Coin Operated Lockers make your trip more comfortable!

Travelers, especially coming from overseas always carry a lot of heavy luggage.
 It is not easy to walk around while you have luggage with your both hands.
 So, I would recommend using lockers and it makes your handsfree.

You find a lot of lockers at railway stations and sightseeing areas.
 There are more than 4,000 coin-operated lockers at Kyoto Station.
 They usually are at near ticket gates and gateway to the station.
 On the south side of the station there are over 1,000 lockers at the Shinkansen Central ticket gate.
 There are different sizes of the lockers available.
 A small size locker is enough for a backpack or a handbag and a large one is enough to fit a suitcase.
 Prices vary according to the size of the lockers.
 It is usually 300 yen for the small one, 500 yen for the medium size and 700 yen for the large size.

Please be careful that these charges are for one day.
 A new day starts at 2:00am (at 0:00am for some lockers), so if you don’t take your luggage out from the locker before that time, you need to pay an additional fee.

In spring and autumn, the most crowded seasons in Kyoto, it might be difficult to find the lockers available.
 You can also use a luggage storage service at Kyoto station and delivery service to your hotel in Kyoto or Kansai International Airport.

Travel light and have a great time in Kyoto

Have you heard of the word “Chimaki”?
Chimaki is a rice cake wrapped with bamboo leaves and it shapes like a broom.
 We customarily eat it on Children’s day on May 5th to pray for children’s good health and growth, and celebrate their happiness. 

However you often see the Chimaki hung at the entrance of houses in Kyoto.
 It is not for eating but people hang it to ward off evil spirits.

July is a big month for Kyoto.
 The one-month-long Gion Festival is held in July. 
 The festival started in 869 as a religious ceremony and became a festival to pray for people’s good health.

During the festival, you can buy the “Chimaki” at Yasaka Shrine and also at places which festival float was built.
 There are more than thirty different festival floats and each float has its special “Chimaki” with float’s name which give you different lucks and benefits.
 Visiting the floats to get the “Chimaki” is a great way to enjoy the festival. 

People in Kyoto hang it at the entrance of their house for a year as a good luck charm.
 Why don’t you find the lucky charm when you walk around the city? 

Get a good luck at Gion Festival

Do you want to see an unique torii gate?
Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine is located at the eastern end of Nishiki Market in downtown Kyoto, which was founded in 1003.
Even though it is a small shrine, it’s gorgeous and has lots to see.
The most surprising thing about this shrine is it has an unique torii gate.
Both sides of torii gate are built into the next buildings!!
If you look carefully, you can see the edge of the torii gate go into them.
Also this shrine is famous for rich water, so I recommend drinking it at the “Cho-zuya”, purification fountain. 
This is certified safe to drink and must take an annual test.
I’ve seen that people drink it and pour water into their plastic bottles to take home.
This shrine enshrines the god of scholarship, Sugawarano Michizane the same as Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.
It is located on a busy street, so many people visit to pray fo good luck for education and business prosperity.
If you are planning to go to Nishiki Market which is called “Kyoto’s kichen”, you can drop by this unique shrine.

Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine

Do people living in Kyoto prefer “bread” rather than Japanese cuisine?!

What kind image do you have about Kyoto?
 The thousand-year capital, beautiful scenery from the ancient times,
 many temples and shrines, etc..

Surprisingly, do you know that Kyoto has become the largest consumer of bread in Japan?

In Kyoto, a city of students and craftsmen, there are many reasons why there is a high demand for bread that can be eaten easily, Kyoto people love new things,
 therefore there are a lot of delicious bakeries in Kyoto.

Today I will recommend some bakeries.
 1. Tamaki-Tei
www.tamaki-tei.com/ 
 Although it isn’t in the Kyoto city, we shouldn’t miss this bakery here in Uji City.
 It has a rich variety of pastries and sandwiches.
 You can also go to Byodoin Temple easily by train.

2. Le Petit Mec imadegawa
http://lepetitmec.com/location/imadegawa/
 It is a lovely shop with a red roof on Imadegawa Street where many bakeries can be found.
 Croissants and Croque monsieur are very popular, and it also has a dining area.
 You can walk from Kitano Tenmangu Shrine and Seimei jinja Shrine.

3. Maruki Seipan Jo
https://tabelog.com/kyoto/A2601/A260203/26003237/
 It is a long-established bakery founded in 1947 and loved by local people.
 A hot dog bun is a standard product of this shop.
 It is located a short walk from Kyoto station, and it is also near Higashi Hongan-ji temple and Nishi Hongan-ji temple.

