Kyoto

Let's be perfectly transparent about things here. Dinner at the Ashiya steak house in Kyoto was the absolute most expensive dinner I have ever had. The restaurant was recommended to us by an American woman I had met in Tokyo, who had been recommended the restaurant by Peter MacIntosh, a somewhat famous ex-pat known for his expertise in all things geisha. She had mentioned to me that it was a bit of a splurge and well, yes, I have to agree. At 36900 yen (almost $400) it definitely emptied the pocketbook but I do believe it was money well spent.

The reason, in part, for the high priced dining is the Kobe beef in which the restaurant specializes. A regional delicacy, it seems like a worthwhile venture to experience the pinnacle of steak dining. The beef is cooked Teppanyaki style (hot plate, centre kitchen) which all the guests were centred around. On the night we visited there were 7 of us in total (5 Americans plus ourselves). Aside from the food, which was very good (though I dare say was not the best meal of my life) the atmosphere is worth mentioning without a doubt.

Upon arrival, we were ushered upstairs to the gallery so that the owner could impress us with all the famous people who have dined at Ashiya. The list was long and varied and in some cases, amusingly antiquated (hey, if it's good enough for Jan Michael Vincent, it's good enough for us). Bill Clinton featured prominently on her wall of honour and it appears he has dined here a few times.

Shortly before dinner we had a fabulous surprise: a maiko (apprentice geisha) visited with us and danced for about an hour. As I understand it from reading other people's experiences this is not necessarily an every-night occurrence so you shouldn't count on meeting a geisha as part of your meal; however we were fortunate enough to have this experience and it definitely helped justify the cost! My husband ended up seated directly next to her and so had a chance to chat the most. It was fascinating to hear about the life of this 17 year old woman (e.g.; she's not sooo traditional in that she likes to sleep in pyjamas instead of yukata :). What a lucky and cool experience.

The woman who initially recommended Ashiya did not have the luck to meet a maiko on her outing but she showed me photos of herself at the restaurant including playing dress-up in kimono that the owner of the restaurant encouraged. Speaking of whom...the lady who was hosting us was quite the character. She had a crazy penchant for practical jokes which was very weird and funny. It was a crazy and fun experience for sure.

I have listed reservations as required, though I should state the I am not 100% certain if this is true or not. We chose to have our hotel make the reservations for us as it was definitely the easiest way of ensuring a place at the table.

We splurged on this private tour with Chris Rowthorn's company. It was 20 000 yen for the tour itself plus another 2580 yen for admission costs and transportation during the tour but this company is highly recommended and it should be - Mr. Rowthorn did author a popular guidebook for use in Japan. As an english speaking customer you have the opportunity to choose which of the two types of guides you would like: an english speaking Japanese guide or a fluently Japanese ex-pat living in Japan. Having already had numerous Japanese guides on previous legs of the trip, we chose the latter for this particular tour. Justin was an Australian who had lived in Kyoto for six years and we looked forward to hearing a Westerner's perspective on life in Japan. If you take this tour, or any other for that matter, take advantage of your situation and ask all questions you can think of. What things might cost, why we have observed certain habits or practices etc. It was extremely interesting. And of course the tour itself...

On our tour we began with the Tofukuji temple: a buddhist temple that is a particularly zen sect. As a result, the temple is adorned with rock gardens and many of the buildings were a bit more austere than others we'd seen in Japan. There was one rock garden/dry garden/zen garden with pillars shaping the big dippers and another with rock formations representing the mythical islands of asia. All the gardens were beautiful especially as beyond the zen gardens you see the surrounding area, which in our case were the beautiful colours of fall/early winter.

From tofukiji we took a back alley route to our next stop which allowed us to catch a glimpse of neighbourhood life. It's little things such as this that make the private tour with a local worthwhile. Tiny shrines, miniature foxes (symbolizing the god of wealth and prosperity) and scaled down torii gates dotted the landscape on our walk.

A visit to the shrine of Fushimi-Inari Taisha found us hiking a long and winding path of hundreds of orange and black torii gates. We learned that these are erected by businesses as a way of wishing for success and wealth. It was a really fascinating and cool sight. I later glimpsed this very path in the movie version of "Memoirs of a Geisha" - no surprise there - it's extremely picturesque! As is the overhead view of Kyoto city that we reached at the top of the path. Fushimi-Inari Taisha shrine was also pretty though reminiscent of many of the other shrines we had seen to date. In this case, getting there was really the highlight of the visit.

Our guide was capable, knowledgeable, friendly and fluent in Japanese (as promised). He escorted us back to our hotel after our tour and helped us choose a few ideas on how to spend our next couple of days, including a couple of restaurant recommendations. It's well worth the money to hire this company, particularly if you book them for the first or second day of your trip to Kyoto as your guide can help you by providing advice for the rest of your stay.