A MONTH IN JAPAN – KYOTO TO NARA, NOVEMBER 19, 2025

Last day in Kyoto!  We could have spent a month here.  But it’s on to Nara by train this afternoon after a walk down the Philosopher’s Path and a visit to Ginkaku-ji, known as the Silver Pavilion, both located in the north Higashiyama district of Kyoto.

We did a self-checkout from the 7 Keys Apartment Hotel, walked over to the Karasuma Line, bound for Kyoto Station.  We checked our bags in a locker at the train station and then found the #7 city bus, getting off at the Shijo Kawaramachi bus stop.  From there it was a short walk to And Bull Café, a coffee and pizza dog-friendly place overlooking a mid-point on the Philosopher’s Path.

• And Bull Café

The coffee was great, the staff friendly, the dogs well-behaved, and the view over the Philosopher's Path canal walk evocative.

 

• Philosopher’s Path

As the Japan Guide says:

The Philosopher's Path is a pleasant stone path through the northern part of Kyoto's Higashiyama district. The path follows a canal which is lined by hundreds of cherry trees.

Approximately two kilometers long, the path begins around Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion) and ends in the neighborhood of Nanzenji. The path got its name due to Nishida Kitaro, one of Japan's most famous philosophers, who was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University.  

Along the way we saw many statues of  Jizo, the guardian deity of travelers and children.  The white aprons and bibs are put on the statues by parents to pray for protection of living children or to honor their deceased. 

This apron says "Dedication" with the name of the child below.

As we approached the end of the path, we stopped to watch a man make senbei, a cross between a cracker and candy, sort of like peanut brittle.  This video shows the process as he cooked the senbei over a charcoal brazier.

And here is the final result.

• Ginkaku-ji

The Japan Guide describes this Zen Buddhist temple:

Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion) is a Zen temple along Kyoto's eastern mountains (Higashiyama). In 1482, shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa built his retirement villa on the grounds of today's temple, modeled after Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), his grandfather's retirement villa at the base of Kyoto's northern mountains (Kitayama). The villa was converted into a Zen temple after Yoshimasa's death in 1490. 

As the retirement villa of an art obsessed shogun, Ginkakuji became a center of contemporary culture, known as the Higashiyama Culture in contrast to the Kitayama Culture of his grandfather's times. Unlike the Kitayama Culture, which remained limited to the aristocratic circles of Kyoto, the Higashiyama Culture had a broad impact on the entire country. The arts developed and refined during the time include the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, Noh theater, poetry, garden design and architecture. 

Today, Ginkakuji consists of the Silver Pavilion, half a dozen other temple buildings, a beautiful moss garden and a unique dry sand garden. It is enjoyed by walking along a circular route around its grounds, from which the gardens and buildings can be viewed. 

Here are some views of the Silver Pavilion from the ground level and from the hills above.  The temple isn’t silver at all but was originally painted in black lacquer to reflect the moonlight.  

This is the sand garden you encounter as you enter the temple complex.

Blue-uniformed gardeners keep the paths pristine.  Not a grain of sand out of line. 

This cone of sand resembling Mt. Fuji is called the Platform for Viewing the Moon.

And this is the Sea of Silver Sand which leads to a path up through the hills above the temple, 

 where the moss gardens make you want to lie down in their velvety softness. 

There was a goshuin service, and I collected another calligraphic stamp for my goshuincho. 

Tight for time, we hurried back to the catch the #7 city bus to Kyoto Station and lunch.  My husband had read that the station hosts a “ramen street” on the 10th Floor and he was eager to try it out.   

• Kyoto Ramen Street

Kyoto Station sets the scene and gives useful instructions (as well as some handy images for me to post):

Kyoto Ramen Street (Kyoto Ramen Koji) is a corridor of ramen noodle shops on the 10th floor of the station building, south of the “Daikaidan” Grand Stairway. If you want something quick, cheap, tasty and super satisfying to eat, then this place is for you. 

To order a bowl of ramen you have to first buy a ticket at a vending machine in front of each shop, and then pass your ticket to a cook behind the counter. The vending machines are easy to use as they have plenty of pictures and an “English” button too.

