The evening started with garlic, and lots of it. Frankly, I think that the amount of garlic that the chef cooked up at the start of the meal rivaled anything you could find at, say, The Stinking Rose in San Francisco. These ended up serving several roles during the meal: appetizer, beef accoutrement and post-meal rice accompaniment.

The meal was elegant in its simplicity and prepared in perfection.  As with most Japanese meals, there is a wide variety of flavor on offer during the meal, but no one element of the menu swamps the rest.  Instead, there is always a nice balance of color and intentional asymmetry during the meal, supporting a Japanese aesthetic view called “wabi-sabi.” (Not to be confused with “wasabi,” which is a strong spice used in Japanese cooking.)

Speaking of wasabi, I had never before considered using it with beef — it had always occupied a “use with sushi and sashimi” role for me before. However, at the chef’s suggestion, we tried topping the small, cooked cubes of beef that were delivered to our places with coarse salt, wasabi and, of course, some garlic. Doing so delivered a wonderful taste, and one I hope to repeat in the future.

The close of the main meal was signaled by the preparation and delivery of garlic rice.  Some of the garlic left over from the initial garlic serving was crushed into a white paste and warmed, while white slightly glutenous rice was cooked and seasoned.  At first the chef left the rice to slightly overcook (so I reckoned) on the bottom, but in fact he was allowing a small film of cooked rice to develop, which he tore off and set aside like a piece of paper.  Then the resulting rice was mixed together with the garlic and thoroughly cooked.  Once divvied up into individual bowls, the chef used the previously prepared, and deliciously edible, “rice paper” to decorate the serving before its delivery.

Once the meal was finished, we retired to an anteroom for a light dessert of mousse or fruit, accompanied by either coffee or one of the varieties of tea available.  Again, although simple in its preparation, the hand-made desserts were clearly a cut above.  My melon mousse was accompanied by a dollup of caramel ice cream of excellent quality. And the tea that followed made a nice end to a fantastic meal, surely one of the best I’ve ever had.

As a final note, I should point out that the restaurant, situated on the top floor of the Granvia Hotel and directly above the epic-sized Kyoto JR main train station, has a commanding view of its surroundings. In daylight it has a view of the mountains while at night the subdued interior lighting showcases the famous Kyoto tower that is just opposite the train station. A trip to this restaurant will set you back about ¥5,000~7,500 at lunch or about ¥10,000-12,500 for dinner, but it is surely worth every yen spent.

2nd article: Arriving in the Land of Astro Boy
1st article: Getting to Kyoto

Festival!

If there is one thing Japan is noted for, it’s the multitude of festivals, called “matsuri”, on display at any given time. These festivals are almost always local affairs, so if you’ve planned well, it’s possible to wander around Japan from town to town, hitting the best ones in a row.  There are winter festivals and summer festivals, spring ones and fall ones, too.  Some celebrate historical events, others seasonal events (such as harvest time), but the most famous festival in Japan celebrates recovering from a disaster.

Can you guess when and where that festival is? Of course, it is the Gion matsuri in Kyoto, lasting the full length of the month of July. In other words, it coincides precisely with the FIRST conference.

Gion matsuri

The Gion festival began about 1,100 years ago when floats were made and paraded in the town to appease the diety of plague and illnesses. At the time, there was an epidemic in the land, and it was believed at the time that the cause of the calamity was due to the diety Gozu. Since then, the festival has taken on the meaning of relief from the effects of fire, earthquake and other calamities.

Once I heard that the FIRST Conference was slated for Kyoto in July, I immediately connected the date with the Gion matsuri, which led me to submit what was eventually the winning theme for the 2009 FIRST Annual Conference, Incident Recovery.

Turning a Gion matsuri float takes teamwork

More about the festival

The Gion festival is centered around the Yasaka-jinja shrine, which is the birthplace of this matsuri. The biggest highlight of the month is the pageant of around 30 floats that parade around the main streets of Kyoto on July 17th each year. The floats are absolutely impressive, some of which weigh 10 tons and stand about 2 stories high. They are so famous that they’re sometimes called “mobile museums of art” for the exquisite treasures that adorn them.

In addition, throughout the month of July there are street fairs with games and Japanese festival food available. (I’d suggest the takoyaki [octopus balls], which are a regional speciality.) You can also see festival-goers wearing traditional summer kimono (called yukata) and geta (high wooden shoes).

What city hosts the headquarters of Nintendo and has the second largest train station in Japan? Why, that’d be Kyoto! I guess the more popular things for which people know Kyoto are the myriad of historically significant locations, including the 17 locations in and around Kyoto that have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, called the “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto”).

However, my personal favorite thing about Kyoto is that the Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum [official site] [information] is located not terribly far from Kyoto, and a year-long festival of his Tezuka’s well-known anamated character, Astro Boy, has been going on in Kyoto. (You can find Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion here and there around the train station.)

