This morning I headed to Fushimi Inari Taisha, a head Shinto shrine famous for its thousand red torii gates of various sizes, hundreds of which form tunnels. There are fox statues everywhere because the white (invisible spirit) fox is supposed to be a messenger for the Inari, the kami for rice, agriculture, and business.
The entrance to the shrine’s grounds begin immediately when you exit the train station.
This fox holds a jewel in its mouth.
The key in the fox’s mouth is supposed to be to the rice granary.
Rice, sake, and other goods offered to the Inari.
An offering of tuna.
It started out very crowded (though judging by the train station, I left before it got *really* busy).
Each one of these gates was donated by a business. A message - typically the name of said business- is carved in black on the other side of the torii’s posts.
The further up the mountain (Mt. Inari), the fewer people there were. I didn’t climb up all the way to the top; my feet still ache from visiting the monkeys.
There are lots of these little shrines along the path (and the little red gates count towards the thousand).
Lots of white foxes.
The mountain is a labyrinth of shrines and gates.
Up and up. I don’t think I even got halfway before taking one of the available down routes, but all the way to the top is 233 meters, or 764 feet.
Some of the main buildings with offerings being given and prayer tablets available for sale.
I then headed for the Kyoto Railway Museum. This place was awesome. It has 54 engines and train cars on display, as well as exhibits on the history of trains in Japan and every aspect of the workings, construction, and maintenance of trains and subways. Best bang for my buck so far. It wasn’t very crowded and there was a good mix of excited small children and train enthusiasts.
The oldest British-style steam locomotive completely manufactured in Japan, from 1903.
Sort of what my train to the shrine was like this morning, except without being packed full of people.
Though most were closed off for preservation reasons, a few of the cars were opened up to allow visitors to walk through.
The first DC electric train manufactured in Japan in 1928.
“In Japan there is an ancient custom of removing footwear before entering into a house. When the railroads first opened business, it seems that people who were not used to this new vehicle yet would unfortunately leave their footwear on the platform when boarding the train.”
The first steam locomotive imported from Britain, back in 1881.
A 1960 diesel.
“Nostalgia Shop” - what a Showa-era candy stand looked like.
A small vehicle from the Showa era.
A DC electric locomotive from 1968.
They had tunnels under a couple of the engines so you could see them from below; this is under a DC electric locomotive from 1968.
From 1996, the first Shinkansen to hit (a then record) 300 km/hr (186 mph).
Wheels and bogies for various types of trains.
A variety of signals, which you can operate via pedal.
Two EMU trains; the one on the left is from 1968, and featured seats that could transform into beds. The one on the right is from 1971.
They had a room of Japan Rail promotion logos; this one was my favorite.
Train on-board bathrooms have come a long way. The museum had an exhibit for every aspect of the train - handles for standing passengers, seat designs, entrance gates, climate control systems, you name it.
What’s a train museum without Thomas? I definitely saw more than one little kid wearing a Thomas shirt.
More Thomas.
View of the main museum building from the second floor.
There is a wall of train-themed music.
Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion, or Transforming Bullet Train Robot Shinkalion, toys. There is an anime, of course.
The museum’s sky terrace offers a nice view of the trains heading towards and from Kyoto Station.
A steam locomotive built in 1914.
A steam locomotive from 1946.
Left to right: a 1946 steam locomotive, a 1927 steam locomotive with chrysanthemum and phoenix motifs, and a 1928 steam locomotive.
This little steam locomotive was imported into Japan from the United States in 1880.
This roundhouse was initially built in 1914; it has special historical designation.
The Railway Museum was connected to a park which had a craft fair happening and which seemed to be getting ready for a large outdoor music festival over the next couple of days. I meandered through, since that was also the way back to Kyoto Station and I didn’t feel like packing myself like a sardine into the train for a single stop. Halfway along the park I found myself at the Kyoto Aquarium snd decided to visit. It’s a small aquarium, but it was slightly cheaper than the St. Louis one and I think a better deal, particularly if you like jellyfish, eels, or salamanders.
Walking back from the Railway Museum, I chanced upon the Kyoto Aquarium, saw the giant salamander here, and thought, why not? These giant salamanders apparently live in the river I crossed yesterday.
They have little tanks showing the life cycle of the Japanese Giant Salamander, before it becomes giant. It doesn’t stay axolotl-like for very long at all.
They really like just piling up on one another. Humans for size comparison. There are apparently two species of Chinese salamander that are bigger.
“Compare your height to the biggest Giant Salamander in the aquarium!” The person who was nice enough to take my photo laughed when she saw I was the same. In the past I’ve measured 160 cm; not sure if my shoes and hat make up the extra one. In short, though, I am basically a giant salamander.
Sea lion rolling around.
The large tank was comprised of the fish, rays, and sharks that can be found in Kyoto’s bay along the Japan Sea.
South African penguin.
If you like jellyfish, this aquarium is great. They have lots of tanks showing how much moon jellyfish grow - from barely perceptible little spots in the tank representing the first few days. There are multiple other species of jellyfish on display as well.
These little garden eels are the coolest.
“Hi!”
Do they even know what their tails look like?
There were a few small tanks of fish.
This tank also had blue tang and clownfish, because all aquariums are required to have those thanks to Pixar.
Anemone and anemone-liking fish.
I was getting worried there wouldn’t be a single turtle.
There was no dolphin show today, but I did get to see this one receive a massage.
Walking back to my hostel from the aquarium. My feet are pretty dead.
One particularly cool thing about the aquarium is that all of the identify-that-creature signs are beautifully painted by students of the local art college.
Tomorrow I hop on a train early in the morning and head for Matsumoto and the Japanese Alps.