one I will never forget, different from anything else I had eaten before. Even Lucy, who has never liked steak, loved it. It was so good in fact that I was quite sad once I had finished it, knowing I would never taste it again…so I ordered another one.

After my steak coma had ended we carried on weaving our way through the historical centre, meeting up with the rest of the tour group outside a sake (Japanese rice wine) shop. Yet, this was no ordinary shop, It was a sake vending machine parlour. You paid £2 for a small cup you could then take to the various machines around the store which provided a sample for around 100 yen (£0.55). The flavours and strengths ranged from 4% fruity to 20% paint stripper. The Yuzu one was exceptional and we ended up buying a small bottle of it to take home.

With the entire group “feeling the effects”, we waddled on to our hostel for the night. I say “hostel”, but in actuality it was a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn complete with tatami mats and Onsen hot baths. Due to its small size, our group had actually rented out the entire place with Lucy and I getting our own room together. The tatami mats were a fun experience, laying directly on the floor with futon mattresses and bean bag pillows. I had probably the best night’s sleep of the entire trip there, despite the beans. We were also provided Kimonos and Yukatas to wear around the inn and to the Onsen.

Speaking of, we were excited to try out the natural hot baths except there was one thing that made us slightly hesitant. The golden rule with an Onsen is that you must go in a full birthday suit…They were split by gender but still, we were both a little reluctant about it. Lucy and I decided we would give it a go early tomorrow morning before leaving as we weren’t going to come all the way and not at least try it. 

In the evening it was time for more beef (shock to no one), with Yas taking us to a restaurant with ‘cook it yourself’ dishes. My bank balance had taken a bit of a hit with the A5 earlier so this time I stuck with traditional Hida beef, still a very mouth-watering cut but much less expensive. What I ordered came with a few slices of beef, veg, miso soup, and rice. The beef and veg were on a tin foil dish that was raised above a small flame as it arrived. You could then cook it to whatever “doneness” level you liked. It was once again, sensational and a lot of fun. Lucy ordered the ramen, which ended up being her favourite of the trip too.

Fit to burst, we moved onto a small place next door that offered the chance to learn traditional Japanese archery. It was basically in a man’s garage and when we arrived he was just sitting there practicing with his family. It was very different from normal archery and much, much harder. The bows were longer and you had to hold the arrow, not the drawstring, to release. We were bad…very bad. So bad that he actually became a little frustrated and insisted it was “more fun if you hit the target”. He took particular frustration to Josh who for the life of him couldn’t sit the way he was supposed to. He even moved Josh out of the way and showed us how it was done, hitting a bullseye with one attempt, barely looking at the target as he did so. Rather amusingly, he moved his family outside midway through the lesson, probably in fear of a stray arrow impaling his child. Finally, a few of us did hit the target but it was Lucy who was the Katniss Everdeen of the group, hitting it on more than one occasion. 

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to try out the Onsen. Leaving the inn at 7:30 a.m. meant we had to get up at around 6 to guarantee no soul would be awake. We quickly hurried down in Yakutas and split into the gendered rooms. Although it was natural and there was a small stream that flowed in from the outside, the Onsen itself was essentially just a big communal hot tub built directly into the floor. Very warm, relaxing and I am glad we did it but not quite as nice as hoped.

Today’s main event was Kyoto, the imperial and historical capital of Japan. After walking back through Takayama we retraced the tracks to Nagoya before pushing on to Kyoto. We arrived just as the heavens began to open and it became clear that rain was a very common sight here. The main streets had canopies above them and a large number of shops contained disposable bags outside for you to wrap your umbrellas in – A very clever solution and one I am surprised to have not seen elsewhere. A short walk later we arrived at the hostel and luckily Lucy and I were once again able to have our own room. It was extremely modern with each room having an iPad to control temperature, access the lights, and even check the laundry availability. However, there was an…interesting bed layout. The rooms were absolutely tiny so to allow two separate beds one was on the floor and the other was elevated. Can you guess who got the floor bed?

Now there is one key thing that I have yet to mention that did drastically impact our first day in Kyoto. When we arrived one of the group members  ̶m̶o̶r̶g̶a̶n̶  couldn’t find their JR rail pass. This was the very expensive train ticket that allowed unlimited train journeys in a 7-day period. Yas and Morgan ended up speaking to staff for what seemed like an eternity until news came through that JR had managed to find the credit card-sized ticket back in Nagoya station. Bearing in mind this could have been lost anywhere in the multiple train stations we had been in, and that it was worth around $400, someone had seen it on the floor, picked it up, and handed it in. Later on Yas told us a story of how it was impossible to lose your phone here as the police would go out of their way to investigate who it belonged to and how to get it back to them ASAP.

I would love to say that everything was plain sailing from here on out, but alas this was actually the second time someone had lost their very expensive “do not lose” train ticket. Klara lost hers when we were traveling from Tokyo to Nagoya a few days back but managed to get a temporary replacement. Unfortunately, it only went as far as Kyoto so Yas had to go queue up in one of the worlds slowest lines at the JR office to grab a new one. 

Both of these incidents added up to mean that our introduction to Kyoto wasn’t as structured as it should have been and we were, for no fault of Yas’, left to our own devices. Armed with a desire to explore, a small group of us ventured forth into the unknown.

