I wake up to pouring rain. I can deal with a lot when traveling, but not constant rain. I double-check the waterproofing of my pack, trade fleece for Gore-Tex, and march out into the torrents falling from the sky. I get to the station dripping everywhere and dump my pack in a locker. I kill about three hours in the station, keeping an eye on bus and train schedules, trying to decide what to do. While it may seem boring, you have to understand the scope of a big-city Japanese train station. I have a delicious lunch of kishimen (noodles) and between the three department stores, all the people to watch, and the automated toilets (bidet-two kinds, drying air, heat, fake flushing noises) I keep myself pretty well amused. And I am almost dry by now. The rain is slowing and I struggle for a few minutes-A concrete reproduction of a huge old castle (we bombed the shit out of Japan in WWII, remember?) in the possible rain, or a daylight bus ride to Kyoto. I choose the bus. While I am waiting I see some gaijin-four young guys. My sour mood brightens at the prospect of a friendly conversation. I get closer, and get suspicious-suits?...but not classy grey business suits; cheap blue suits...and white bike helmets?...RUN. I do, but then bump into them later and can't avoid them...sure enough, Elder Soandso and Elder Thisandthat! I politely make my escape. As the bus drives away through the hills, the rain eventually gives way to a little sun! I munch on some tasty spicy snacks I bought in the station, and drink green tea...quite refreshing. I am suprised that the bus isn't very crowded, but all the better. Although the local train is probably cheaper, it is slow, and very hard to figure out, and I have no idea where to change trains (which I would probably have to do several times.)
We get to the Kyoto station, and I walk away from the building. I turn to look back, and am blown away. Not only is the station building huge, but it is striking. First off, the building is big...more than ten stories tall. The front part is covered by mirrored glass, and there are several open-air passageways through the building, about midway up and on either side of the glass section. On the smooth glass front, there is a section towards the bottom with flat planes of glass arranged at varying angles to each other; the shapes are geometric, but without a real pattern...it reminds me of the structure of crystals. From my perspective, the Kyoto tower is reflected in the glass, and it is just dark enough that the lighting on the tower is dramatic. The rest of the building is covered with sometimes-curved, sometimes straight, matte-finish metal. It looks as if it was colored a dark blue-grey and bead-blasted, or maybe finely brushed, and the metallic colors provide a very subtle contrast to the dark overcast evening sky reflected in the mirrored glass.
Kyoto Train Station. I fell in love with this building...pictures and words cannot do it justice.
Kyoto tower in the evening. No, I didn't shell out to go up it.
I don't have much purpose, or a good handle of the layout of the area, and a spend most of my evening just wandering aimlessly in the close vicinity of the station, feeling a little apprehensive and unsure of myself in the cold and dark. I don't know where to eat or sleep, and I can't find much that is appealing, but I don't know if there is anyplace better. I have _real_ ramen for dinner, and it is good. Ramen must be from China, because it is served in a Chinese bowl with a Chinese spoon (the Japanese are firm believers in "when in Rome..." with eating food) and the name "ramen" is written in katakana (characters for borrowed words.) As I walk past the station, a Toyota Chaser goes past, pulling out from the parking garage. Japanese drivers generally seem very patient (or at least resigned) and conservative, but every once in a while they uncork it. This guy whooped it up (in first gear) and the sound in that narrow, smooth, unbroken walls, ten-story canyon was unreal! Turbo straight sixes sound amazing! Nothing will ever top the sound of a Formula Atlantic car (or other BDA, BDD, BDX car) but a Japanese turbo straight six...with a loud exhaust it sounds (to my American ears) like a truck down low, but a smooth-running powerful truck. By the time the revs climb to the point of having your full attention, you are just saying to yourself, "What the hell?" Then it comes on the boost. Then...then the revs just climb frantically. On each upshift, the turbo makes a sharp WHOOMP! which you feel as much as you hear. It is wierd for my NA-tuned ears to hear and engine which has such a two-stage rev range. When it starts out, you are figuring, big, lots of cylinders=slow to rev, then it knocks you on your ass. It isn't like the shriek or wail of a four cylinder, but more like an urgent, high-pitched bellow that leaves you standing there, alone, in awe, and making little blowoff valve noises with your mouth.
I have a bit of a hard time finding accomodations because I don't really know where to go, and I don't want to spend very much money. I wander around until quite late, at which point I finally find a cheap hotel...only $60-some for the night. And yes, you still get what you pay for, even in Japan, but it was a slightly-cramped place to sleep. Beggars can't be choosers, and I found relief in being able to end a mostly miserable day. Before going to bed, I try to make a plan for Kyoto, but with over two thousand temples and shrines covering countless religious schools, two major religions, over one thousand years, and sites from most of this nation's major history, how do you make it three days?...four? five?
