Kyoto

Fushimi Inari early morning, foxes and gates

We took the bullet train from Tokyo and arrived to slight snowfall. Entire Japan was cold that January, but Kyoto in the snow was something else. The city felt slower, quieter, and completely itself.

Three days and we covered a lot: Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Kiyomizu-dera, Yasaka Pagoda, Kimono Forest, and a day trip to Nara Deer Park where the deer take biscuits from your hand with a confidence that borders on entitlement. Outside Yodobashi Camera we met a man from Shiga who was working in Kyoto. He spoke English and we got talking. He was funny and warm, and every time he agreed with something he said bery bery good instead of very very good. When he was thinking he made this long ehhhhhhhh sound like a Yamaha being revved. We were all laughing properly. We kept imitating him afterwards for the rest of the trip.

Kyoto rewards slowing down. The temples do not fight for your attention. They wait. The bamboo forest in January without summer crowds was one of the best things I saw in Japan.