I can hardly wait for the report...the old Edo drawings sound very cool.

I'm also looking forward to your report, Florence.

I'm pretty sure your recommendation of the Annex Katsutaro was the one I read before I stayed there in March '04. :)

Merci, merci Florence! That was most kind of you!

I have printed your answer and will spend the weekend doing some extra research. Hope to have a final "first version" by Monday to share with you.

Thank you all again!:-)

Hello all,

We need extra help for the Kyoto part.

We are having a hard time finding a ryokan available. I can't believe it, but I have contacted 17 of them and 12 are fully booked. 5 didn't answer.

I am not willing to give up Kyoto, which is my husband's dream coming true so I am looking for a "western" hotel now. I found reasonable deals on Asiarooms.com for the Court Hotel, Rhino Hotel, Apa Kyoto Gion and Sunroute. Any comments on them? Also, is Asiarooms a reliable site or should I try a direct booking with the hotel?

A friend suggested the Toyoko Inn but their site does not accept bookings for May yet. I also sent an email to the Station Hotel Kyoto West (I think it was Florence who recommended it on another thread) and am waiting an answer.

Any advice/suggestion will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

We stayed at the Kyoto Royal Hotel (http://www.ishinhotels.com/kyoto-royal/en/), a Western style hotel, and it was fine. Good location.

You MUST go to Kyoto, ryokan or no ryokan.

Thanks jaydreb5 I will check it.

We definitely agree with you, Kyoto is a MUST for us.

I stayed in this hotel - a business hotel - when I was in Kyoto in '06. Then it was called the Sun Hotel. It is on Kawaramachi Street - well located IMO and convenient to many buses and the subway also.

I would email them directly rather than fool with their online reservation as May dates don't seem to come up.

[email protected] - I found the email address on the Japanese part of their website.

Hope this helps!

Thank you very much Mara!

I'm not sure what your budget is - for a single I paid under US$70 a night then. It is not fancy but was perfectly adequate for me. I'll look into my files later and see what else I come up with....

What about this site?
http://www.itcj.jp/

They list numerous ryokan and hotels.
They are allied with the tourist bureau I think.....maybe you can just send them your dates and ask what's available.....

Monteverano:

Do not under any circumstances give up on Kyoto, arguably, Japan's highlight. I revisited for the first time in 60 years (last spring), having been there as a young G.I. when there were literally NO tourists about..only a bunch of us kids from the USA. I was stationed in Beppu, about 800 miles south, on Kyushu.

A quasi-ryokan in Kyoto which we loved last year...The Three Sisters Annex..excellent in every criteria. Perfectly located for your self-guided walk through Eastern Kyoto, a block from the Heian Shrine (beautiful) and the entrance to the famed Philosopher's Walk is fifteen minutes away....whatever else you
do, take this walk (see pix).

(See pix of the ryokan...for a double we paid $140...)

Also, I heartily second Mara's recommendation of the Miho Museum for a half-day trip. It is magnificent...and the train/bus ride is quite easy to do (about one hour). (see pix)

Also, part of a day with Johnny Hillwalker is a kick, and fascinating. He is an unforgettable local character. (I see Mara also suggests this..the woman has taste!)

In Tokyo, the visit to the Hamarikyu Gardens, and then to the ferry dock within, to Asakusa, (about 40 minutes)is an excellent experience...Asakusa is lovely to walk through.

Whatever you choose....you will thoroughly enjoy Japan!

Stu T.

http://tinyurl.com/36dkgh

http://tinyurl.com/24r3ng

Monteverano:

Re; The Three Sisters Annex:

This is a review: (from "Japan is Cool")
Three Sisters Inn Annex
An utterly unpretentious and lovable place, run by Kay, the eldest of the three Yamada sisters. It has a beautiful garden and futons that are a wee bit softer than usual—a boon for Western backs. FROM $40 PER PERSON, CHILDREN UNDER SEVEN $25. 89 IRIE-CHO, OKAZAKI, SAKYO-KU; 81-75/761-6333(ph), 81-75/761-6335 (fx)

They can only be reached by phone or fax, and they reply immediately.
Kay's pic is in the ones I sent you.

Stu T.

(it's in a very uncongested part of town, bus stop around the corner can get you anywhere...Kay has "passes" for sale). Between walking and bussing and an occasional taxi, we got everywhere we wanted to)...by the way there are four restaurants, including a tiny sushi spot, across the street and very good and exceptionally reasonable. The Handicraft building is a block away...we didn't think it was so great..but worth a visit for gifts.

Stu, your pics are GREAT! Thanks for the link.

Hello all,

I sent an email to the Unizo Hotel but got no reply so far.

I will send a fax to the 3 Sisters and will contact the www.itcj.jp site Mara gave me.

Thanks for the photo links Stu. We loved them!

The only hotel who answered us so far and has rooms available is the Aranvert - http://www.aranvert.co.jp/english.html

and I thought of making a booking just to be on the safe side but I have been unable to find reviews about them. Does anybody know it?

Thank you everybody for your help and support! I promise to give you back the best report with photos ever! :-)

monteverano - There are quite a few reviews on tripadvisor.com for the Aranvert - they seem good. It's centrally located as well.

Thanks for the compliment, Stu T./tower :) I find most of my info right here on fodors. ;-)

Fodorites:

I thought I'd better mention, that on my above Miho pics, the first two were taken in Shanghai...and the lady in the second pic of our dinner at Ruijin Guest House is none other than, TA DA! .......

EKSCRUNCHY !!

We had arranged to meet in Shanghai last spring as we were all ending our China visit. From there Roz and I flew to Japan. What a delight meeting up with EK...sort of a mini CTG.

Stu T.

emd and Monteverano...thank you for the kind words about the pics. We were so fortunate to catch the cherry blossom season as it was ending!

stu T.

Monteverano:

We found a very good sushi spot within the Tsukiji Market...it was so reasonable for expnsive Japan we couldn't believe it..but better than excellent!!

"Tsukiji Ichiban Sushi" (#1 Sushi)

Mara - Thank you for the link on TripAdvisor

Stu - Thanks for the tip on the sushi place - I have already put it on my "food" folder! :-)

Sounds like a great trip. I spent 2007 living and working in Japan. Although I was in the Hiroshima-prefecture I took many trips to Kyoto and Tokyo. I can recommend Saiho-ji (Moss Temple) a quiet temple in Kyoto. It will take a little pre-planning as they only let a certain number of people in per day which adds the the magic. Send a postcard with the following information: It's worth it.

name, address in Japan, occupation, age (you must be 18), number of people in your group and the date you wish to visit, along with alternate dates. Put all of this information in an envelope with a self addressed envelope (stamped or with International Reply Coupons for the return postage for the reply) and mail it to: Saiho-ji Temple, 56 Kamigaya-cho, Matsuo, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto. Make sure you contact them at least a few weeks ahead of time.

Kamakua is a must day trip from Tokyo. While there you'll notice a lot of statues that a dressed in bibs and hats known as Jizo. I was completely captivated by these small stones. You can check out a 2 minute video I made about these on my website www.studioreddot.com/podcasts. Many of the photos are from Kamakura.

Hope you enjoy your trip. Japan is wonderful!

Hello all,

Here is the state of play on the Kyoto hotel: we made an online booking at the Kyoto Garden Hotel website [https://www.kyoto-gardenhotel.co.jp/e/hotel_info.html]

We got an answer from them confirming our request, including a reservation code, but since they didn't ask for our credit card data we are a bit confused.

Is this normal procedure in Japan? Should we call/fax/send another email and double check if everything is OK?

Thanks in advance for any advice.