First we stop at Matsuya for a hearty breakfast and then to Kanda Station to hop the train to Tokyo Station where we will catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. Bit of a struggle to find the counter to get our tickets as I had ordered online but had to pick up the tickets. Tokyo Station is huge and very busy. We did have lots of time and we did get it sorted but stressful.
Just killing time. There are very few places to actually sit.
Here’s our ride.
It’s stairs like this that makes you not want to haul luggage around!
All aboard and here we go. Just over 2 hours.
We purchased Bento boxes for lunch so we’re dining on the train.
After checking in to our hotel (Tune Stay Kyoto) we head over to our Samurai/Ninja Experience.
They have quite a good collection of Samurai outfits. You could be as young as 12 years old to wear one of these.
There was silk used in these outfits as well as bamboo for insulation. Some metal and even gold.
The history of the Samurai is very interesting. The fellow that was speaking was very well informed. He said it is mandatory to complete a minimum of 6 years of Japanese history in school.
Guns changed the type of fighting dramatically. Landon’s holding a very old and very heavy gun. Seems it would be hard to carry this let alone fire it.
Very scary looking Samurai guarding the Tori gates.
After all that hard work we walked down a few blocks and found a place for dinner. Lovely steak and rice. Then we caught a taxi back to the hotel and settled in for the evening. Tomorrow we have a very full day and it’s going to be hot!
