Kyoto guidebooks/tourist maps tip
posted November 10, 2005
If the Kyoto map or guidebook you are thinking of buying has a Tourist Information Center in the Kyoto Tower building just north of Kyoto Station, that map or guidebook is out of date. There is an eyewear shop there now, as well as a new Starbucks. There are two tourist information facilities in the Kyoto Station building, however, on the second and ninth floors up the huge escalator on your left just before you exit the station facing Kyoto Tower.
I did really like the Kyoto Station, right at the top of the escalaters, and right at the top of the flight of stairs, there is a plaque describing what the station is designed after etc….. but an amazing view from up there, and the guys in the Tourist Information Center are amazingly helpful ( the one on the 9th floor is for foriegners, and the 2nd floor is for locals, or specifically, Japanese speaking )….
Another interesting thing about the Kyoto Station is the variety of stone used to cover it. Granites and other stone from quite literally all over the world. Check out the columns over near the taxi stand; if memory serves, there are squares about 10cm square inlaid in some of the columns, along with the name of the type of stone and the origin. I never knew how much went into that building, and now that I do… well, that’s a whole lot of money that went into a whole lot of rock.
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