How was Japanese Plum Today?

If you know this sculpture of a cow, you are an expert on Kyoto. When you caress the cow, you will get a good luck. It's said from old Japan.

I was in Kitano-tenman-gu shrine(北野天満宮） in the end of February. I wanted to watch Japanese plum trees blooming so beautifully. But, February in this year is too much cold comparing to others. So the plum was blooming a little bit, like 30% of the full blooming.

Of course, I took photos. Walking slowly and sometimes standing, I watched the trees.

Some parts of the garden is not so bad. They were enough beautiful.

And also, you can smell the flavor when you stick your beak near the buds or flowers. It's fantastic! It's not all to watch during your travel, but you can enjoy scent if anything has it!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Kairo(disposable body warmer)

Japan's winter is very cold. It sometimes snows in Kyoto.
When it is cold day, this is necessity for us.

Do you know what it is?

It's a disposable body warmer called Kairo(カイロ）.
It's a packed iron powder product and heats up as the result of the oxidation of iron powder.

Just shake it about 5 to 6 times before use it and provide 8-12 hours of continuous heat.
It is very simple, law price and easy to carry. so it is very convenient.
Actually, i can't spend winter time without this.

When you come to Japan, try to find it in the supermarket or drug store.
It will keep your body warm!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Loving Thai Curry, though I'm a Japanese

"Well, the color is getting deep and deep, getting ripe for that."

"Not so bad. I could have done a great job."

"Me good at gather special stuffs." 

"Aha, smells good, it's my turn to cast a wonderful spell. Let me take over to finish it." 

"We are a team to cook Asian Food!"

Our guest gave us them, a cooking book and Thailand's Curry. The book is super nice. Our guest from USA was reading it curiously. She may think "Why does a Japanese hostel have a Thai cooking book?". Yeah, it's strange. But, anyway the book is very interesting.

I got the instant powder of green curry, winning a rock-paper-scissors game with my boss. Now, I'm afraid of my salary getting decrease by his anger by the curry powder. Y, y, ye yeah, that's OK to get a curry powder from my boss. My boss is really rational.

Thank you for giving us the book and curry!!
We hope your travel to the next county will be also great!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

A Famous Rice Cake Shop

If you wake up early, I recommend you to go out for a short walking in Kyoto. Here's a photo of a big river of Kyoto, Kamo River and a bridge of its northern part.

And when you cross the bridge from east to west, you will find a local shopping mall. There's no people, but a few cars running. Quiet and peaceful to me. The sun is getting come out from thick cloud.

It is a shatter as you see. If you live in the area, you definitely know the name of the rice cake shop. The rice cake shop is local, yet very famous. They have only one small shop. But the taste is special. How special? It's very difficult to explain, but...

It's the same place. But no shatter and so many people! They are waiting to buy a rice cake in two rows. I can't explain the taste, but the photo express how the shop is special.

Kyoto has a lot of places, which are local. Temple, shrines, restaurants, and any shops. Some of them are just hidden. Looking for them, you may be loving this city. Yeah, me too!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

A message from our guests

They are our guests from Germany.
They have stayed at A-yado few days ago.
One of them lives in Tokyo and studying geography at university.
When they checked in, she asked me "Do you remember me?"
"Ummm....." I was thinking for a while.
Because it was first time for them to stay here.
But finally i remembered that she came here few weeks ago
"Yeah, i remembered. You came here to ask about A-yado with your Japanese friend few weeks ago."
"That's right. I couldn't stay that time because of couch surfing. But i wanted to stay here. That's why i came back here with my friend."
"Thank you!! Welcome to A-yado."

Sometimes the guests check the hostel before they stay. I think it is a good thing. Because they can feel atmosphere and check the facilities they need.

Well, actually they enjoyed their stay and when they checked out, they gave me a message.

I was so glad to have it. Because i had a really good time with them.
But the happiest thing for me was they enjoyed their stay here.

We all staff think we want the guests to enjoy their stay here all the time.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Tough walkers

They are our guests from Sweden.


