Our guest has been hitchhiking all around Japan!!

What do you think the cardboard he has on his back?
Well, he has been hitchhiking with it.
It is written "I'm travelling all around japan. I'm a student. I'm not a strange man."
Of course, he doesn't look a strange man.
I think it is a good idea to have the cardboard on his back.
Because it is outstanding and easy to hitchhike.

Also when he meet someone during hitchhiking, he asks them "What do you like the most in your city?" and let them write the answer on the drawing paper.
And then he post it on his blog and introduce the good things of the city he visited.
I think it will be a good memory.
Actually, he did the same things when he traveled all around the world.
He obviously had a great experience, didn't he?
I really envy him.

I hope he will have a safe travel and i will see him at A-yado one day!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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School Trip of Japanese High School Students ~ Like Stand by Me

In a line they are walking, chatting and laughing with their friends. I took the photo around our hostel. They were in their school trip. Their bag looked very heavy. But they should be lighter than their great memory. The memories are the treasures made of gold.

Here's another photo. Of course they're in a school trip. The green leaves are so brilliant. If you come to Kyoto you can find the students in a trip or a excursion. Because Kyoto is a very popular city for it.

If you've traveled with your friends in your girls or boys days, which was important for you? The place to travel or friends with you? I know the answer :)

Now I'm a 30 years old. So I have my own travel style and I don't always want to travel with my friends. Sometimes they might be my burden. That's same as my friends.

But, in my memory my friends with their younger smiles are always with me in my trip, like "Stand by Me". 

It's in my heart. And that's why I can be alone.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Uji River

In Kyoto there are some big rivers.
Today I am introducing one of them, Uji River.
The bridge on the left is Uji Bridge.

This photo below is taken from Uji Bridge.

I walked around Uji Bridge.


On the east bank there is a path which is called Sawarabi Path.

This path is beautiful and relaxing with trees.
Along this path there are some sight-seeing spots such as the Tale of Genji Museum, Ujigami-jinja Shurine, Uji-jinja Shrine.


On the west bank there are many boats.

They are used for cormorant fishing.
In the Summer there are cormorant fishing shows on Uji River.
In August there is a display of fireworks.

Summer is the best season to visit Uji.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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New sushi restaurant has been opened on the 1st floor of A-yado building!!

New restaurant has been opened today.
It is called "Yataizushi".
It is located on the 1st floor of A-yado building.

You can see this huge sighboard when you stand on the street.
Sushi (寿司） on the sighboard looks delicious, doesn't it?
You can eat fresh sushi and sashimi (刺身）there.

Also there will be an opening sale for the next 3 days.
The first drink goes only 9 yen.
What a good service!!

Actually, many our guests will go there to have sushi and cheap drinks tonight.
I hope they will enjoy it.
Even if they get drunk, it is easy to come back to the hostel.
Because the restaurant is downstairs.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Uji ~ the place of the Tale of Genji (源氏物語) ～

A few days ago I visited Uji in Kyoto.
Uji is a city which is famous for green tea.
However Uji is also famous for the Tale of Genji.


The tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by Murasaki Shikibu.
It is considered the world's first novel.
Chapter 45~54 are called "Uji Chapters".

This is a stone statue of Murasaki Sikibu, the author of the Tale of Genji in Uji.
She was a Japanese lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court during the Heian period.

On this board chapter 48 is written in Japanese.

There are 10 boards in Uji and chapter 45~54 are written on them.

 

There is the Tale of Genji Museum in Uji.
There are many exhibits related to the Tale of Genji in this museum.
The admission fee is 500 yen per person.


If you are interested in Japanese literature, you should visit Uji.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Hokkaido（北海道）③

Today, I write about Hokkaido's good sightseeing place.

I went to biei（美瑛） town.

I recommend you two place.

First one is...

This is Shirohige（白髭） waterfall.

This waterfall is cool.

 And there is white mountains.

This place is located in south of biei.

Second one is...

This is the Farm.

Biei's farm is so big.

I think, there is not same size farm in Japan.

It is located in north of Biei.

It's better to go to Biei by car.

Because Hokkaido is big. And train is not useful.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Trip in Okinawa(沖縄）④

My last day of trip in Okinawa, i went to see Itoman Hare(糸満ハーレー） at Itoman Fishing Port(糸満港）.

Itman Hare is a festival of fisherman to pray for a good catch and a safe voyage at sea.
It is one of the most traditional festivals in Okinawa.

