High in the Sky

Kyoto Station is a pretty spectaclar building and I feel a certain sense of affinity with it as it was opened the week we visited the city on my very first trip to Japan in 1997. Ten years ago now almost to the day. In fact somewhere in Lancashire we have a even have a souvenir fan we were presented with as we hurried through the barrier on that day looking for the express to Kanazawa ...

Here is the bit that is far from the trains ... which are down to the right from here. Straight ahead down all those distant and dizzying escalators - this is no place for vertigo sufferers - is the main concourse where you buy your tickets and then underground beneath that a shopping centre and the subway platforms. The building to the right here is a department store, and the other end of the station on the upper floors is a large modern hotel. Contemporary architecture at its most impressive...

Most bigger Japanese stations are modern and exceptionally clean and well run but Kyoto is something special even for here. It is a building that is a pleasure to use even when you aren't down on the platforms gricing.