15 November 2023
Behind the station
Kyoto station area
I forgot to go to the helicopter pad on the top.
I like the Kyoto station, it is very modern and vertical, with a roof garden, which I forgot to go to. Maybe I will go there when I am too early for my train back to Tokyo.
Somehow despite missing my hike today I still ended up with 36k steps, super boring fact I know, but it was surprising to me. So tonight I just wandered down the central street to the Kyoto station, tried to find my dinner, realised it was too busy, and then headed around to the back of the station.
There are large groups of Australians here, travelling in groups, old and young and a mix of both. Quite unusual. Also I just learned that less than 20% of Japanese people have a valid passport! Even in the USA, 37% of people have a valid passport, Australian's hate being in Australia, so 57% of Australian's have a valid passport. The reason most Japanese people give for not travelling overseas is, other countries are too frightening. No wonder they won't sit next to me on the train.
While I am talking about nonsense, I also just read that for the first time, some drugs will not need to be re-tested on a control group of people with pure Japanese blood before they can be administered in Japan. Up until now, and even during COVID trials, there was a belief that 'pure' Japanese people were somehow a different species to the non pures. With members of parliament openly stating that the pandemic would be no match for superior Japanese blood. That did not turn out how they expected and has now resulted in policy change.
So to explain all this, let me just leave this here - 'The solution was the Humanity Declaration. This was an announcement issued by the Meiji emperor Hirohito on the first of January 1946, in which he denied any and all claim to divinity, asserted his status as a human being, and debunked the idea that the Japanese held a holy mandate to rule he world'.
I remember the gates to this shrine near the station being open at night. Maybe I have developed additional false memories. Also, giant pink phallus, that I remember.
The clapping monkey with cymbals seems to be the top selling toy of the 2023 season. Not even joking.
My busted camera is still not buy-able anywhere. Not for at least another 3 months.
The place to go to not get a camera, but to get a clapping cymbal monkey is of course the giant Yodobashi.
The underground shopping centre has a great eating street, but all places I was interested in had big lines.
Not everywhere was busy though! I followed an emergency exit staircase into the station and found myself near the top with this long alleyway of nothingness.
I headed around the back of the station, when the words Aeon and Mall come together, that spells food court.
There is no point in modern history (post Humanity Declaration) when every shopping centre in all of Asia has not been renewed and undergoing a grand open. As far as I can tell it has not changed in a decade.
Top floor food court has a great place with 3 big model railroads. This one is a model of Kyoto station, so meta, with the giant phallus.
I found the food court. Not just a food court but a Food Garden. I was excited.
All the best food comes on brown trays? Hmm perhaps not tonight. I got Tsukemen, something I have not had before, which is basically deconstructed ramen. Noodles are cold, the soup you dunk in is dense and hot. It is ramen you have to work for. I ended up just mixing it all together, how very uncultured.
Tomorrow, more castles, as was the plan all along, today's castle, was not part of the plan.