Time for catch up... Kyoto is an amazing city and would be the one I would recommend visiting if you could choose only one. It has hundreds (literally) of temples and shrines, great culture, very funky and trendy neighbourhood spot, great shopping for those inclined! Rent a bike... Japan is super bike friendly - you would think with millions of people, crazy traffic, etc it would be difficult - but the drivers are so polite for pedestrians and bikers. And everybody just works around everybody else. No one ever rings a bell, they just wait for a space. A bike made getting around Kyoto so much easier - we covered most of the East side and the centre. We had taken a train to Kyoto and as mentioned the ticketing is confusing. The ticketing agent, conductor and food trolley people never left the car without turning to bow and say thank you - like the rituals and manners. Farms are very small in Japan, with every inch covered. In the areas where farms overlap with cities every spare inch is filled with rice paddies or green tea fields - picture a rice paddy next to your local McDs! The hills are so green, lots of flowing trees and bushes right now, waterfalls and valleys. Simple homes to elaborate ones. Once in Kyoto we went to the Nichiki food market, filled with hundreds of food stalls and shops - shops here are so beautifully displayed and the service is immediate and polite. The shops draw you in with the displays, colours, sampling and smells. Walked through the rowdy Taramachi and Shinkyogoku arcades with shopping, gaming and restaurants. We had dinner at a funky American style diner with Asian influence - was neat to see how they put it together. Lots of magazines to flip through. Japan enjoys making things look pleasing to the eye - magazines are beautiful to look at, many focus on lifestyle, culture and arts. Walked through Ponotochi (remember Memories of a Geisha) and Gion. There are still geiko (what geisha are called in Kyoto) and meiko (apprentices) here. Thanks to the internet the numbers are on the rise - there are even a few meiko writing blogs which are attracting young girls to join - love when modern world meets ancient times. We went to an internet cafe for a bit, we finally figured out they are typically in the comic book places - so you can rent time to read and watch anime and manga. There are small cubicle rooms all set up with headphones, gaming paraphernalia, etc. There are drinks every where as they are included in your fee. Some people must really camp out here.
Went to several temples and shrines - I will share more when I post my pictures. But it was a great day, some rain mid way through but most good weather. Lots of old sections of town, and often at shrines where we were the only people, others more crowded. We were stopped at one by a group of Japanese school kids so they could practice their English, they introduced themselves, welcomed us to Kyoto and told us something special about the city. The teacher took our pictures as well. They gave us gifts of papers they had prepared. Japan is very much a gift giving culture, and you can see it with all the shopping, and whenever you buy something it is wrapped. We ended the day at the Imperial Palace riding through the park - very well used, lots of people out playing tennis and baseball.
The next day we took a Regional commuter train to Osaka, many people commute the hour from Kyoto. Stayed in the Namba area. The people in Osaka are incredibly friendly and want to please you so much. We found out that is somebody gives you directions and they were wrong they will come after you - we had it happen a few times! One man jogged a couple of blocks to get to us when he realized he may have given us the wrong directions. Went through the Shinsaibashisuji shopping area, and up the old Hozenji-Yokocho alley where we had dinner in a tiny restaurant with barely enough room for 10 people to sit along a bench. The food in Japan has been excellent. Then walked through the Minami Samba and Horie neighbourhoods - think very funky, Queen street type area with lots of neat shops, and very well dressed young people hanging out. Found the best bookstore that sold books and every bit of kitsch you could think of - we could have spent hours poking around.
Have to run - will have to write more about Osaka and our trip back through Tokyo later...