When you don’t have enough time to have a meal in a restaurant, you may be able to eat bread easily while sightseeing.

Please check our website and join the tour↓↓
http://en.charlies-kyototours.com/

Have you tried some of bakeries in Kyoto?

We wish you a Happy New Year.

Did you feel heavy in your stomach because of eating and drinking too much in new year vacation?
 Today, we will introduce a meal which is easy on your stomach.

In Japan, from the ancient time there has been a custom to eat “Nanakusa-gayu” (rice porridge with seven kinds of herbs) on January 7th.
 According to a theory, it started from the Heian Period and is said to be a custom that has lasted for over one thousand and three hundreds years.

“Nanakusa-gayu” is a rice porridge that is cooked with seven of spring grass herbs.
 We pray for good health while eating salted light porridge.

Why is it cooked with seven kinds of herbs?
 Here is the meaning of each herb.

1.Seri 　 “to compete against competition.”
2.Nazuna “to remove dirt”
3.Gogyo “represents the Buddha's body”
4.Hakobera “prosperity”
5.Hotokenoza “Buddha's chair”
6.Suzuna 　 “bell calling God”
7.Suzushiro 　 “pure innocence”

It is a light meal which is easy on your upset stomach.
 Traditional customs are really well thought out.

Nanakusa-gayu, rice porridge with seven kinds of herbs

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine is one of the most famous and popular tourist destinations in Kyoto.
It is located at the foot of Mt.Inari in the southest of Kyoto City and has more than a 1300-year-old history.
Vermillion-painted main shrine building makes a beautiful contrast with the blue sky.

A fox is a symbol of the shrine. You can find a lot of types of foxes around the site, a flying fox, a fox holding ears of rice in the mouth and more..
The highlight of the shrine is "Thousand Torii" gateways. They will absolutely look great on Instagram!!

It's great to visit and walk around this spiritual place where the gods exist and get a lot of energy!!

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine is one of the most famous and popular tourist destinations in Kyoto.
It is located at the foot of Mt.Inari in the southest of Kyoto City and has more than a 1300-year-old history.
Vermillion-painted main shrine building makes a beautiful contrast with the blue sky.
A fox is a symbol of the shrine. You can find a lot of types of foxes around the site, a flying fox, a fox holding ears of rice in the mouth and more..
The highlight of the shrine is "Thousand Torii" gateways. They will absolutely look great on Instagram!!

It's great to visit and walk around this spiritual place where the gods exist and get a lot of energy!!


Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine

November is one of the busiest months in Kyoto in terms of tourism.
Places like Gion, Arashiyama and Higashiyama area are always packed.

The Kitano area, just having 20 minutes bus ride from the centre of the city,
is much quieter and in more relaxing atmosphere where you enjoy walking around
the area with full of history and cultual properties.

Our fun tour will give you a deeper understanding of Shintoism, Buddhism and Geisha culture
and you can enjoy strolling the area.     

Looking for somewhere quiet or relaxing in Kyoto?

We often use the word "power spot" in Japanese when discribing the places where you can get spiritual energy.
Kifune Shrine is one of the famous "Power spots" in the north of the Kyoto city.
Getting to the shrine will be fun by taking a small two carriage train from Demachi-yanagi station
and it will be a 30 minute train ride.
The train runs from the centre of the city and go through between houses.
The view from the train window changes as the train goes to the north and you get rush green after 15 minute train ride.

After geeting off the train at Kibune-guchi station, you will take a bus to Kifune which is the last stop.
A big vermillion Torii gate welcome you at the entrance of the shrine.
You will get the main building of the shrine after taking steep rock steps.   

Kifune Shrine, a sacred place with spiritual energy

Today’s guests were bright mother and her son from Singapore.
We enjoyed a summer day in Kyoto and walked a lot!!

They like talking about Japanese history and cultures. We saw a lot of places and got some gifts.
We had good chicken dishes for lunch in Fushimi and they were great.
Her son spoke Japanese and he was good!!
They will stay one more week in Japan and they are going to Osaka and Shiga this week.
Thank you for visiting Kyoto and we had a great time! 

Here is a list of the places we visited today.
◆Walk around Gion district and did shopping in Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka area
◆Kiyomizu dera Temple
◆Walk along Gojo zaka (famous for Kiyomizu pottery)
◆Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
◆Lunch at Torisei restaurant famous for chicken dishes 
◆Gekkeikan Okura Sake brewery museum
◆Nishiki Market

Kyoto's summer is HOT but cool as well !!