There are dragon boat races and many people take part in it.
Even all schools in Itoman are closed for the day so that children could attend.

Also there are many stalls and you can enjoy eating and drinking there.
I really recommend you to see this festival if you go to Itoman city this season.

My trip in Okinawa was only 3 days.
It was not enough for me. Actually, i wanted to see more places.
But i really enjoyed my trip.
I'll definitely come back to Okinawa one day!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Hokkaido（北海道）②

I went to Hokkaido by peach that is low cost airline.

Peach has hub airport in kansai airport.
So it is easy to visit domestic and around asia.

We can go to Hokkaido, Okinawa, Ishigaki(Okinwa), Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong by peach.

I have been to taken peach 5 times.
Most cheap ticket is about 8000yen(To Kagoshima round trip)


By the way...

after arrived Hokkaido...

I went to Sapporo beer garden.

We can eat Genghis Khan. And we can drink beer.
And this beer garden has Black beer.
I like black beer than nomal beer.

Next time, I'll write about good sightseeing place.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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The Nicest Temple in Kyoto for Hydrangea Flowers

June is the rainy season of Japan. And the season still has something worth seeing and worth trying despite of rainy days. 

This is hydrangea flowers, which is called Ajisai(紫陽花, あじさい) in Japanese. When we see them we remember June and rain drops on the flowers. 

We love it!

And then I was transported to the hydrangea temple very eventually and instantly. No, I'm just joking. The temple has 10,000 hydrangea flowers. That's why I've came here.

That's the main building. Yeah, it's raining. Raining days are special for the flowers. It got more beautiful.

Like this. Blue, white and purple hydrangeas!

So special. I love June.

If you watch the flowers, and you remember the colors of them one by one for all places, you will be surprised next year. Because the color will be changed by the substance in soil. That's also good fun for the flowers!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Trip in Okinawa(沖縄）③

Have you seen this gate before?

Someone think this gate appeared on the Japanese 2000yen note.
That's right!!
It is Shureimon(守礼門） which is the second of Shuri Castle's(首里城）main gate.
It was built in the 16th century and became a symbol gate of Okinawa nowadays.
The gate reflects strong Chinese influence, alongside indigenous religious traditions. The four Chinese characters framed on the gate-Shu, rei, no, and kuni, which means "Land of Propriety" .
The structure of the gate is silimar to that of Chinese tree-bay turret gates and is covered with a red tiled hip roof.

I recommend you to go there with 2000yen note.
Please compare to a real gate and a picture of 2000yen note!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Hokkaido Gourmet （北海道）①

I went to Hokkaido on my vacation.
I want to recommend you many thing.

Today I introduce Hokkaido dish.

At first,

It's ramen noodle.
You can eat ramen noodle in many place in Japan. But taste is different by each. Hokkaido's ramen is miso taste.


Second,

It's seafood bowl.
It's so good for me!!! very very very yummy!!!
Hokkaido's seafood bowl is so fresh and cheap!!
This seafood bowl is 800yen.


Next time,I'll let you know about nice places in Hokkaido soon!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Kimono Textile

They are our guests from Brazil.
They got to know each other at A-yado and became friends.


They are wearing cloths made of kimono textile.
The woman on the right bought a lot of kimono textile in Japan.
She did not afford to buy real kimono.
Kimono is very expensive.


They also went to Nishijin Textile Center　（西陣織会館）　 in Kyoto.
At the center there is a kimono show.
They give  performances 7 times a day.
A performance takes approximately 15 minutes.
The show is free!


You can see many kinds of kimono there.
If you are interested in Kimono, I recommend you should visit Nishijin Textile Center.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Kyoto Has So Many Nice Cafes

It looks nice, isn't it? The "hermit green cafe" is located the west side of Kyoto, which is country side. So it has really nice view, and good for taking a rest. 

Yeah, coffee smelled good. And the inside is also good. So clean and with good tasty foods.

This one is located a bit north side from the center of Kyoto. The name is "Cafe ZANPANO". Back of the floor there's a small room with music instruments. Yeah, you can play.

This is the local scenery of Kyoto from the window. The line called the Eizan line is on that street, yet not noisy. You can look at the train running, eating dinner or lunch.

Actually Kyoto has so many nice cafes. Most of the staff serve you very politely. Facilities are always clean. And the taste.... I love it!! But I'm not sure about it to you. Because if you're, for example, from Italy the paste should be authentic one around you. 