Kyoto was very different from Tokyo, considerably smaller with little to no skyscrapers and much less neon. The focus here was more on historical culture with temples and markets galore. We were actually staying smack bang in the city centre with Nishiki market located close by. This was a long-covered street market providing all the food and drink you could ever imagine. Fish, squid, whiskey, fried chicken, Yakitori, and ramen it had it all. Lucy and I decided to try one of the red bean waffles shaped like a fish (Taiyaki) that we had seen all over. Except, learning our lesson from Tokyo, we opted for custard instead of red bean filling. Fresh, warming and extremely sweet, It was definitely the right decision. We continued walking around the grid-like streets for hours, exploring the various alleys and temples that were randomly nestled between buildings. Even in the rain, it was still a beautiful place.

Eventually, we found ourselves in the Gion district, an old part of town that is famed for its Geisha but one that has struggled with over-tourism. Lined with high-end restaurants and boutiques serving salary men in traditional period buildings, it was extremely busy. You are not allowed to take photos down the streets, partly to reduce traffic at key locations but also to protect the privacy of Geishas who you could see running between buildings trying to get from A to B without being harassed.

For our second day in Kyoto, it was time to visit some of the main cultural hubs. With the ticket issues of yesterday all resolved Yas and the tour were back on track. Once again it was a rainy day so we took a short metro ride to our first location, Fushimi Inari, a shrine famous for its “thousands” of Torii gates. We arrived nice and early in an attempt to avoid the mass of tourists that flock to the site which extends up the entire mountain. The main area contains a tunnel of 800 gates with each one funded by donations from individuals and companies. The bigger the gate, the bigger the donation, with smaller gates starting at 400,000 yen (£2205) and increasing to 1 million yen (£5,513) for larger gates. It was a stunning site to behold, although the race to get a “perfect” photo down the tunnel was quite a hard one to win. Getting a picture without anyone in view meant you had to time it faultlessly with a split-second window every 5 minutes or so.

Before heading back into town we visited the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a large natural bamboo forest with walkways snaking through it. You may have seen it before on Japan travel guides where they show scenic photos of the deserted forest. In reality, it was absolutely heaving with people but thankfully it had stopped raining so we no longer had to battle for aerial superiority with our umbrellas. Even with the crowds, the forest was extremely atmospheric as the wind slowly blew the towering pillars of bamboo back and forth – It is actually said that you can hear the bamboo growing due to the speed at which it climbs upwards.

Back in the city centre, we went for lunch at a nearby Ichiran with the usual suspects; Sarah, Bodie, and Blake. Ichiran is a chain ramen shop that embodies so much of Japanese culture. As with many restaurants, you select what you want on a vending machine but then you sit down in a booth and give your ticket to someone through a large hole in the wall in front of you. A bamboo curtain is then folded down, sealing you away from the kitchen. 5 minutes later it opens, delivering a steaming bowl of perfect ramen. It was really…really good food but the best part was the amount of customisation available. A small sheet was provided with the ticket allowing you to alter things such as the spice level and even the “firmness” of the noodles. 

Post ramen we hopped on the bus to the Golden Pavilion. Kyoto’s metro system is rather limited so buses are by far the most accessible forms of transport around the city. After initially getting on in the wrong direction (to the amusement of the locals) we eventually arrived at the pavilion, paid the entry fee, and went into the grounds. Seeing the pavilion was one of the biggest ‘wow’ moments of the whole tour. Covered from the second floor up in gold leaf, it is perched in the middle of a lake surrounded by beautifully traditional gardens. It really is actual gold too with 43kg of the stuff used in sheets 10cm^2 and five 10,000ths of a millimetre thick. Arguably the most draw-dropping part of it all though is that the entire building is maintained by just one man Takesato Yagyu who has to constantly clean, dust, and re-apply the sheets on areas that need re-touching

Whilst there we thought we would be classic tourists and paid 100 yen for a fortune. Mine stated that “something that was lost would soon be returned to you but it will prove useless”. Now, I am not a believer in fortune or fate, however, what followed may have been the closest I have ever come to converting. No more than 30 seconds after reading this fortune aloud did I get a tap on my shoulder from behind. A stranger handed me my ticket which had fallen on the floor. Something I had lost had been returned to me and it was now useless as we were leaving the temple grounds. 

Somehow we found our way back on the bus without getting lost and began to prepare for tonight’s dinner, a tempura restaurant offering bottomless drinks, before heading to Karaoke. Yas knew exactly what he was doing, get us all full of drink so the Karaoke would be bearable, and I was all here for it. The tempura was great, light, crispy, and far better than its Western imitation.

After a few hours drinking highballs and sake we wandered through Kyoto, fell into the Karaoke venue and immediately went straight for the costumes. Lucy went for Mario while Bodie and I went for a bizarre ’70s/witchcraft getup before deciding we would sing high school musical together…as you can tell, many drinks were had prior. We took the room by storm, it was a sight to behold. One way or another that is. In reality, we butchered it, massacred even. The four Norsemen stuck by their looks and sang a group rendition of a James Bond theme and Lucy duetted with Sarah for some ABBA.

To close the night we all headed off to an Irish pub where we drank litres of baby Guinness’s and talked the night away. Unfortunately, this was the last night for some of the group who were on a smaller sub-tour. The Norsemen were backpacking off to Thailand, Caitlyn was traveling back to Tokyo to meetup with some friends and Grecia was heading home. We said our sad goodbyes, wishing them well for their future adventures. For the rest of us, tomorrow was a day we had been immensely looking forward to, a visit to Nara and a chance to see their famous Sika deer.