Postcard from Kyoto, Japan

by Eve Corbett, Greenheart Travel high school student in Japan

Throughout my homestay in Japan I have remained mostly in Okayama prefecture. Besides my short orientation in Tokyo at the beginning of my stay and my previous trip to Universal Studios which was located in Osaka, I have not traveled outside of Okayama. Both my time in Tokyo and Osaka was rather short and set with a rigid schedule for the day(s).

While in Osaka, I didn’t even have the chance to leave the amusement park, so I didn’t get to experience the rest of the prefecture. But finally, on April sixth, I had the opportunity to leave Okayama and explore a different prefecture for the day. Well known outside of Japan for its beautiful spring cherry blossoms, Kyoto was the ideal place to spend an April day.

At first the plan was that I would go to Kyoto with my host sister and that we would join a bus tour group. But we soon remembered that my exchange counselor lived in Kyoto, and she was kind enough to offer to be our personal guide for the day. My host sister and I took the 8:16 bullet train to Kyoto, arriving there just one hour later. We met with my counselor and three of her other students before setting out.

Read more about Eve’s time exploring Kyoto on her recent article!