Photos booths in Japan

When you walk around shopping areas in Kyoto, you will see a lot of funny looking photos booths. In the states photos booths are really popular, but very different. In your home country, they may be the same as the states: just a booth with a small camera, and generally pretty dingy. Sometimes at events in the states (weddings, and such) there may be some props provided to hold or wear in your photo. Your photos may come out something like this:

In Japan, not surprisingly the photo booths do so much more than just take a photo. This weekend we had a miserable typhoon hit Kyoto, and we were stuck mainly indoors. The bowling alley we like to go to (next door to the Hub) has a couple photo booths. After minimal amounts of begging, Kev agreed to try a booth with me. We really didn't know what to expect as the outsides look like makeup advertisements. With images of too-much-makeup-wearing, cute girls posing for photos. The inside of the booth looks like a photographer's worse nightmare with a wall of gigantic lights, and a small video/touch screen.

Even if you don't speak any Japanese, you can fumble your way through the directions. When you start seeing numbers flash you know a photo is about to be taken. The screen will give you suggested poses as you take photos, let you pick a color theme, and give you a few other options. Almost every step is timed, so be prepared to think fast. When it asks for your name(s) in Katana, just let the time run out if you don't know Katana and it will move on.

After you take your photos, it will tell you to move out and to another screen. This is where the real magic happens. The booth has a second cubby where you can add all kinds of little graphics, words, and stamps to your photos. Each person gets their own screen, so you can tag team the photos. After adding to your photos, you can go to the print screen on the outside of the box, opt to get digital copies (which you may have to pay for...) and get the printed copies of your photos. Here are the shots from our recent photo booth experience:

Just in case it wasn't obvious, Kev has full length eyebrows, does not wear pink lipstick, and no his eyes are not naturally that large. Mine are naturally pretty big, but definitely not shaped like that. 

 You would never know these gems came out of a machine that looked like this: 

Hornet Sighting, Nightmares Do Come True

The mythical Japanese Hornet has been sighted. On our recent weekend adventure to Kurama and Kibune, the large beast was spotted on the lower portion of the trail. It looked tenacious and fierce, proud of its notorious reputation. I'm almost certain that it smelled the fear emanating out of my body (or maybe that was just the sweat from the 90+ degree heat). Either way, he gave us a dance that clearly said "stay away" and we obliged. One thing we've learned, don't mess with the Juju in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. This guy was left well enough alone.

Update: We've come across these hornets on other hikes. They appear to live in the woodland hills around Kyoto.  No stings yet, but we'll post on the damage if it occurs.

How to get the best leg workout of your life....

We decided it was finally time to get out to the mountains surrounding Kyoto. Going off the little we could find on the internet, we decided to try out the mountain towns of Kurama and Kibune, and the trail that connects the two. We had read on one site that the hike is a bit intense, but overall not that bad. 

To get to Kurama and Kibune by public transportation, it requires a 30 minute trip by train. 

How to get to Kurama and Kibune: 
Start off at the Demachiyanagi Station, which is in the north part of Kyoto, just past the river split. The above ground trains leave, at least this time of year, every 15-30 minutes and your ICOCA card won't work, so either plan to use the ticket vending machines (no English option) or they have a Japanese staffed booth, who speak minimal amounts of English. They did thankfully, know words like "round trip," "2 tickets," and "Kurama," so we were able to get tickets. In total, round trip tickets cost about $16.00 for two people.

There are a couple food vendors here, selling small pastries, and dango (rice balls with caramelized soy sauce -sounds disgusting, but they are epic). Depending on where you get off the train, and what you are willing to pay for food, you can get food at the start of the hike (either Kibune side or Kurama side), but we highly recommend bringing food and extra water - about 1 L per person. We stupidly did not, and Meg paid for it by coming seconds from fainting on the train ride back (we had to get off the train early because of it -talk about embarrassing). 

Anyways, hop on the train and enjoy the ride. It is absolutely gorgeous as you travel through the country side and up into the mountains. 

Once you arrive in the mountains, you can either get off at Kibune or go to the train's end at Kurama. We suggest going from Kurama to Kibune if you are starting early-ish in the day. The Kibune side is a bit of a let down for the first mile or so, as the only "trail" is the narrow, winding road that connects Kibune to Kyoto.  However, Kibune has killer food options for lunch or dinner- riverside restaurants where you actually dine ON the river.  These tend to be pricey - about $25-$120 per person for a fixed menu of either soba or soba + fish + delicacies (unsure of how exotic these might be).  

We made another new friend in Kyoto at the Kurama train station. We aren't sure exactly when he latched on the Meg's back, but next thing we know there he was. People at 
the station got an absolute kick out of him. 

There are several maps along the way that guide you to the entrance of the hike, but really unless you go totally rouge, you can't miss it. The town seems to only exist because of tourists going to the hike, as all the shops are either small food stores or gift shops. 

The mountains are said to be guarded by Tengu (long-nosed spirits)

Here are a series of photos from the hike. Don't let them fool you, this hike is straight up, for the first 3/4 - 1 mile, and then becomes a series of up-hill switch backs. It's mostly stairs and then the Kibune side becomes just dirt and tree root path, so you really have to watch your step. It's beyond worth it, even if you too are "huge in Japan" (or at least by Japanese standards). The hike is manageable, it just takes a lot of your energy.  

Thousands of cranes left at the trail head

Shoes left at the trail head

Small ponds littered the first part of the trail. Each had some sort of man-made waterfall, and a series of other sculptures. 

There are all kinds of goodies you can buy along the Kurama to mountain top trail. These little Tengu head bells were about 400 yen ($4.00USD). 

Japan is all about the details. The above is a close up picture of a bolt on one of the many gates on the hike. 

Beautiful metal dragon heads that hold the bell up. They appeared to be very very old, as they were completely rusted. 

The trail from the top of the mountain to Kibune is all like the photo above. In some ways it can be really helpful, as you have a million tiny stairs, but if they are at all damp (which is likely most of the year) they can be a bit deadly. 

River dining in Kibune. (sorry the pictures kind of suck, you are not actually supposed to take pictures...)

 A woodland crab that we found on the trail down from Kibune to the train station.