Bucket List: Stay at Machiya Inns in Kyoto, Japan

When I was still living in Japan as a student, I visited Kyoto twice. The first time was as a part of school trip with my high school classmates. The second trip to Kyoto was with a friend of mine, and it was a frugal but fun trip. We stayed at a hostel for about $20 per night per person which is incredibly cheap in Kyoto, and we were the only Japanese guests there. Other guests were all foreigners from America, Canada, Italy, China, to name a few. Kyoto's history and beauty attracts backpackers from all over the world.

Until about five years ago, I did not know about Machiyas, traditional wooden townhouses in Kyoto, have been renovated and used as inns. These guest houses offer cheaper nightly rates than many hotels in the area. According to websites, these places seem to operate kind of like hostels. I am not familiar to hostels in other countries, but the hostels I have stayed in Japan all had dorm rooms (men and women are separate) and individual rooms.

 

Photos from Guest House Waraku-An

Kyoto has numerous traditional upscale ryokans and high-end hotels. Those types of places are gorgeous but often lack uniqueness. Machiya inns will be the focal point of my next trip to kyoto, whenever that is.

For a list of Machiya and other guest houses in Kyoto area, check out this website. Most tourism-related sites have English pages.

Three years Later: Living Inside the Evacuation Zone

Three years has passed since the horrific earthquake and tunami destroyed the coastal line of northern Japan. My parents who love the Tohoku area took me to many ports in devastated areas when I was a child. It was, and still is, painful to see the videos and photos from the familiar places. Japan being one of the most technologically and technically advanced countries, the recovery process seems disappointingly slow especially in more rural areas. 

Following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, many people were forced to leave their hometowns. Relocation was not easy for many former residents from Fukushima as people in other areas refused to take them in out of the fear of radiation exposure. Despite discouraging resistance and discrimination, people of Fukushima moved to other prefectures. Naoto Matsumura was not one of them. He chose to live within the 20 kilometer evacuation zone taking care of domestic animals other people had to leave behind.

(Photo from Naoto Matsushima's blog)

Watch the following video to see life inside the evacuation zone. The top video is the most recent one. Watch videos on YouTube site to use "cc" option.

March 2014

March 2013