Uji, Kyoto – Tea and Temples
A Short Train Journey from Kyoto JR Station
On a recent visit to Japan, my wife suggested that we visit Uji, near Kyoto. Although I’ve been to Kyoto a few times before, Uji was not a place that rang any bells. A quick Google search revealed that it is renowned throughout Japan for the very high quality of its locally grown tea and it has two temple complexes which are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
We were staying in the port city of Kobe, so to get to Uji we took a JR “Rapid Express” train from Ashiya Station via Osaka to the main JR Station in Kyoto. We changed there to the JR Nara Line for the 30-minute local train journey to Uji. The local train was very crowded indeed, full of tourists, mainly from China. Fortunately, Japanese trains are well air-conditioned.