Sep 5, 2025
A typhoon was supposed to sweep through Kyoto today, bringing torrential rain and powerful winds. Thankfully, it veered north at the last minute, leaving us with nothing more than on and off showers throughout the morning.
Evan and I ventured out for breakfast which was a real treat considering we've mostly been surviving on bananas and granola bars from 7-Eleven in our hotel room. (Honestly, though, Japanese 7-Elevens deserve all the hype.)
Back at the hotel, we tackled laundry. The washing machine worked great, but finding enough space to hang-dry an entire week's worth of clothes for two people inside our hotel room? That was a challenge.
Before heading out, we laid everything we'd need for our overnight on the bed. More to come on that.
Our first stop was a shop I'd been looking forward to visiting for months. Before coming to Japan, I'd learned about furoshiki—beautiful square cloths that can be used over and over again as gift wrap, handbags, lunch carriers, or to bundle pretty much anything. The concept immediately appealed to the environmentally conscious side of me. Instead of disposable wrapping paper or shopping bags, one cloth serves countless purposes. Naturally, I had to bring a few home.
The shop had an entire wall covered in furoshiki, each one more beautiful than the last. Choosing just a few was almost impossible.
That's when we learned our first lesson of the day: always carry your passport while shopping in Japan. Tourists can receive tax-free purchases at many stores...if they have their passport with them. Oops.
Next came one of Evan's most anticipated stops: a knife shop featuring a single master bladesmith. His knives are sold exclusively in that store, and one of them had taken over a year to complete. The shopkeeper immediately recognized that Evan had done his homework. The questions he asked weren't tourist questions. Watching the two of them geek out over steel was more fun than I had anticipated.
There was one knife in particular that Evan absolutely fell in love with.
Whether it was the knife...well, only time will tell.
We continued strolling through the shopping streets, weaving in and out of shops along seemingly endless covered arcades that stretched block after block. I could have spent hours browsing, but eventually we had to head back toward the hotel.
On the way, we made one essential stop: the famous 10-yen coin cake.
Imagine waffle batter pressed into the shape of a Japanese 10-yen coin and stuffed with molten mozzarella cheese.
It was every bit as good as it sounds.
Back at the hotel, we entered our room to find the cleaning crew- surprise! Sorry about all the laundry hanging every which way. We quickly grabbed our things from the bed and headed out.
Before leaving Kyoto, we made one final stop at SIGHTS, our favorite coworking café, to see our favorite Japanese person ever—Marie.
She greeted us with the biggest hugs, wanted to hear everything we'd done since we last saw her, and was genuinely excited that we'd taken so many of her recommendations. Before we left, she even asked if she could take a picture with us.
We sure were going to miss her. And all of her recommendations.
While there Evan redeemed himself in the beer department. Earlier in the week he'd ordered a tea stout that...let's just say...wasn't his favorite. Today the café had tapped a new keg, an IPA, and he was much happier to be drinking it.
Then it was time for our next adventure.
An Unexpected Night in Otsu
When we first heard a typhoon might trap us indoors for a day, we made a last-minute decision that turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip.
Instead of sitting in our hotel room listening to the rain, we booked a night at a ryokan in nearby Otsu, complete with our own private onsen on the balcony and access to the hotel's larger public hot springs.
Three trains later, and after traveling through mountain tunnels that had our ears popping every few minutes, we arrived in Otsu.
Our hotel instructions said to use the station payphone to call for the complimentary shuttle.
Simple enough.
Except...we couldn't figure out how to use the payphone.
So Evan used his own phone instead.
(We'll worry about that international phone bill later.)
Less than five minutes later, our shuttle arrived.
From the moment we pulled up, the hotel felt like something out of a dream.
Inside our room were three mysterious doors.
Naturally, we had to investigate.
Door number one opened into the bedroom, complete with tatami mat flooring, couch seating, two plush beds, two TVs and a balcony overlooking our own private open-air onsen. Fresh mineral water continuously flowed into the bath, creating the most peaceful soundtrack imaginable.
Door number two revealed a bathroom the size of our hotel room in Kyoto. 😆
There were dual sinks with stools for getting ready, and beyond that an incredible indoor-outdoor bathing area with multiple shower heads. There were even different temperature adjustments for each head. SCORE!
Door number three?
The toilet.
As soon as we opened the door, the lid lifted automatically and the toilet politely rinsed itself in preparation.
Japan...never change.
Unfortunately, I could not, for the life of me, figure out the bidet settings. Whoever had used it before me must have been significantly taller because the water kept spraying my back instead of where it was intended to go.
Western toilet paper it was.
Hanging neatly in the closet were beautiful robes which we later learned you're supposed to wear throughout the hotel, including to dinner and the public onsens. How did we learn this you may ask? We made the fatal mistake of going to dinner in our regular clothing, only to see that EVERYONE at the restaurant was wearing their room robes. Oops. You mean everyone didn't just put these outfits on for a private photoshoot in their room and then change back into their street attire to go to out and about?
While we may not have looked the part we definitely were able to act the part. HA. Just kidding. Dinner that evening was a traditional kaiseki, Japan's multi-course seasonal dining experience. Dish after dish arrived, many requiring us to cook ourselves at the table. We spent a good portion of dinner asking our server, "Are we doing this right?" 0/2.
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