This day they were walking around Kyoto City.
They kept walking a very long distance for hours.
How tough they are!!


They chose to walk because they didn't like to use buses.
They  said that buses are always crowded and that it was very difficult to know where to get off.


I agree with them totally.
Buses are always full of sightseers.


However this means Kyoto is attractive for tourists.


When i took this photo, they were planning where to walk the next day.
I respect these active and positive guys.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Journey with a Big Snowboard

He checked in today, he was very nice and friendly, he traveled so many places in Japan. Yeah, of course with the snowboard.

It's one of the biggest luggage, if you call it luggage, you can, in a travel to abroad. I've never seen this nice guy with a very big snowboard in our hostel. He went to Hakuba, which is good place for snowboarding and skiing. He did great jobs, I guess!

If we travel to the oversea, should the luggage be light? In this case, NO!!

He loves snowboarding, and his own snowboard, although it is very big and heavy. Of course, it's a good buddy!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

A good experience of making Japanese-style confections(和菓子）

He is our guest from Australia.
He has been staying at A-yado for nearly 2 weeks.
He had a good experience of making Japanese-style confections(和菓子）few days ago.

This is what he has made.
It's very good, isn't it?
I can't believe that he made this for the first time.
How comes he made them very well?............He said that he is studying an industry design in Australia.
That's why he is clever with his fingers.
I think that he would be a master if he leans Japanese-style confections for few years.

I hope that he will open his own shop of Japanese -style confections in Australia as a second job in the future. If it comes true, i would definitely go there and buy them.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Snow in Kyoto, a historical city covered with white

When I wake up and go out side, roofs were covered with snow, and the temperature is very low like 0 degrees centigrade. It's really cold to us!

A tree is also. It didn't feel freezing. It was just there.  

I found some citrus fruits. Nice color. In the white, there's vivid yellow. And I love the flavor :)

Japanese local scenery with snow. The sky is still without sun.

Yeah, of course car was with snow. If I drive the car, I can't see anything... Let me pour hot water on it!

Kyoto is not famous for snow. But this city sometimes has quite big amount of snow. It was not. On the ground I found just 3 cm of snow. I need more to play snowball fight!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Yakushima Islands

 Do you know yakushima Island? Yakushima is on south from Kagoshima(Kyusyu).

 I recommend you to visit. Because yakushima has some good place to tourism. I hiked Miyanoura mountain. I met some Monky when I hiking.

This is the view from top of Miyanoura mountain. It's so cool and I think , this view looks like Last scene of 「Princess of mononoke」. Japan has some good city. So please visit some city when you come Japan.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Travel around the world

They are our guest from Chile.
They are brother. They really resemble each other, doesn't it?
I think it's hard to distinguish if the right guy takes his glasses off.

Well, they have been travelling around the world in 16 countries on 4 continents for 80 days.
They have started from their native country Chile and travelling in England, Russian, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, many Asia countries.
I really envy them and want to travel like them.............
It's been so long since i was travelling the last time.
They taught me a nice website for travelling around the world.
So if i can take a long holiday, i'll try to make a plan with that site.

I hope that they will enjoy the rest of their trip and go back to home safely.
Also i want them to make a lot of memories of a lifetime.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Perfect Wedding in Kyoto

When I walked along Shinbashi-dori St., which is one of the best historical streets of Kyoto, I found a couple in their wedding ceremony. 

The temperature was not very low, and the weather was fine. Sun was shining, like wishing their happy future. The paved stone street was white, and grey of shade. Everything was perfect for them!!

If you hang out in the area, Gion(祇園), you may find this kind of couples. And at night, you may find Maiko-girls, which is almost same meaning of Geisha-girls. Because the area is not just historical. People still live in it. And lot of local people go along the street for their own lives.

Not just historical, but livable! Kyoto has such good streets!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Chocolate Gift

This is a present from our guest.
Meiji is one of the most popular chocolate brands in Japan.
He kindly gave this to us.



The guest is a guy from France.
He doesn't speak neither English nor Japanese.
He speaks only French.


