LapLap

MegatopLover - Having spent the last three Christmases in Tokyo, I’ll have to side with jib71 in suggesting that you don’t build your hopes up too high for finding party central on Xmas Eve. I would definitely recommend that you book a hotel as quickly as you can for the 23rd onwards as they are likely to book out very soon (the prices are particularly high for places such as the IC even though it's a weekend). I don’t know what it’s like in Bangkok, but kurisumasu in Japan is more like Valentines Day in Europe than anything else. There’s a place near Azabu Juban(?) where the trees have thousands of fairylights which is quite spectacular, but my favourite place to wander around on Xmas Eve so far has been the harbour front area of Sakuragicho in Yokohama. Thing is, I have little problem with the Japanese spin on Xmas as it’s normally the setting for a romantic reunion with my own partner. I’ll be arriving on the 24th again this year, and although part of me thinks that Odaiba might be fun (it being such a new development and aimed so fervently at youngsters) realistically I know that the most I can expect to see are the gardens of the Takanawa Prince Hotel, from my room's window. If you do go to Odaiba, why not walk back along the magnificent Rainbow Bridge? Supposedly (amongst the Japanese) one of the most romantic sights in Tokyo. Just wrap up VERY warm!

mosburger

Yep. People tend to be desperate to show up with a date on Christmas Eve. If you go out to bars or clubs in Kyoto that night you are almost sure to be approached by someone looking to fit in in the "kurisumasu" mold.

There is a Parisian style bistro in the inner city where the French community and Japanese francophiles and the arts crowd gather that could be a good starting point for a Christmas Eve night out. I'll try to dig up the name, cannot remember it right now. For clubbing, Osaka is only a short train ride away and offers a vastly greater variety in Amerika-mura and Umeda. If that is what you are looking for, of course.

If you want something romantic, there are many nice bars and cafes along the Kamo river, for example at the Marutamachi and Imadegawa bridges. The Marutamachi riverside cafe is next to a florist and one of my best friends actually proposed his wife-to-be there. The river banks itself are fantastic for a stroll at dusk or dawn when you can see the sun just over the mountains surrounding Kyoto. Or you could leisure away your day at an outdoor hot bath up in Kurama...

LapLap

edit: mosburger REFERRED TO KYOTO - BUT THE DESCRIPTION QUOTED CAN EASILY DESCRIBE A SIMILAR PLACE IN TOKYO:

I think jib71 mentioned it in the gourmet lunch thread
Closest station: Iidabashi (Chuo Line) / Ichigaya (Chuo Line) / Ushigomekagurazaka (Oedo Line)
Restaurant Name: Brasserie de L'Institut franco-japonais de Tokyo
Type of food: French - with a deck for al fresco lunch
Link: http://www.ifjtokyo.or.jp/institut/shoten.html
Map: http://www.ifjtokyo.or.jp/institut/map.html

mosburger

Madame, the only french restaurant in Tokyo that I'm even remotely familiar with is in Omotesando and that only because a catalan friend of mine used to prop up his meager student budget by working weekend evenings there.

Alas, the one I was referring to would be about 600 kilometers west and almost around the corner from Nijo castle.

LapLap

Ah you see? I spend time in London and time in Tokyo and this inevitably leads to the kind of disgraceful and blinkered 'imperialistic' vision shared by inhabitants of capital cities everywhere.
Je suis désolée, I see now that you were referring to Kyoto.

MegatopLover

Once again, thanks to everyone for your comments. I have found them all most informative, particularly the descriptions of kurisumasu. In Bangkok, Christmas Eve is a big night for going out partying at bars and clubs, one of the biggest nights of the year. I believe Hong Kong and Singapore may be the same way. But your vivid descriptions definitely make kurisumasu sound more like Valentine's Day than anything else. Thankfully, I'm among those who consider dining on Italian or French food in Japan absolute lunacy (not because the Japanese can't make world-class French food but because I'd rather experience Japanese food in its country of origin), so as long as we can get a table somewhere serving one of Japan's many tasty cuisines, we should be fine. The drippy romanticism of the young aside, I did expect parts of Tokyo to be ablaze with fairy lights and other New Year's preparations, so I'm sure Mr. Megatop and I will find it enjoyable to just walk around and soak in the city and its culture.

Thanks to jib71 for the links to the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority. Fantastic pics of the bridges and info on their construction. I am a MegaProjects fan, so it would definitely be worth it to make a special trip to see a bridge like the Akashi-Kaikyo. I mean, a center span of 1991 feet! Whoa. Seeing KIX (or NGO) would serve a similar interest, but the best way to experience it would be to travel through it, of course. I couldn't get a good fare on a flight into NRT and out from KIX, though I did try for the reasons suggested. In the end, I think we'll stick to the plan of day-tripping by Shinkansen down to Kyoto and hitting the highlights as best we can, using this trip (our first to Japan) to focus on Tokyo but at least get a flavor of another city and, very importantly for us, see some of the countryside (Japan-style) from the Shinkansen.

Next time, we'll fly in and out of KIX, give ourselves much more time in Kyoto, and perhaps build in time for a loop of the major Honshu-Shikoku bridges. They're all awe-inspiring.

Pickles

Then the Shinkansen train system should keep you in awe. There are trains departing every 6-10 minutes, and it runs like clockwork, an engineering marvel.