Some practical arrival information

The official host hotel for the FIRST conference is the Hotel Granvia Kyoto, which is situated right inside Kyoto’s (immense) main train station. When you arrive at the station, your first task is to find the right exit — there are lots of them!

Fortunately, the exit signage at the station is both easy to locate (it’s all colored yellow) and easy to read (see inset photo, right). You should head straight for the Central Gate. [Not the underground central exit, though you'd have to go out of your way to get there.] To exit the gate, you’ll need to insert the travel coupon in the gate, which will read it and determine if you’ve paid the correct distance-based fare.

Tickets tickets tickets. Now’s a good time to make a side note about tickets on Japanese train systems.  The ticket gates take paper tickets in the slot on the right and, as you walk through the gate to enter the station, you collect your ticket as it spits it back up at you on the far side. As you exit the station, after you’ve reached your destination, the exit gates will eat the ticket you feed it, assuming the fare is correct.

The good news is that it keeps the station clean from litter.  The bad news is that if you were expecting to use that ticket as part of your expense report once you return, you’ll simply be out of luck.

If you need a receipt for travel, don’t use the exit turnstiles. Instead, present your ticket to the ticket inspector overseeing the exit gates. They’ll manually cancel it and hand it back to you.

Once you’ve exited the ticket barriers, just look up and to your right and you’ll see the hotel.  There are escalators across the train station lobby (straight ahead and slightly to the right after you exit gate). Go up one floor and follow the signs to the hotel lobby. You’re there!

Location, location, location

“Where’s the nearest Starbucks?” -Derrick Scholl

The Kyoto main train station is situated right in the heart of the city, so it’s not only convenient to a lot of services, it is also easy to get to the many and various Kyoto attractions from there. You can even go quite easily to nearby cities like Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784 and is home to some spectacular sites of its own.

Of practical importance to any computer science related conference is, well, coffee. Japan has no shortage of coffee outlets, both of the chain variety and of the ‘one-off’ coffee shop, known as “kissaten” [kisːateɴ]. In the vicinity of the conference hotel are two Starbucks. One is located in the Porta mall, a large underground mall situated in the floors beneath the Kyoto train station. (If it rains, you can get your Starbucks fix without needing an umbrella.) The other one is located directly across the main street in front of the train station, toward the west.

Coffee & WiFi. My only problem with the Starbucks is that I couldn’t find any WiFi at either location. Bleh. However, there are a couple of nearby spots with WiFi for those who can’t do without a WiFi fix. (I do find it interesting how seemingly hard it is to find WiFi hotspots in Japan.)

There’s a Seattle’s Best Coffee inside the nearby APA Villa Hotel [map], sporting a completely free WiFi spot. I’ve had some connectivity issues from time to time there, but it’s pretty reliable, though not particularly large. In addition, there’s a McDonald’s just two doors down from the Starbucks just West of the station. It has mobilepoint WiFi that most users of AT&T WiFi can use. There’s lots of seating, with separated smoking and non-smoking sections, and the coffee’s pretty good, too.

[Mobilepoint usage note: You can use a variety of WiFi providers to access mobilepoint WiFi hotspots in Japan. You'll need to enter the WEP key of 696177616b and then follow the login instructions. There are several providers listed explicitly, such as Boingo and iPass. To use AT&T WiFi, use <att-wifi-username>@attwifi.com@weroam.com as your username. Yes, there are two @ symbols in the username.]

Money matters

I think that the conference FAQ covers money (foreign exchange) pretty well, but it’s worth mentioning a couple of details about ATMs and credit cards. Japan is a really cash-based society. Really. Many, many people do not possess a single credit card, and you should assume that every store and restaurant you enter does not accept plastic unless you can determine otherwise. Doing so will avoid an embarrassing “no money” moment.

I don’t know what the official crime stats are for Japan, but my experience is that the personal crime rate is exceptionally low. So much so that people routinely carry large sums of cash on them without worry. Of course, shops that are geared toward the tourist trade have made adjustments, but I merely suggest that you should not automatically assume that every shop will accept the form of payment you have. Get cash.

As the FAQ points out, there is a post office next to the train station. Time was that post office ATMs were the only ones that accepted foreign ATM cards, but now you can use 7-Eleven Bank’s and Citibank’s, and perhaps others.  The Kyoto Post Office’s ATM hours are almost 24 hours a day. Almost. It is closed on Sundays from 8PM until 0:05 the following morning. All ATMs are closed from 23:55 to 0:05 daily.

Coming in the next installment…a more sober look at Kyoto’s past and how understanding it helped me come up with the winning theme for this year’s FIRST conference.

Unless you already live in Japan, the first step in getting to Kyoto is, of course, making landing at a port of entry and then traveling onward to the final destination.  Kyoto’s situated in the center part of the largest island of Japan, about 100 km north of Osaka; Kyoto itself is not directly served by an international airport. I suspect that the majority of people coming to the conference will either fly into Kansai International Airport in Osaka or arrive at New Tokyo International Airport (Narita) and use train or domestic flight to continue on to Kyoto.

