Once upon a time, there were two frogs; both residing in Tokyo and Osaka respectively.
They both longed to see the world outside of their own location and made plans to travel to the other side of the country.
They do not know nor heard of each other, but as they were making their journey towards the other side, they came to a point in the middle where they had a chance encounter.
The two frogs, were stopping by to take a rest and met each other, and started a conversation.
They found out from each other their place of origins and talked about their intended destination; which, coincidentally was their respective places of origins as well.
As they were chatting away, an idea came to their minds.
Since they were both heading in the direction the other came from, they could both just stand and perch themselves against each other for support to take a look at the place where they came from.
The two frogs then proceeded to stand up and lean against each other for support as they hold onto each other's shoulders while standing on tiptoes to look in the opposite direction.
However, they have forgotten that their eyes are located at the back of their heads thus when they are standing up, the view in their direction is in the backward direction; which is still where they came from.
Both frogs were surprised to see the outlook of their (perceived) headed direction which is so similar to their hometowns as they exclaimed loudly,
Frog from Tokyo: Why, Osaka is just like Tokyo! Why should I waste my time taking a long journey to see a place that is not any different from Tokyo?
Frog from Osaka: Exactly, I find it a waste of time too, if Tokyo is just exactly like Osaka, I wouldn't want to continue anymore. I think I would rather go back to Osaka.

They both agreed on their sentiments and bidding their farewells while wishing each other well, they both turned back to return to their point of origin.

Japan is a beautiful country, with many amazing places to see and things to do within its land.
The list of attractions spread across the country; found in the many prefectures, regions, provinces and territories, making up the admirable eye candies for the locals and the opportunities for tourism as their reputation falls on international ears.

There are just so many spots scattered around Japan and with the number of areas, prefectures dotting the nation, the list is almost endless.
(The known attractions are already aplenty, think of the unknown ones, there is no definite number for even attractions are defined by perception).

It is not possible to visit every single place in one trip, especially when you are talking about a country like Japan where there is just so much to see and do, unless you have lots of time on hand (and I mean almost unlimited) or you are about to move to the country.
Permanently.

It is literally quite impossible to do so (I say quite) and even local Japanese who grew up and are based there themselves may not have even seen everything their own country has to offer.
Sometimes many would travel out to see the world, just like the frogs, for the grass is always perceived greener on the other side.

With the limited time we have on hand, as a traveler; just like most are, there are only so much we could do and places we could visit during our trip.

We wanted to focus and spend a little more time on a region; such as Tokyo, and then pick another region to make a quick visit. 
We didn't want to rush and visit too many places at a time; for while that would land us in a lot of places but that would take the joy out of the experience as we would be breezing through everywhere.
That would totally dismiss the true meaning of traveling as we will definitely miss the taste of the local culture and to savor moments on the trip.

We did not want that.

After spending a couple of days in Tokyo, we wanted to pick another place to visit and since we had the Japan Rail Pass, it just makes it so convenient to travel and plan for another location; just one more though for all the reasons above.

It may not be easy picking that one place, but for me, if I had more to choose besides Tokyo, I knew the other place in my mind.

A place which I had always wanted to visit, and one that just resonates with the love I have for history, traditions and culture; reflecting the true or even ancient beauty of the country.




There is no better place than Kyoto; the ancient capital of Japan.

Once the capital of Japan, Kyoto is just that perfect mirror to show the country in the olden times and complete the impression on the evolution Japan has gone through as depicted in the modern day capital, Tokyo, which we had visited in the first part of the trip.

Kyoto held its reputation as the ancient capital where the Imperial family resided and named the capital city for more than a thousand years, hence earning its other name as the "Thousand-year Capital" until this very day.



It is in fact, still the capital of the Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region and the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolis; located in the center of Honshu region and home to more than 1.5 million population.

Kyoto was formerly known as Kyo (京), or Miyako(都) or Kyo no Miyako (京の都) in Japanese until the 11th century when it was renamed after the Chinese word, jingdu (京都) which means capital city, to Kyoto.

Being a capital of the past and also home to the Imperial family, Kyoto preserved most of the ancient traditions and even the aura of the royalty, evident in the cultural values and residues seen in the overall city.

It is these traces of its glorious past which left behind a trail of beautiful and ancient landmarks in the multitude of temples and shrines forming the main attractions within the city and establishing the historic identity of Kyoto.



There are just so much to see and do in Kyoto, that I can tell you that there it is also not possible to squeeze in everything in just a few days, and I did not do that either.
Again, I chose a few highlighted attractions which caught my interest, for this trip which I will be sharing in the upcoming posts.

I had always known I would definitely love Kyoto, and visiting Kyoto was just an amazing experience which clearly stood up to my expectations and the way I have envisioned the place.

A quick snapshot of my trip to Kyoto in the following photo diary, with more of the details and stories to come in the upcoming posts as I focus on the selected points of interest.

Enjoy and stay tune!~


























































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