New Years, also known as Shougatsu, is probably the most important holiday of the year in Japan. It’s seen as a time to clean out the house, clear debts, and start anew. A lot of importance is put on “firsts” of the year. Like the first sunrise (Hatsuhinode) or the first shrine/temple visit of the year (Hatsumode). With so many beautiful shrines and temples, we couldn’t think of a better place to spend New Years than in Japan’s prior capitol city, Kyoto.
While the pandemic has made things terrible in many ways, it cannot be denied that there are a few silver linings. One of the biggest upsides I’ve found during my last two years in Japan is the fact that it is devoid of foreign tourists due to many travel restrictions in place. I am not naïve to the fact that I am very fortunate to be given this opportunity.
Unfortunately, the travel restrictions have been very harmful for those not allowed in Japan and especially bad for any businesses that rely on tourism. However, I truly appreciate that places normally overrun by tourists, like famous attractions in Kyoto, are now much more manageable. Of course, heavy domestic travel during New Years’ counteracted that emptiness slightly, but overall the crowds were very manageable for our trip over the busy holiday.
Some advice for those who want to travel in Japan for the New Year holiday; be aware that many businesses and restaurants close down despite the heavy domestic traveling. This can really mess up a lot peoples’ travel plans if they aren’t aware that some places you may want to visit won’t be open. The places that definitely are open during New Years are shrines and temples, which are basically most of the places we wanted to check out in Kyoto.
Getting to Kyoto
Kyoto doesn’t have an airport that we could fly to directly, but there are three that were close by. There are two airports in Osaka and one in Nagoya. Based on prices and flight times, we ended up choosing to fly into Nagoya via the Chubu International Airport. From there, we needed to take a train to Nagoya Station so we could catch our Shinkansen train from Nagoya to Kyoto.
First Train Ride in Japan
We took the Meitetsu Limited Express train and it was our first time ever using the trains in Japan. Truth be told, it was a little intimidating trying to figure out what train we needed, where the platform was at and how to buy tickets; however, once we figured it out, the train system turned out to be every bit as efficient and amazing as we’ve heard. I really wish America would move away from its car centric ways and adopt a public transport system like Japan’s, but I have my doubts that will happen anytime soon.
For future trips, we will definitely plan to get an IC card so that we don’t need to buy tickets every time. If you haven’t heard of the IC cards before, they are basically cards that you can preload money onto and then scan at the entrance and exit of train gates. That way you don’t have figure out which ticket to buy beforehand and then insert into the gate; instead, the card just automatically calculates the fares and deducts the amount based on where you scanned it at the start and end of your journey.
Trouble with Shinkansen Tickets
Getting tickets and actually getting access to the Shinkansen line was a little more involved than the regular trains. Since it was over the busy New Year season, we decided to reserve our tickets ahead of time to make sure we were able to sit together. Since we had a predetermined train and reserved seats, we couldn’t simply catch the next one if we happened to miss ours. Because we were slightly crunched for time, getting the tickets we bought online to print at the station ended up being a bit of a nightmare.
Maybe it was us or maybe it was the ticket system, but the process seemed a bit convoluted. We had printed our QR tickets after buying them online. When we showed up to the station we tried to use the machine to pick up our real tickets. The machine asked me to scan a QR, so I tried to scan our QR ticket, but the machine said it couldn’t be scanned. We got an attendant to help us and he tried to scan it and then resorted to typing in the code below it. I then needed to enter the password I created for the online log in, which I wasn’t expecting.
Lucky, I had a password manager on my phone and could look it up. Unfortunately the code he entered still said it was invalid… In the end he gave us a note that he stamped and we walked through the gates where we then had to go to a different set of the gates and another attendant gave us generic tickets. We then used those new generic tickets in combination with the QR ticket we had printed to check in. It was pretty hectic and the Nagoya station happened to be very busy. Add in our limited Japanese along with both of us taking turns carrying our 40lbs 3 year old ensured the rush we felt was that much more stressful.
Luckily, there was heavy snow on the lines which caused the infamously on-time trains to be delayed about 15 minutes. This allowed us to make it to the platform on time. Without the delay, we probably would have arrived with barely a minute to spare.
The Shinkansen ride was amazing and if I ever had to choose between Shinkansen and a plane ride it would be a no brainer. Lots of leg room, a smooth ride, with gorgeous views; I don’t know why every country doesn’t try to replicate it. While we couldn’t go full speed because of the snow, it was only a 30 minute ride before we arrived in Kyoto.
Getting to the Hotel
We packed light and had all our stuff in backpacks. So rather than taking one last train ride to our hotel, we chose to walk. We were here to explore Kyoto, so we wanted to start right away. We walked along the Kamo River with snow flurries flying in the wind. It took us about 40 minutes to reach our hotel which was the Kyoto Yura McGallery. It is a very nice hotel and I would definitely recommend it. It’s in a pretty good location to walk around the east side of the city, where many of the famous shrines and temples are located.
Since we had our toddler with us we couldn’t go out super late and explore the city at midnight even though it was New Year’s Eve. Instead we got settled in, grabbed some dinner at the nearby conbini, and turned on the NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen. It is a New Year’s Eve tradition in Japan. The show is an annual concert event where NHK brings together the most popular musicians, breaks them into two teams, and they sing head-to-head in a competition. While part of us wishes we were out on the town for the last day of 2021, the show ended up being really entertaining, and we’re glad we were able to experience such a Japanese New Year staple.
New Years Day in Kyoto
After a very relaxing nights rest, we woke up early to get some breakfast. The hotel had a restaurant, but it was 3,300 yen ($35 USD) per person. That was a bit steep for us, so we elected to visit a nearby McDonalds for breakfast. A great meal to start 2022, right? Regardless of the American stereotype I’m sure applies, we enjoyed some delicious coffees and my son got a cheap toy for 1000 yen total. No regrets from us!
After breakfast we make our way down towards Yasaka Shrine, which was less than 15 minutes from our hotel. Along the way we went into Maruyama Park, which is right next to Yasaka. As we walked, we passed by some food stalls that were selling typical festival foods like Yakisoba, candy apples and all sorts of delicious looking treats. Unfortunately, we just ate breakfast. Maybe we did have some regrets getting McDonalds earlier, but we endeavored to find other stalls later for lunch.
Also inside the park was a cute Pokélid. Japan has over 100 of these Pokémon themed utility-hole covers scattered around different prefectures, I’ve found 3 of the 4 on Okinawa so far, but I guess I’m duty bound to find the rest on the mainland Japan now too.
Yaska Shrine
Moving on to Yasaka, the shrine was beautiful and surrounded by a half dozen other smaller shrines, torii gates and traditional Japanese architecture. There were tons of people around, all visiting their first shrine of the year (Hatsumode). People were lined up to throw their offering money towards the collection container and then clap their hands, bow and pray. In addition to praying, people would also buy Omikuji (fortunes). Omikuji tell people their general luck for the year, as well as how various aspects of their life, like romance, will go. People can also purchase Omamori (charms and amulets) for more good luck in whichever specific aspect of life they chose.
Kodaiji Temple
Our next stop after Yasaka Shrine was Kodaiji Temple. Where Yasaka is a Shinto Shrine, Kodaiji is a Buddhist Temple. Kodaiji is just a short walk away and we could hear bells being rung as we neared. After ascending some steps to the temple, we found the sounds source. A monk was ringing the bells and it looked as though he had some sort of marker to tell him how many times to ring the bell, which he did about once a minute.
It was a really cool sight to witness and I’m glad we didn’t miss it because after about 5 minutes he left to go help at the center of the temple where drums were starting to be played. I didn’t enter the grounds and they had a sign saying not to take pictures, but people were lined up to pray in a similar fashion to Yasaka Shrine while monks played these large drums.
While all of this was happening, we watched from a stall right at the top of the steps which was selling amazake. I had seen some Japanese YouTubers hype up amazake as a great winter drink, so I had been excited to try it. It’s basically sweet, non-alcoholic sake that has lots of unfiltered rice particles floating in it. It was so good and I really wish I had some right now as I’m writing this. It was the prefect sweet hot drink for a cold winter day and I definitely recommend trying it if you come to Japan during the winter months.
Right next to Kodaiji Temple is the Ryōzen Kannon, a war memorial to commemorate the dead from the Pacific War. Inside is a huge 24 meter tall, 500 ton statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara made from concrete and steel that you can actually walk inside. I had to pay 300 yen to get in and they gave me an incense stick, which I got to then place in a special stand with other incense sticks.
Kiyomizu-dera
Our next stop was Kiyomizu-dera, a historic temple with some amazing views. To get there we needed to walk through some of Kyoto’s famous traditional streets, specifically Ninenzaka and Zanenzaka. Both streets were lined with food and omiyage (souvenirs) on either side. It was pretty crowded, but super fun to see all the shops and try some of the foods.
When we arrived at Kiyomizu-dera we had to climb up several sets of stairs through a beautiful gate (Nio-mon) and past other equally beautiful buildings and pagodas. When we first got to the outside of the Kiyomizu-dera temple proper, we needed to buy tickets to enter. The lines looked insanely long and we were second guessing whether or not it would be worth it to wait in line with our toddler.
Deciding it’s obviously worth the wait since we are already there, we got our tickets and were pleasantly surprised to find the line was split into two with the unmoving side being comprised of people waiting to buy Omikuji. The other line just walked straight into temple without any waiting.
As we entered the temple, we saw some people lifting these iron poles (tetsushakujo) of increasing weights and then smashing them down onto the wooden floor. It’s supposedly good luck if you can lift them, but it’s pretty difficult as the heaviest one is about 90 kg (198 lbs). The people we saw trying laughed as several of them failed to lift the heaviest even an inch off the ground.
The views throughout the rest of the temple were amazing, especially the one looking out over the deck. To get the classic gorgeous view of the temple we moved back behind the temple and followed a path to leading off to the side.
Continuing on that path led down to another temple and pagoda as well as the Otowa Waterfall. Otowa features three streams of water falling down into a small pond. Visitors take a cup on a stick used to drink from each of the streams that are said to bring love, success and longevity.
At this point it was past lunch time, so we grabbed some from the food stalls we passed, as well as some conbini snacks. We went back to the room to eat and rest a bit.
Fushimi Inari Shrine
Our next stop was the very famous Fushimi Inari Shrine, which was a must see for us on this trip. While we were still a little wary from our Shinkansen incident, we needed to take a train to get there as it was too far to walk. The station was right next to our hotel and it led south straight to the Shrine, so it was actually super convenient.
The train adventure went a little smoother this time and it took about 15 minutes. Although we did end up going into the wrong gate at first, we got it figured out without too much trouble.
Upon arrival we were met with more food stalls and shops taunting us with delicious smells. We had to walk a few minutes to the shrine entrance and along the way I couldn’t resist getting some karaage (fried chicken).
Making our way into the shrine we passed a huge torii and another decorative gate with fox statues guarding the sides. People were doing the usual and praying at the shrines or buying Omikuji, but for us we were most interested in the famous pathway lined with hundreds of torii gates that lead up the mountain.
It was getting late at this point and the sun had just about set, which added an air of mystery and tension to the walk. It made it a little hard to get good pictures, but the atmosphere of walking through all of the torii with just little lanterns barely lighting the way gave the path an almost ethereal feel. It’s one of the coolest places I’ve ever been in Japan and while there were other people there it wasn’t crowded at all, which made it all the better.
I wish we could have also seen it in the morning as well, as I feel like it would have had a completely different feel in the sunlight. Our night walk was amazing though and it was much longer than expected. It took us at least 30 minutes and I don’t think we even took the longest pathway that went all the way to the peak of the mountain.
By the end however, it was getting pretty dark and we were tired after walking over 20,000 steps for two days in a row. We hopped back on the train to head back to the hotel to eat dinner and get some rest, but not before picking up some souvenirs. A magnet with a fox in-between the Fushimi Inari torii gates and a cute little maneki neko (beckoning cat).
A Disappointing Day 2
After getting a good night’s sleep we got ready and headed back to the McDonalds for an easy breakfast. We were debating the night prior and again in the morning about where to go today. The two big places we had not seen were Kinkakuji Temple and the Arashiyama Bamboo Garden. We were on the eastern side of Kyoto and Kinkakuji Temple is located on the north edge while Arashiyama on the far west edge. Arashiyama would just take a few train rides to get to, but Kinkakuji required either a train and a bus ride or a train ride and a 40 minute walk.
We were not sure how to use the buses and were debating about whether we could make it to both places in one day. Our toddler up to this point had not been cooperating with walking very much, so we carried him most of the day before. At an even 40 pounds, he’s not the lightest load, so we were pretty wiped.
As our conversation on where to go continued, we were almost to McDonalds and my son asked me to pick him up. As I did, I felt my back jolt with pain, but thought little of it at first. As we continued to walk though, I soon realized I might have hurt it worse than I thought. Long story short, I pulled a muscle in my lower back and it continued to feel worse and worse making day 2 kind of a bust…
I did manage to push trough the pain enough to walk around a little bit, but going to see Arashiyama or Kinkakuji was just too much sadly. It felt okay enough to wonder through the garden outside of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, but the palace itself was closed for New Years. We eventually made our way to the Nijo Castle hoping to see something today, but at this point my back was killing me and so we hopped on a train back to our hotel.
Still an Amazing Trip
I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes on vacations; however, I am thankful we at least had such an amazing first day. In hindsight, that first day was more than worth it for the whole trip. Even if we would have gotten to see Kinkakuji and Arashiyama, there are still dozens and dozens of other amazing places I want to go back and see in Kyoto. Two day might have been enough to see the biggest attractions in Kyoto, but there are so many shrines, temples and gardens that are almost as or just as beautiful the ones we did see.
I don’t know if I’d be satisfied after spending a whole week there, but I do know I need to come back someday because Kyoto was amazing. I’m especially glad we got to see it for New Years too because it’s a special cultural aspect of Japan that many foreign tourists don’t get to see.
Getting Back Home
In the end, our second day was mostly just resting for the journey back home the next day. Everything went super smooth this time, minus my back still hurting like crazy. Importantly, I figured out what I did wrong with the Shinkansen tickets the first time. Apparently the QR tickets are not the same QR code needed to pick up your actual tickets. For that I needed to request the Pickup code online, which then gave me another QR code that I could then scan at the ticket station to pick up my actual tickets.
I still needed my login password, but I had that prepared and was able to easily pick up our tickets this time. The QR ticket that I had printed earlier was then used at the gate were I put my new ticket into the machine and then scanned the QR ticket. It’s a bit convoluted, but now that I’ve figured it out I feel confident I could do it again. The rest of the trip back was uneventful. Side note though, Chubu International Airport is actually pretty nice as far as airports go and I’d definitely choose to fly back out of there again.
Well Worth the Trip
My closing thoughts on this trip are that it was amazing cultural experience. Most people don’t recommend coming to Japan during New Years and I totally understand why. In our case, we had a chance to visit that fit in our work schedule, so it was either visit during New Years or don’t visit at all.
If that ends up being the case for anyone else’s trip, where you have to visit over New Years then I can highly recommend Kyoto. Temples and shrines are the biggest attractions and they don’t close on New Years. If you go to somewhere like Tokyo, then a lot of things you want to do may not be open. Also note that hotels and travel will be packed, so it might be a little bit pricier as well; however for us, I can say that even just one good day in Kyoto was special enough to be well worth the trip.
My biggest takeaway that I learned from this trip… always lift with your legs. Hope you enjoyed reading about our New Year adventure in Kyoto!
 is the most important holiday in Japan. We couldn’t think of a better place to spend our New Years then in Kyoto.){kind=link}