Kyoto to Tokyo

Tuesday morning we took taxis to Kyoto station. It's a big station and even though there are signs in English, it's easy to get mixed up.

Looking west on the main floor. There are platforms serving some 40 tracks, including the Shinkansen. It can get confusing.

Looking east. In addition to the trains, there are subways and also bus loading areas on both sides of the station.

Japanese conductors and engineers take great pride on operating on time (within a second or two, usually) and stopping the train at the designated spot.

This is where car 13 will stop. We had reserved seats but still lined up with the others to board. Platforms in the
larger stations protect passengers with sliding doors that open when the train stops and close before it departs.

I saw several large solar panel farms from the train.

Tea fields in Shizuoka Prefecture turn out prized green tea. Note the fan similar to those used to protect
orchards in Eastern Washington.

Mt Fuji from the from the Shinkansen in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Girls selling drinks and snacks still roll their carts through the train, even on the Shinkansen.
Menu includes sandwiches and other snacks, beer, sake and soft drinks along with coffee, tea
and other hot drinks. The well stocked cart saves passengers a trip to the dining car.

In Tokyo we stayed in the Imperial Hotel. This flower arrangement graced the center of
the lobby. I estimated it to be about four feet across.

Garden outside the main entrance to the hotel. Rock garden has a different meaning here.

While waiting to check in, Ikuko and I ordered coffee in the lobby cafe. This is what
a $15 cup of coffee looks like. Western style hotels are expensive and the Imperial
is on top of that heap. I'd much rather stay at a Japanese inn (Ryokan) or a kind of
B & B called "Minshuku" that includes dinner as well as breakfast.

We stayed one night in the Imperial Hotel. Our evening meal was a "goodbye dinner" with the group at a nearby restaurant. Most of the group goes to Narita Wednesday afternoon to catch their flight back to Seattle. Ikuko and I checked out a little after six in the morning to catch our flight to Fukuoka.