West Japan had terrible damages because of record breaking heavy rain last week.
Some areas in Kyoto also had serious damages with landslides and people evacuated to safe places.
I hope we can get back to normal and enjoy Kyoto summer. 

If you want to visit somewhere quiet, a lot of green maple trees and  lush green moss which give you a peaceful time, Gio-ji Temple in the Okusaga area, close to Arashiyama and bamboo forest, is the right place to visit.

The temple is not as big as Tenryu-ji Temple which is one of the World heritage sites in Arashiyama and the small temple gate welcomes you to the calm atmosphere. 
Vsit Gio-ji Temple if you get tired with crowds in the city!! 

West Japan had terrible damages because of record breaking heavy rain last week.
Some areas in Kyoto also had serious damages with landslides and people evacuated to safe places.
I hope we can get back to normal and enjoy Kyoto summer. 
If you want to visit somewhere quiet, a lot of green maple trees and  lush green moss which give you a peaceful time, Gio-ji Temple in the Okusaga area, close to Arashiyama and bamboo forest, is the right place to visit.

The temple is not as big as Tenryu-ji Temple which is one of the World heritage sites in Arashiyama and the small temple gate welcomes you to the calm atmosphere. 
Vsit Gio-ji Temple if you get tired with crowds in the city!! 

Lush greenery, Gio-ji Temple

If you want to feel true Kyoto atmosphere and experience deep Kyoto cuture , Higashiyama Highlights tour is the perfect tour for you. 
I had a great family from Houston, Texas and we visited some of must-see spots. 
We began with visiting Sanju-sangendo where there are impressing 1001 golden Buddhas.  The hall which is used to be an imperial villa has the amazing buddhist statures.  We spent about one hour to see them and the family wrote their wish on a piece of wood called Gomagi which is burned with a holy fire.     

The next stop was the world famous shrine with vermillion Torii gates, Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. 
Walking through the thousands of Torii gates was a great experience for them and the father was interested in getting built a Torii gate with his name on.

We took a train back to the centre of the city and walk around the Gion district where is well known for Maiko and Geiko area.  We stopped for lunch at a Japanese restaurant and had Tempura meal and fresh row fish. 

It was one of the highlights of the day after lunch, we experienced a tea ceremony after enjoying walking through Gion district.
We visited a tea house in Ninen-zaka near Kiyomizu-dera Temple where you can feel real Kyoto atmosphere and relax.  After about 1 hour tea ceremony session the mother found it very interesting and she bought some maccha powder and a whisk.
She was really looking forward to making tea when she comes back home.

Higashiyama Highlights Tour, Sanju-sangendo, Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine and Gion district

June is not the best time to go out and enjoy a sunny day in Kyoto but colorful hydrangeas make you happy during the rainy season.  
They bloom in deep and gorgeous color after the rain so you are lucky if you visit Kyoto and see them in a rainy day.
Japan is the country of origin of this flower and they have been breeding in Europe.

Here are a few famous spots for viewing hydrangeas in Kyoto.

◆ Mimuroto-ji Temple
Hydrangeas are called "Ajisai" in Japanese and this temple is called "Ajisai temple".
It is like a painting that the view of the 10,000 hydrangeas blooming in the midst of cedar trees.
The heart-shaped hydrangeas in the middle of thousands of hydrangea have been very popular recently.
You should check them out.

◆　Sanzen-in Temple
The temple has beautiful sceneries throughout a year, including moss garden, changing colors of leaves in autumn and countless hydrangeas at the "Ajisai-en"   
In this Hydrangea garden, there are a lot of rare hydrangea species so you can enjoy different type of hydrangeas.
It takes about 30~40 minutes by bus from the centre of the city.

◆ Yoshimine-dera Temple
The temple is located in the deep mountains south west of central Kyoto so you need a car to get there and 
it takes about an hour from the centre of the city but it worth driving all the way to the temple.
There is an old pine tree that consist almost only a single branch run over the ground on about 20 meters.
The tree is like a long dragon and it is 600 years old.  The scenery of hydrangeas blooming is amazing.
This temple is a lesser known place so you can enjoy hydrageas in a quiet and calm atmospher.

Hydrangeas in Kyoto

Enjoy and Explore Kyoto wth a certified local guide. Private and group tours in Kyoto. Visit great places and enjoy hands-on experiences which gives you a deeper understanding of Kyoto. 

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