The next day was our journey to Kyoto. We decided to hop off the Shinkasen at Nagoya (no, you can’t “just do that”, but we made it happen) and get a train to Okazaki (about 30 minutes away) to see Yamasa. Turns out it’s just as great as I’d imagined! The main building looks great, but the other buildings often look pretty dilapidated from the outside with peeling paint and rust, but the interiors are fantastic. There’s one group of “villas” (number 5) and the rooms are totally new, every student with their own shower room, toilet room, kitchen/living room (with microwave, automatic washing machine, cooker, flat panel TV, leather couch, 2 desks, 2 chairs) and a “bedroom” which is basically a bed-sized platform over the living area with a ladder going up. The floor and stairs/ladder were all wood and it felt really modern yet really comfortable.
So eventually we arrived in Kyoto. That was 26 hours ago and it’s hardly stopped raining since. Apparently the rainy season has just started and today we went to lots of places like Kiyomizu temple, Sanjusangendo, Heian shrine, Kinkakuji, and Nijo castle. It rained non-stop throughout all of them so it was really a shame to miss so many “shutter chances” as the Japanese call them.
Anyway, tomorrow’s Nara and I’m looking forward to that. Let’s just hope it doesn’t rain again!