If arriving at Kansai International Airport

By far the simplest way to get to Kyoto is by train from Kansai International Airport (KIX), using the Limited Express “Haruka” train that runs directly between KIX and the central train station in Kyoto. Please note that the Kansai airport is served by two different train lines, one called the “Nankai” line and the other being “Japan Rail”. I strongly advise against using the Nankai Airport Express train, called “Rapit” because you will have to change to Japan Rail in the heart of Osaka in order to complete your journey.

The two train stations at Kansai Airport are color-coded, with the red-colored entry being that of Nankai and the blue being for Japan Rail. You want the blue entrance.  The ticketing office is on the left under the green signs (you can see the ticket office signs lit up in the left side background of the photo above).

Using Japan Rail, there are actually two different ways to get to Kyoto, and the one you choose is simply determined by your price sensitivity.  The fastest way is to use the Limited Express “Haruka” train, which makes only three stops before arriving at Kyoto, and involves no changes of train.  As of this writing (May 2009), the cost for a reserved seat on this train plus the underlying travel fare was JPY 3690 [approximately USD 37 or EUR 28], each way, and takes 1 hour 15 minutes. If you have more time or wish to spend less, you can use the Rapid Service “Kanku Kaisoku” service, which costs JPY 1830 [approximately USD 19 or EUR 14], each way, requires one train change, and takes just under 2 hours. Which you choose is up to you, but I’d recommend using the Haruka.

Trains in Japan are non-smoking, except that trains with reserved seating might have smoking cars or special, separated smoking areas. Because both the Haruka and the Shinkansen trains usually have smoking cars, it is wise to ask for either a smoking or non-smoking seat, depending upon your preference.

This seems as good a place as any to make a mention about luggage.  Most trains in Japan have no facilities for handling luggage aboard the train. The notable exceptions are the Haruka train and the Narita Express trains, both of which have large luggage racks just inside the door (see photo right). However, on local trains and the Shinkansen trains, there is no place to put luggage.  On the Shinkansen, you can often wedge large bags behind the rearmost seats in the car in which you’re seated. It is wise to consult with a member of the station staff before your train departs if you’re not sure whether it will fit.

You can also get to Kyoto from KIX by bus. In Japan, commercial bus service is called “limousine bus” service. It’s not a limo; it’s a big bus. The limousine bus service takes you directly to the Kyoto train station in just under 2 hours. I have not reconfirmed the bus fare, but it was JPY 2300 [approximately USD 23 or EUR 18] last winter and is unlikely to have changed much, if at all.

If arriving at New Tokyo International Airport (Narita)

No airport in Japan has more international connections than Narita airport, and because of this many people will want to fly to or through Tokyo instead. If you come into Tokyo, you can choose to continue either by train (easiest) or by domestic flight (not as easy, but doable).  We’ll take them in turn:

Train – Step 1: Get from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station

From Narita, your onward journey will have two parts: First, travel from Narita (which is situated well to the east of Tokyo) into Tokyo Station; then, travel from Tokyo Station on a different line to Kyoto.  You can make the first part of the journey (Narita to Tokyo Station) by Limited Express “Narita Express” (fastest, but most expensive); local train (Rapid Service “Airport Narita”); or by airport limousine bus.  The choices are detailed in the table below:

If you’re departing from Narita at the end of your journey, I strongly advise you to find out in advance which terminal (1 or 2) your flight departs from, because they are served by different stops on the train line. Last time I rode the Narita Express, there was no signage indicating which airlines were served by which terminal.

Train – Step 2: Get from Tokyo Station to Kyoto Station

Now that we’ve gotten you to Tokyo Station, you need to continue your journey to Kyoto. The good news is that you can sail from Tokyo to Kyoto on the Shinkansen “bullet” train. Tired of choices yet? You can choose from two kinds of Shinkansen trains.  The fastest are the “Nozomi” superexpress trains, and the travel time is about 2 hours 15 minutes to Kyoto. The less rapid (but still quite fast) Shinkansen train is the “Hikari”. It is an older generation bullet train that doesn’t have the same top speed, and it also makes more stops. The “Hikari” train takes about 2 hours 45 minutes from Tokyo station. The price difference between the two trains is negligible (about USD 5), so I’d stick with the Nozomi.

Domestic flight

You might prefer to take a domestic flight from Narita to continue your journey.  (If you haven’t booked your travel yet, I’d seriously consider just using the train.)  Thre are two ways to get to the Osaka area (a region called “Kansai”) by domestic flight.  The two destination airports are Kansai International Airport (KIX), which we discussed above, and Itami International Airport (ITM). There is a bus line from Itami airport to the Kyoto train station which costs about JPY 1,300 and runs hourly, so I understand.

To be continued…