A Trip to Kyoto

I recently spent 3 days in Kyoto. The main goal was, of course, the Nintendo Museum tickets I'd won in the lottery, so I figured I'd look around Kyoto a bit while I was there.

Day 1

Since I live in a fairly remote part of Saitama Prefecture, I had to get up early to head to Tokyo Station and catch the Shinkansen. It was still a bit chilly when I left. I rushed my way to Tokyo Station before 9, grabbed two rice balls, and boarded the train to Kyoto without a hitch. The one disappointment was that my seat didn't have a view of Mount Fuji (though I've seen it plenty of times before).

I arrived at Kyoto Station around noon, dropped my luggage off at the hotel, and headed out to find lunch. I found a place serving 味噌つけ麺. It tasted decent, though the miso here is the sweet kind, which takes a bit of getting used to.

After lunch, I went to Nintendo Kyoto. I'd been hoping to pick up a canvas bag made in collaboration with Ichizawa Shinzaburo, but they didn't have it in stock, so I gave up on that. Overall, it felt less interesting than the Shibuya store in Tokyo.

Day 2

My museum ticket was for 14:00, so I had the morning to explore Uji, where the museum is located. I got off at Ogura and walked to JR Uji Station, then from there to Uji Shrine. On the way to the shrine, I passed by the Uji River, and the scenery there was really lovely. I also stumbled upon a Japanese restaurant right by the river—great food and a great view. If I ever go back to Uji, I'd definitely eat there again.

After eating, it was time for the main event: the Nintendo Museum! The moment I walked in, memories of all the games I'd played came flooding back. I spent time on the 2F exploring Nintendo's history, and it was truly satisfying. The 1F is the game area, and some of the more popular games had queues of about half an hour.

One thing to note: playing the games costs coins, and each person only gets 10. Some games cost 4 coins per play, and once you run out, there's no way to top up. So you can only try a handful of games in one visit—if you want to play them all, you'd need to come back a few times.

Day 3

Today I went to Kiyomizu-dera and the Kamo River area. All on foot. The scenery along the Kamo River was quite nice overall.

Summary

Over these few days, I barely used the subway or buses—I walked everywhere, clocking in around 20,000 steps a day. It was sightseeing and exercise all in one. That said, Kyoto didn't really blow me away. If it weren't for the Nintendo Museum, I probably wouldn't have come here anytime soon. Next time, I'd likely just go straight to the museum and skip the rest of Kyoto. Though, I haven't been to Arashiyama yet, so maybe I'll make it out there eventually.