Japan Diaries 4: Day 437

Day 437: January 12, 2023

Thursday – Last Day in Kyoto

Our last breakfast at Urban Hotel Kyoto Gojo Premium

This is it, it’s our last day in Kyoto. We woke up early and had our complimentary breakfast at Urban Hotel Kyoto Gojo Premium. Afterward, before checking out we used the takkyubin (宅急便) delivery services to send our luggage home to Rumoi City. Like in the past few days, from our hotel, we crossed the overpass going to the Horikawa Gojo bus stop. Upon reaching the bus stop, we boarded the bus going to Kyoto Station.

We chose the nearest coin locker from the bus stop.

Now, we are ready to explore Kyoto City again.

This time, however, we headed to the luggage coin locker area inside Kyoto Station to leave our bags and hand carry for safekeeping and to allow us to tour the city conveniently.

Bus #25 to Arashiyama

Surprisingly, there were only a handful of tourists on the bus

From there, we headed back to the bus terminal and availed of the 1-day Kyoto City Bus Pass. We then boarded Bus #25 to Arashiyama to explore the city one more time before leaving.

Check out the view from the Arashiyama bus stop.

We cannot resist taking photos with this cute character.

...and also this beautiful backdrop

We had a quick visit to the Tenryuji grounds.

Once we arrived at the Arashiyama bus stop, we could have spent more time exploring the area. Since it was a familiar place to me, we knew where to go. We first made a quick visit to Tenryuji and then followed the road going to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.

Exploring Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

We visited Nonomiya-jinja for the first time.

Nonomiya-jinja's torii gate

Exploring other parts of Arashiyama Bamboo Grove that we haven't explored before

Unlike our previous visits, we explored other parts of Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. We got to see the Nonomiya-jinja for the first time and of course, we didn’t miss out on the forever-crowded Bamboo Grove which surprisingly was not that crowded when we visited.

Finally, we're back to the touristy area of the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Exploring Arashiyama's southern part

Katsura River

Enjoying the scenery along the Katsura River

Togetsukyo Bridge

Arashiyama Park Nakanoshima Area

We saw one of Kyoto's Pokemon manhole covers.

Ho-oh Pokemon manhole cover 

From Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, we crossed the Togetsukyo Bridge going to Arashiyama Park Nakanoshima Area. There was construction going and the sakura trees weren’t in bloom so the place was not as outstanding as seen in the photos. Regardless, we achieved our objective of photographing the Kyoto Pokemon manhole cover featuring Ho-oh.

Kazurano

We bought some omiyage here for our friends in Hokkaido

We bought gifts in Kazurano before leaving Arashiyama. However, our journey is far from over. We plan to visit one of Kyoto’s most beautiful Starbucks branches so we boarded bus #11 at the Arashiyama bus stop, bound for Sanjo Keihan Mae.

Birthplace of Ekiden Monument

Sanjo Bridge

Team Nicerio visits Starbucks Coffee – Kyoto Sanjo-Ohashi Bridge

We crossed the historic Sanjo Bridge from the bus stop to the beautiful Starbucks Coffee – Kyoto Sanjo-Ohashi Bridge. This branch is conveniently located right next to Sanjo Bridge. It offers an amazing view of the bridge and the Kamogawa.

Starbucks Coffee – Kyoto Sanjo-Ohashi Bridge

We tried the Matcha Crème Frappe

This Starbucks branch has a nice view of Sanjo Bridge

I decided to order the Matcha Crème Frappe as Kyoto is famed for its matcha. I had only seen pictures and videos of this Starbucks location from years ago, so for me, it was a wonderful experience to be here and have my latte while gazing out at the bridge.

Fune wa Shiya (船はしや) 

So many beans and nuts to choose from

After having our coffee fix, we were drawn to Fune wa Shiya (船はしや) which was a shop right beside the coffee shop. The store has a very rustic feel to it and the nuts they sell were quite affordable so we bought some Ikari beans also called Fava beans. It was delicious and wasn’t that salty.

Statues of Yaji-san and Kita-san

Kamogawa

Relaxing along the banks of Kamogawa

Nishi-Kiyamachi Street

We then followed the road that led down to the Kamogawa and saw the statues of Yaji-san and Kita-san along the way. Afterward, we explored the areas of Ishiyacho and Daikokucho. As expected, there is a lot of beautiful scenery, even in places that tourists rarely visit. From there we headed to Kawaramachi Sanjo Minami and then boarded Bus #17 to Kyoto Station.

Kyoto Station

AEON Mall Kyoto

I'm a big fan of the Slam Dunk anime so I didn't miss the opportunity to snap some photos with this

We bought KFC to bring to our Japanese family in Kumatori

We also bough donuts at the Mr. Donuts outside Kyoto Station

Before leaving Kyoto, we bought food at KFC in Aeon Mall Kyoto and also some donuts at Mr. Donuts at Kyoto Station to bring back home to the Kameyama Residence in Osaka Prefecture.

Ms. Sawa picked us up from Hineno Station

We took the train from Kyoto Station to Osaka Station and then changed to a train bound for Hineno Station in Osaka. From there, Ms. Sawa picked us up and drove us back to the Kameyama Residence.

That night, we packed our remaining luggage and spent most of the night bonding with our Japanese family as this was our last night in Kansai. Tomorrow, we'll return to Hokkaido for the final few days of our winter holiday.

Read more:

Japan Diaries 4: Week 63

Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 63
Japan Diaries 4: Day 434
Japan Diaries 4: Day 435
Japan Diaries 4: Day 436
Japan Diaries 4: Day 438
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Revisited 2019

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Revisited 2023

Kamogawa
Kamogawa Revisited 2023

Sanjo Bridge
Starbucks Kyoto Sanjo-Ohashi Bridge
First Timer's Guide to Kyoto City Bus One-Day Pass

10 Things to Do in Kyoto City

Japan Diaries 4: Summary