We chose Menya Iroha (below) mainly out of nostalgia for our unplanned stop at Toyama on our way to Takayama weeks earlier.  Per the Kyoto Station guide:

This shop serves a famous ramen variety from Toyama Prefecture. The key ingredient is a fish based soy sauce that is boiled for many hours and gives the soup a distinctive black appearance. Despite its striking color the taste of this “Toyama Black “ ramen, though rich, is actually quite mild. Three different types of Toyama Black soup are available: chicken and pork bone broth, a vegetable soup, and a soup made with kelp and dried bonito.

The ramen was outstanding and suitable for those with a hearty appetite!

 

• Kyoto Station

There was great people watching at the station.

And this sweet elderly man decorating the train station women’s room with artificial flowers made me think of Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days. If you're going to do something, why not do it as graciously as you can and as aesthetically as possible?

The station architecture was mind boggling.  According to Gemini’s AI overview (not to be confused with its overlord):

Kyoto Station was designed by Japanese architect Hiroshi Hara. Completed in 1997 to mark the city's 1200th anniversary, the 15-story, futuristic steel-and-glass structure was chosen through a competition featuring seven world-class architects. Hara's design was meant to represent a "geographical valley" and Kyoto's, combining modern design with a vast, open interior. 

  Key Details About the Design: 

Designer: Hiroshi Hara (1936–2025).

Completion Year: 1997.

Concept: A "geographical valley" designed to reflect the city’s grid layout and history through abstract symbols.

Structure: It is a massive 470-meter-long megastructure featuring a 64-meter-tall atrium with exposed steel beams known as the "Matrix".

 

Components: The complex houses a hotel, shopping mall (The Cube), department store, and art center.

Reception: Initially, the futuristic, deconstructivist-inspired building was controversial, with some locals viewing it as an eyesore and out of character with the traditional city.

Hiroshi Hara is also renowned for designing the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka.

• The Thunderbird Express

Amply nourished with ramen and soaring glass and steel, we picked up our bags and made our way to the platform where, waiting for us, was the Thunderbird Express.

The ingenious thing about this train is its swiveling seats which allow you to face the scenery as you travel.  I also loved the combination of the deep violet exterior of the cars with the yellow-green upholstery of the seats--like a glass of Brunello di Montalcino and a handful of olives.   

• Nara

The trip from Kyoto to Nara took only about an hour.  We caught a bus at the train station to the bus stop nearest our booking, oddly named “Nara Top Sights 5 to 20 Min. Walk” on booking.com.  Based on the red banner, it's real name was Kotonokaori. 

We were a bit skeptical at first; the house was on the edge of town in an area devoid of shops and restaurants.  Nevertheless, the accommodation was well appointed (a washing machine!) and so we settled in.

Finding a “cool cocktail bar near me” seemed out of the question, so my husband instead searched for “food near me.”  He found something and we set out to find it on foot, picking our way through a light industrial zone that was deserted by night.  The area was eerily silent and the whole booking was starting to seem like a colossal mistake.  Maybe we should bail and find something else on booking.com?

Thank goodness we persevered, because we had a memorable evening.

This is the hole in the wall where we ate, tobacco-stained walls, faded tee shirts, old calendars, beer posters, a duck-taped broken glass front door, and all. 

 

The owner-cook-waiter-bottle-washer didn’t speak one word of English, so we used Google translate to communicate as to where we were from, what the heck we were doing in this part of town, and what we wanted to eat and drink, etc.  

The guy's smile was infectious and he enthusiastically served us a variety of home-made dishes, some recognizable, others not.  

 

Without a doubt, we were his only customers that night—and I think we may have been his only customers that week.  But he treated us like long-lost friends and it was a really fun evening.

Feeling reassured that this Nara thing was going to work out all right after all, we found our way in the dark back to “Nara Top Sights 5 to 20 Min. Walk,” looking forward to seeing what the first permanent capital of Japan, established in 710 CE had to offer, tomorrow.

Keep it real!

Marilyn