MegatopLover

Even if we weren't riding the Shinkansen, I would have gone to the station to see what I could. Definitely plan on getting there a bit early just to watch the trains. ^

Pickles

If you are a trainspotter, a highly recommended activity is the following. The Shinkansen system has major and minor stations. The minor stations are only serviced by the Kodama local trains, which stop at all stops between two points. The system is organized so that the Kodama trains stop at the minor stations to let the express trains go by. Some of the minor stations are very small, with the express train tracks in the middle of the station and the local sidings parallel to that on the outside edges of the station. The express trains traversing through the middle tracks, when passing by, do not even have the decency to slow down, although they are right at the platform, or just a few feet from it.

The gig is the following. Pick a small station, any of them, preferably one not serviced very often. Take the Kodama train to that station, get off. Stand in the train platform, and watch the trains zoom by every few minutes. Just think of the shock wave that a 500 ton train traveling at 200 mph can create, as it passes a few feet from you. Better than a roller coaster. After you've had enough, catch the next Kodama onwards to another major station (to change to the express train), or to your destination.

Even Shin-Yokohama, the first station outside of Tokyo, is good for this, although most trains stop there. Try a smaller one, like Mishima or Shin-Fuji.

ksandness

Kyoto is wonderful, but unless you catch the first Shinkansen at 6:00AM and come back late, you're not going to have time to savor it. Also, you'll land in Kyoto Station, which is a marvel of modern architecture, but you're going to look at the view from there and say, "I came on the train for THIS?"

The fact is, Kyoto as a whole does not look like the set of a samurai movie, and you have to look for the historical and cultural areas tucked away among the typical drab urban architecture.

First off, I would advise skipping the Imperial Palace tour. All they do is walk you around the outside of some ordinary-looking traditional buildings. You never see the interiors, unless they have changed the tour since I went on it in 2000. I found it much more interesting to purchase the illustrated tour booklet, which does show the interiors.

My favorite sights in Kyoto are Kiyomizu-dera (the temple on stilts), the Silver Pavilion and Philosopher's Walk, Nijo Castle (which you ARE allowed to go inside), the central marketplace, and the Ponto-cho geisha district. I'm not sure that you could do all of them in a day.

Instead of getting just a tantalizing taste of Kyoto, I would advise taking some of the many daytrips that are possible from Tokyo: Kamakura, Nikko, and Hakone are the Big Three. However, you might want to consider seeing some of the town of Narita. I spent my first night in Narita on my last trip, and it was relaxing to wander the lovely temple grounds and poke around in small-town shops on my first full day in Japan instead of going straight into the exhiliarating chaos of Tokyo.

The Japanese National Tourist Office has a set of PDFs that cover access, sightseeing, food, and lodging in a wide variety of cities and regions. I know they have PDFs on Kamakura, Nikko, Narita, and Hakone.

http://www.jnto.go.jp

MinetaFlyer

For the price of the RT Shinkansen ticket, you can also get a night's stay in Kyoto if you book over there with one of the tour companies. I believe we used the JR East agency in Shinjuku Station.

For either a day trip, or a day-and-a-half trip, you could use the Sunrise Tour company departing from one of the hotels, or better yet, do it yourself with taxis. Distances in Kyoto are timeconsuming if you go by foot, subway and bus, but by taxi, the travel times between the highlights others mentioned above are brief. I think you could hit most of the highlights with sufficient time to enjoy and take pictures in 1.5 days easily by taxi.

I think you'll enjoy the newish Kyoto Station. Standing on the platform has multiple trains pull in and depart is awesome. If you don't smoke, do make sure you reserve non-smoking seats. The ventilation system in the smoking cars is exceptional when surrounded by smokers, but. Depending on the time of day your train car may be half full, so premium seats may not be worth it.

LapLap

That's an EXCELLENT suggestion!! There's an example of an itinerary from IACE here which prices a 2 day trip at 19,000 yen (a one way ticket is usually over 13,000.) The downside is the times - you need to leave after 10:40 and return at around 2pm, and it's on the slightly slower Hikari - but at least you won't have to worry about your luggage, it will be conveniently waiting for you in your hotel room when you return.

Pickles

Duplicate post...

Pickles

I just spent 2 nights and 3 days in Kyoto, and stuck to the Eastern part of the city, from Ginkakuji to Nanzenji, Gion, and down to Chionin and Kyomizudera, with a side trip to Inari to visit the Fushimi Inari. It is basically an area of no more than a few square miles, and we really didn't see everything. To do a good job in Kyoto you'd need at least a week.

We stayed at the Kasui-en annex at the Miyako, which is pretty nice (except there's some construction behind it, at the Keage waterworks, which kind of ruins the experience in the morning).

I'm thinking of doing a couple of higaeri runs to Kyoto, leaving on an early Nozomi and returning the same day late, or getting a one-night package, concentrating on a specific area for the period. Next, I'm thinking of Arashiyama-Takao, possibly with a hike around Ohara-Kinuyama-Takao. The highlight I'm aiming for is to visit Kozanji to see the choju giga. Note that the link here is somebody's amateurish reproduction of the real thing, which is noticeably more refined, but I can't find a good link that shows the whole thing. Also, before you say feh, what's the big deal about some cartoons, consider that the originals of these scrolls are almost one thousand years old.

JR is running same day return Nozomi ticket specials for 18,000 yen, as opposed to 26,000 yen regularly. But some links on this thread will give you a night's hotel on top of that, which is an even better deal.

MegatopLover

Where can one buy that sort of ticket? That's exactly what we're looking at doing. Can they be purchased online or through a travel agency?