Skip to main content

Theresa O’Connor / Treasa Ní Chonchúir

Kyōto from Ōkōchi Sansō
A dark bird flys over a field. Beyond the field, a cityscape dominates the view. Beyond the city, some mountains are visible.

Three nights in 京都 (Kyōto)

Part of our Spring 2025 trip to Japan

This was my third trip to Japan’s ancient capital. I visited in 2011 and then again in 2023. While in town we stayed in a 京町家kyōmachiya just off of 五条通Gojō-dōri in 下京区Shimogyō Ward, not far from the center of town.

A child stands in front of a traditional Japanese house. The house is brown and yellow, and has two storeys.
A woman sits at a small dining room table in a brighly-lit room. The back wall of the room is actually a traditional Japanese sliding door.

That first night we were still very jet lagged. We got dinner nearby at 赤まるAkamaru, and went to bed soon after.

Our first stop the next morning was Wanderers Stand for coffee and toast. Lovely coffee and lovely toast, though no obvious connection to Bolton. Then it was back to Kyoto Station to catch ひかりHikari 535 to Himeji (which see). After returning to Kyoto on ひかりHikari 508, we took the 嵐山本線Randen Arashiyama Line to see 天龍寺Tenryū-ji, the Bamboo Forest, and 大河内山荘Ōkōchi Sansō.

A white-and-dark-wood traditional Japanese building stands in front of some trees and a courtyard.
Tenryū-ji

timbray I’m on a train in Kyoto and the girl sitting opposite me has a sweatshirt that reads: “UNAVAILABLE ERR 451 PRIVATEREASONS”.

24 March 2025
Erin among the bamboo
A child with long, dirty blonde hair stands amid a forest made entirely of bamboo. She’s in a colorful, floral dress.

We worked up quite an appetite putting all those steps in, so we ate dinner as soon as we got back to Kyoto Station. We went to かつくらKatsukura up on the 11th floor for 豚カツtonkatsu. It was super yummy.

We spent the morning of our second day in town at 伏見Fushimi 稲荷Inari大社-taisha, which I’d been to twice before. I was really excited to show it to Erin. She hiked up the whole way! I was so proud.

After climbing up and down the mountain shrine, we had a surprisingly decent lunch at the generically-named お食事処いなりInari Restaurant. Then we went to Nara.

After some train-related challenges on our return to Kyoto, we had dinner at 柚子元Yuzugen on the main alley of 先斗町Pontochō, very close to the 鴨川Kamogawa.

A crane stands in a small stream. It’s looking up to the roof of an adjacent building, on which stands another crane.

Until next time, Kyoto.