However his communication skill is great.
He gestures well so he can communicate with us.
Above all he is cheerful and friendly.
This makes him a popular person at our hostel.

There is one more chocolate gift.
This is a German chocolate from our boss.


It is my first time to taste German chocolate.
The taste is quite good, and I like it.


I presented the french guy this German chocolate in return for Meiji chocolate.

This is the guy with the chocolate.
He is kissing it.

Chocolate gifts make us happy.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Nice postcard from our guest

We got a post card from our guest who was staying at A-yado 1 week ago.
When she was back to her hometown Niigata(新潟）, she sent us this post card.
On the postcard she wrote us a message and put some picture which she went during her trip.
It's a nice post card, isn't it?
We are really happy to get this.

"Thank you very much. We'll treasure this. When you come back to Kyoto, please come down here again."

It's the back of the post card.
Do you know what bird is?
It's a crested ibis which you can find on the Sado Island(佐渡島） in Niigata.
They used to be widespread in Japan. But they are on brink of extinction now.
It's a natural treasure. so we are trying to protect them from extinction.
If you have a chance to go to the Sado Island, please see this beautiful birds.
You'll love their beautiful white body.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Arashiyama Hanatouro(嵐山花灯路) in Kyoto ~Winter Illumination Event~

I want to introduce Arashiyama Hanatouro, a illumination event in Kyoto. It was carried out in December of 2012. Though it ended 3 month ago, I want to show the photos of that. Because Another illumination event, this time Higashiyama Hanatouro will be held in March. It will be 2 weeks later! And the characteristic is same. Hanarouro is one of the best illumination events of Kyoto.

Then this is the photo of Arashiyama Hanarouro 2012. The famous bamboo path was also illuminatted. The colors were blue and warm white. 

This is one of the lamps in a temple. It shines light on the ground. The ground is part of Japanese garden.

A old temple's thatched roof is illuminated. You can go inside. The name of temple is Hogen-in temple.

Here is the famous bridge in Arashiyama area. It's called Togetsukyo bridge. At night, normally it looks just a dark line. The special days it changes the bright line.

It was really nice! The next big illumination event is held from 8th of March.

http://www.hanatouro.jp/e/higashiyama/index.html
The URL is to go to Official Website.

When the are of Kyoto is illuminated, you will find another characteristic. Enjoy!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

A hand-made market

In Kyoto, there are several flea or hand-made markets in regularly at some places.
In there you can see Japanese traditional things, skillful stuff, yummy foods or more.

This time I went for a hand-made market in Shimogamo Shrine

This market is held 2 days in a row. Total 400 booths up there and music live too.
you can enjoy the atmosphere.

The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Animal staff

When you come our hostel, you can meet some animal staff.
At first He is Boss of animal staff.

And he have a friends. They are having  a national flag.
Do you understand? Which country are they from?

They came from Australia. I think... Australian animal staff is increasing day by day. 
So reception is lively.

And in A-yado, there are many other animal staff. I'll introduce them next time.
when you come our hostel, please look for animal staff!!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Goma for a wish

when you come to Kyoto, you would be visiting temples or shrines.
Because they are all over the place, you have no choice!

There you could find things like the picture. That's called Goma-ki(Ki means a wood)
The word come from Homa in Sanskrit and the meaning is "burning"
So you write your wish on the Goma-ki, then burn it
your wish will be realized!
It worth to try it, your mind would be refreshed!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Modan-yaki Restaurant ~Japanese Pancake with Soba-noodle

I'm in a sort of Okonomi-yaki restaurants. The Okonomi-yaki means Japanese pancake, but actually the restaurant is not for that Japanese pancake. This Japanese pancake has Soba noodle like the following picture.

Have you ever eaten it? 

Oh, but, it's not the thing I wanted to show.

This is a pancake with noodle. From my view it looks really tasty.

And also, this is a special thing of the restaurant. They put curry on a pancake with noodle. That tastes awesome!! The owner is really earnest to cook special pancakes with noodle inside. I didn't try everything. But, I want! 40 kinds of pancakes? Or more than it! I guess everything is awesome!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net