Arashiyama

Cycling along the Kidzu promenade 3
(Arashiyama)
Shin FUJITA


It is a nice place to have lunch. Picture No.5 shows the author eating a box lunch on a bench of the bank. You still have another 20 km to go after the lunch as far as Arashiyama, so please be sure to get energized enough !	No.5: lunch on Sewari-Dutsumi
Leaving "Sewari-Dutsumi" bank, you will now follow the promenade along Katsura river after crossing the "Gokou-bashi" bridge over Uji-river. You are heading north henceforth toward the downtown Kyoto. For the first couple of kilometers along the river you will see thick reed bush on the river sides. It prompts one to imagine the savage nature along the river in ancient days. The scene preserves the crudeness of untouched rivers. About 7 ~ 8 km upstrem the Katsura river you will arrive at the junction point where Kamo river flows into Katsura river. Of course Kamo river is the representative river of Kyoto landscape which flows through the downtown Kyoto. You now know that the Kamo river is a ramification of Katsura river and merges into it in the south. Then cross Kamo river and join Katsura river again. After a few minutes of biking you will come under the Meishin highway. You recognize that by now you are close enough to metropolitan area of Kyoto city. It can also be confirmed by the increased number of passers by on the promenade. For the most part of the Kidzu promenade a few people you meet on route are the cyclists on sport type bikes. They are on the road to enjoy bicycling, not for going shopping or commuting to schools. Things change after you have passed the Meishin highway. One begins to come across "ordinary citizens" who use the promenade as a route of everyday life. Then you come across the Shinkansen line coming out of Kyoto station which is a few kilometers away. You are now over 20 km from the starting point in Kyotanabe city and there is left less than 10 km to the goal, Arashiyama. Are you a bit tired ? Let's cheer ourselves up ! Goal is close. "Katsura-rikyu" imperial villa appears on the far side of the river when you have biked some distance from the crossing with Shinkansen line. Since you need to have a reservation to visit the villa, let's skip the sightseeing today and continue our trip. Next is the Nishi-kyogoku athletic park on the right of the promenade. The park has several sport stadiums including one for the professional soccer team, "Kyoto Purple Sanga". A swimming pool facility will soon be opened in July 2002 which has a 50 m indoor pool.(I am looking forward to its completion) You have to be careful biking on the promenade from here to Arashiyama because a lot of joggers are doing exercises on the road. They run from the athletic park to the end of the promenade at Arashiyama and return from there. Some of them are semi-professionals and are running very fast. Just before reaching Arashiyama there is a shrine called "Matsuo-Taisha". It is the headquarters shrine of the God of Japanese Sake. In the properties of the shrine you can look at a lot of Sake barrels donated by Sake manufacturers from all over Japan. It also has a famous Japanese garden but the author has never been inside and dose not know how good it is. One needs to pay the entrance fee to see the garden.
You have finally arrived at Arashiyama, a long 30 km trip on a bike from Kyotanabe. At the end of the promenade you have come to "Togetsu-kyo" bridge. Please look at the picuture No.6. The author is crouching on the bank of Katsura river with the bridge in the back. There are many tourists around on a fine autumn evening in Arashiyama.	No.6: "Togetsu-kyo" bridge in Arashiyama

It is a nice place to have lunch. Picture No.5 shows the author eating a box lunch on a bench of the bank. You still have another 20 km to go after the lunch as far as Arashiyama, so please be sure to get energized enough !

No.5: lunch on Sewari-Dutsumi

Leaving "Sewari-Dutsumi" bank, you will now follow the promenade along Katsura river after crossing the "Gokou-bashi" bridge over Uji-river. You are heading north henceforth toward the downtown Kyoto. For the first couple of kilometers along the river you will see thick reed bush on the river sides. It prompts one to imagine the savage nature along the river in ancient days. The scene preserves the crudeness of untouched rivers.

About 7 ~ 8 km upstrem the Katsura river you will arrive at the junction point where Kamo river flows into Katsura river. Of course Kamo river is the representative river of Kyoto landscape which flows through the downtown Kyoto. You now know that the Kamo river is a ramification of Katsura river and merges into it in the south.
Then cross Kamo river and join Katsura river again. After a few minutes of biking you will come under the Meishin highway. You recognize that by now you are close enough to metropolitan area of Kyoto city. It can also be confirmed by the increased number of passers by on the promenade. For the most part of the Kidzu promenade a few people you meet on route are the cyclists on sport type bikes. They are on the road to enjoy bicycling, not for going shopping or commuting to schools. Things change after you have passed the Meishin highway. One begins to come across "ordinary citizens" who use the promenade as a route of everyday life.

Then you come across the Shinkansen line coming out of Kyoto station which is a few kilometers away. You are now over 20 km from the starting point in Kyotanabe city and there is left less than 10 km to the goal, Arashiyama. Are you a bit tired ? Let's cheer ourselves up ! Goal is close.

"Katsura-rikyu" imperial villa appears on the far side of the river when you have biked some distance from the crossing with Shinkansen line. Since you need to have a reservation to visit the villa, let's skip the sightseeing today and continue our trip. Next is the Nishi-kyogoku athletic park on the right of the promenade. The park has several sport stadiums including one for the professional soccer team, "Kyoto Purple Sanga". A swimming pool facility will soon be opened in July 2002 which has a 50 m indoor pool.(I am looking forward to its completion) You have to be careful biking on the promenade from here to Arashiyama because a lot of joggers are doing exercises on the road. They run from the athletic park to the end of the promenade at Arashiyama and return from there. Some of them are semi-professionals and are running very fast.

Just before reaching Arashiyama there is a shrine called "Matsuo-Taisha". It is the headquarters shrine of the God of Japanese Sake. In the properties of the shrine you can look at a lot of Sake barrels donated by Sake manufacturers from all over Japan. It also has a famous Japanese garden but the author has never been inside and dose not know how good it is. One needs to pay the entrance fee to see the garden.

You have finally arrived at Arashiyama, a long 30 km trip on a bike from Kyotanabe. At the end of the promenade you have come to "Togetsu-kyo" bridge. Please look at the picuture No.6. The author is crouching on the bank of Katsura river with the bridge in the back. There are many tourists around on a fine autumn evening in Arashiyama.

No.6: "Togetsu-kyo" bridge in Arashiyama

The cycling along "the Kidzu promenade" is now over. I hope you enjoyed the trip with the author. Kyoto area is still abundant in natural scenes which allow people to enjoy varieties of outdoor activities. As someone who has come here from Tokyo metropolitan area, I am appreciating the spirit of Kyoto people who insist on preserving the natural environments in the region. I hope the generations to come can also enjoy the cycling along the Kidzu promenade as much as we do today.

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Cycling along the Kidzu promenade 3 (Arashiyama) Shin FUJITA

Cycling along the Kidzu promenade 3
(Arashiyama)
Shin FUJITA