Yeah, so many things must to try! The taste too. 

If some are not really good, sorry for writing this post X(

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Trip in Okinawa(沖縄）②

When i was staying in Okinawa, i went to Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium(美ら海水族館）.

This aquarium is a part of the Ocean Expo Commemorative National Government Park and one of many popular attractions of them.

This photo is the main tank called the Kuroshio Sea(黒潮の海）.
It holds 7500 cublic metres of water and features an acrylic glass panel measuring 8.2 by 22.5 metres with a thickness of 60 centimetres.
When this acuarium was opened, it was the largest panel in the world.
Incidentally, Dubai Aquarium has the largest panel now.
Anyway, you can watch whale sharks and manta rays and many other fish species there.

Also, close to the Aquarium there is a dolphin show .
You can enjoy their performance and learn about their power and abilities of dolphins.

I really recommend you to go to this aquarium when you have a chance to go to Okinawa.

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Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Fugu fish, which Has Poison

If you hear "blowfish", do you have an idea to eat it. If so, you're very knowledgeable about Japanese culture. The fish has poison in, and yet it's very tasty.

This is a blowfish restaurant. Blowfish is called Fugu in Japanese.

In the fish tank, there're some bluefishes swimming back and forth very comfortably. 

And it's cute. At least I think so. From your view how it's like? 

If you catch a blowfish in a sea, you can never cook it. Because it has strong poison enough to kill human. So in Japan it's needed to get a chef's blowfish license to cook it. 

That's a bit weird. Because if it has poison, we never eat it from the second time. But, people in old Japan came up the great cuisine to eat it after taking off the poison parts. And the fish was getting very familiar in this country. 

It's one of the best dainties of Japan! Please try it, but never cook it by yourself. 

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Trip in Okinawa（沖縄）①

I went to Okinawa(沖縄）for 3 days on holiday.
Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture of Japan.
I think it is one of the best resort in summer time.

When i went there, i took "Jet Star"airplane.
Jet Star is very cheap airplane company and it cost me only 3000 yen from Kansai airport to Naha(那覇） airport in Okinawa.
I recommend you to take "Jet Star" or "Peach" airplane if you travel in Japan by airplane.
You will save much money.

Anyway, when we arrived in Okinawa, my friend picked us up and took us many places.

This photo is a beautiful beach in Kouri Island(古宇利島） which is the north of Okinawa.
It's very beautiful, isn't it?
When i looked this sea, i could forget about the time. So i spent much time there.
Especially, if you go to the north of Okinawa, you will see the coral reefs and emerald seas.

I'll let us know other nice places in Okinawa soon!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Samurai Lesson

They are our guests from England.
They are smiling with a picture.

This is the picture.
They took a samurai lesson.
They look cool in samurai costumes.


In Kyoto you can take samurai lessons.
At lessons you will learn how to use kanatas (Japanese swords) with costume rental.


After taking the lesson, they said me a joke, "I could slay you if I had a sword."
This photo will be a good souvenir of Japan for them.

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Fireflies in June of Kyoto

At night when you find the object above, what do you feel? Is it weird? Or sometimes it looks scarring? 

This is the wash-stand in a famous shrine, Shimogamo-jinaja shrine(下鴨神社).

I went there to observe fireflies at about 21:00. So the gateway to go to the main building was closed. And yet, there were people who came for fireflies.

When you turn right, and go into the small path, you will find the stream with fireflies. They are so beautiful! But, my camera doesn't work well in the dark. So I couldn't take a photo of them.

They are special just in June. The come out after sunset to around 21:30. 

June is also nice season for traveling in Japan. For hydrangea flowers and any other things. Of course Kyoto has some special things!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Hitchhiker

They are our guests from England (on the left) and from Sweden (on the right).
The man on the right has a piece of paper.
姫路（Himeji）, a city in Hyogo prefecture is written on it.


He is going to hitchhike to Himeji.
He asked me to write the Japanese letter, "姫路", so I wrote it.


He hitchhiked to Kyoto via Hamamatsu from Tokyo.
He likes hitchhiking trip because he can enjoy adventure.
When he hitchhikes, he always treat dinner to the driver in return for the lift.


In Japan hitchhiking is not so common, so I think it is not easy to do it.
However it seems that he has hitchhiked well so far.
I hope he will enjoy hitchhiking travel after leaving Kyoto.

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact