A day visit to Kyoto

CEBU, Philippines – No visit to Osaka, Japan would be complete without a visit to Kyoto, which served as the capital and the residence of the Emperor from 794AD until 1868.  The Kyoto Imperial Palace was the Emperor’s residence until Japan moved its capital to Tokyo in 1868. Hence,it has become one of the famous tourist destinations in Kyoto. But due to time constraints, we only got to pass by the Kyoto Imperial Palace on our way back to the Kyoto Train Station.

As we only had one day for our Kyoto visit, we had to limit ourselves to two popular tourist destinations. Our Japanese guide gave us instructions on how to take the train from Osaka Station to Kyoto Station, a 56.4 kilometer distance or an hour’s train ride from the Shinsaibashi Station. We first had to take a subway train via the Midousuji Line to Osaka Station from our hotel.

Because we were not used to getting train tickets from the machine with Japanese characters, we ended up getting a local train from Osaka Station to the Kyoto Station. So instead of a mere one hour train trip, this trip to Kyoto now took us two hours because the train stopped in every station. We got off to the Kyoto Station and took another subway ride to Uzumasa Station which was a five-minute walk to the Toei Kyoto Studio Park.

Our visit to the Toei Kyoto Studio Park was right on my alley as it was the first time for me, a theater owner to visit a Japanese Film Studio. Apparently because of the popularity of many ninja films, the Toei Kyoto Studio has become a theme park just like Universal Studios or Disneyland in California. While small in comparison to their American counterparts, you will see an Edo era ancient village, which has been used for filming more than 200 ninja films in Japan. They charge an entrance fee of 2,200 JPY or P880. There you can have your photos in traditional Japanese kimono or see a live stage drama of ninja’s fighting their enemies. Unfortunately, there was no one filming any movies during our visit.

From the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, we were supposed to take a short bus trip to the famous Kinkakuji Temple, which is popularly known as the Golden Pavilion. But we had to take a taxi to save time. It’s official name is Rokuonji, a Zen Temple belonging to the Shokokuji sect of the Rinzai-shu. This was named after its founder Yoshimitsu Ashikaga. It is located west-northwest of Kyoto in the Kungasa Hill. It is the most photographed icon in all of Kyoto because of its golden beauty and surrounding serene gardens.

While this famous garden is not really huge, you are greeted by a multitude of tourists trying to exit from the iconic temple as you enter the Golden Pavilion area. We visited the temple on a Tuesday and there were a lot of tourists in the area flocking towards the area with the best view of the temple that you could hardly even get a selfie because everyone had their cameras or cellphones taking a picture. On our way out, we passed by the Ryumon Taki waterfall, which you can see from across a small pond.

Because time was running out, we took a taxi from the Golden Pavilion to the Kyoto Station. Flag down was 620 JPY or P248 and all in all I paid P3,500 JPY or P1,400 for the fare. Yes taxis in Japan are expensive. Incidentally, just in front of the Kyoto Station was another Kyoto tourist destination, the 131-meter tall Kyoto Tower. From the Kyoto Station, we were a lot wiser and took the express train for the hour long train ride back to downtown Osaka. You definitely need more than just a day to see the wonderful sights of Kyoto.