Downtown Kyoto
Because I came here with Jennifer in 2002, I sort of knew where we needed to go. At least, with a little help from the hotel concierge, I remembered the bus route. Once we got on the bus, I started looking for the Wonder Tower building which would mark the exact bus stop that Jennifer and I used.
We decided to head north on the main drag, Kawaramachi street.
Immediately upon exiting the bus, we see a pachinko parlor. We took a brief look at these odd vertical pinball machines, but in the end decided against attempting to play.
Looking back at the Tower building as we continue north.
Here we decide to cross the street and see what is on the other side.
Downtown Kyoto is really pleasant as the sidewalks are covered in case of rain or sun.
The side streets look particularly intriguing.
Wandering down one of the side streets, we see some interesting bars
A restaurant? We just didn’t know.
Now it’s getting just darn weird. Is this a storage shed? Is there janitor equipment behind this door or does it lead into some kind of dark rabbit hole? Do we take the red pill or the blue pill? We knocked but no answer, tried the knob but were denied.
Ah well, maybe it’s for the best that we move on.
We finally see what appears to be an innocuous bar with a doorman greeting customers. We walk up and he immediately gives us the “batsu”, an “X” formed with the forearms. I happen to know that this is Japanese for there is no f-ing way you are stepping foot into this establishment.
OK, we’re done here. Let’s check out the game rooms.
Within minutes, we’re checking out a nearby arcade
The crane games are interesting. On this one, there are prizes hanging by a ring on a peg. All you have to do is move the crane from one side to the other until it is lined up with one of the prize rings. If you’re on target, the crane will hook the ring and pull the prize off the peg. It looks easy.
It’s not.
I never fully understood this one. You register at this console and then move to a gaming pod which appears to be an immersive battle platform.
Of course Josh had to give the gaming pod a try.
A view through the tinted shell as Josh manipulates this tank.
Josh dominates at the shooting games.
Back on the streets, we walk south to the Kawaramachi/Shijo intersection.
As we try to figure out which bus to take back to our hotel, we see the familiar Tower building down the road.
One last photo of the intersection before we head back.
Click here to move on to Josh's tour of a Japanese vending machine:
http://phoenixanime.org/Japan-2008/Vending-Machine