Things to do in Kyoto Japan

Kyoto

It was the end of my trip to Japan, I was coming from Osaka and Kyoto was the last city before to come back to Europe. 

The old capital of Japan Kyoto keeps the charm of a traditional Japanese city. I passed there for 4 days and I got in love with it, a treasure, something incredible every corner, my favourite city in Japan.

I apologise for the long post, but I had a really nice time there and a lot of things to share and show. Here I will make a sort of list about things to do in Kyoto, or at least what I visited and my impressions.

Kyoto imperial palace

The first place that I visited in Kyoto was the imperial garden, it's a huge park around the imperial palace. That morning the park was empty, probably because earlier it was raining, so for me, the feeling was like getting lost in nature, more or less like the man in the picture.

The Kyoto imperial palace is the former ruling palace of the Emperor of Japan, until 1868 the Imperial family was living there.

Walking around the imperial palace walls, I discover that a reservation is needed to visit the palace because the access is only for guided tours.
There was a school class walking around the walls and I followed them trying to understand if they were able to get inside the walls, and maybe sneak in with them, but it didn't work.

Golden Temple Kyoto

The golden pavilion Kyoto is one of the must-see places, in fact, it was really crowded and, to be honest, I didn't enjoy it. I'm not sure if I can suggest visiting it, as you can see in the picture it's really beautiful, but it is full of tourists and Kyoto has a lot of other beautiful places to offer.

Kinkaku-ji is a zen Buddhist temple, it is a national special historic site, a national special landscape and one of the 17 locations of the historic monuments of ancient Kyoto. 

Kamo river

To enjoy the nice weather I decided to walk beside the river, and it was really nice. As you can see from the picture Kyoto is a very traditional Japanese city, without tall ad modern buildings, and I really appreciate this. Kyoto and Osaka have a similar population but they are quite different types of cities, I don't know if the guys in the picture can enjoy a sunny day in the same way also in Osaka.

  

Walking beside the Kamo river I saw a lot of people chilling, chasing the sun, spending their free time like the people in the picture. 

I took this picture mainly for the building, It is different from the others around, and I don't know why, but I think it's a brewery if you know Japanese tell me what is written on it, maybe we can understand what it is. 

Gion Kyoto

Gion is a district of Kyoto, the area was built to accommodate the needs of travellers and visitors of the Gion Shrine, it eventually evolved to become one of the most exclusive and well known Geisha-district of all Japan.
I have to tell you that I discover that the place in the below picture is really famous for the movie "Memoirs of a geisha" while I was writing this blog, I've been there just randomly.

A question for you: do you know why the fence has the writes? and what does it mean?.

Maruyama Park

Near the Gion area, there is Maruyama park, a big green area with a lot of temples and shrines inside. This is a real must to see, there is a wonderful every corner. This is noted as the main for cherry blossom viewing (hanami) in Kyoto. I was there in the first part of November 2019, at the starting of the momingi period, when maple leaves become yellow/red.

In the park there is a big lake, a really beautiful, and peaceful place; close to it there was a lot of people wearing kimono, the trees combined with the traditional clothes were an explosion of colours.

The most famous Shrine in the park is the Yasaka Shrine, a Shinto shrine dedicated to Susanoo (god of the sea and storms) on the east, and eight offspring deities on the west. 

While I was visiting this place, I had a mixture of luck and intention that gave me the opportunity to shoot the picture before the last one of this part; I was following the two girls in kimono and when I decided to take the picture I saw the other two and I thought it was the right moment. This picture represents the spirit of Japan: a fusion between past and future, traditions and modernity.

Hokanji Temple is one of the landmarks in Kyoto, located in Higashiyama area, one of the most historical spots in Kyoto. Higashiyama is known for the cobbled alley street that remains the same from the old Kyoto period. Hokanji Temple was built in the 6th century and it is now coming in the form of a five-story pagoda, 46 meters tall. 

Fushimi Inari Taisha

Coming back from Nara I stopped in Fushimi Inari, a famous shrine with torii gates.

This first picture it's the extension of the previous one, a fusion between the past and the future. Probably, because the place is really touristic, the family in the picture rented the kimono but anyway the concept is valid.

The highlight of the Fushimi Inari shrine is the rows of torii gates (Senbon Torii). The custom to donate a torii started to spread since the Edo period to get a wish to become true or to thank for a wish that became true. Along the main path, there are around 1,000 torii gates.

Fushimi Inari is really touristic and crowded, especially in the first part of the senbon torii, what I suggest is to be patient and walk after the first part, or go in the early morning, it's open 24 hours.

Taking this picture was a test of my patience because this part was not really crowded but anyway, people were passing, and finding a free moment to shoot took time; fortunately, the lady was posing for someone else that had the same problem.

  

The shrine sits at the base of a hill also named Inari, and includes trails, the senbon torii, up the hill to many smaller shrines which span 4 kilometres. Inari was originally and remains primarily the kami (spirits, holy powers) of rice and agriculture, but merchants and manufacturers also worship Inari as the patron of business.

At the end of the trail, is possible to walk down the hill on a "normal" street without torii and get back to the railway station, or you can also follow back the senbon torii.

Daigo-ji Temple

I went to see this temple on my last day in Kyoto only because my friend Tami sent me a beautiful Instagram picture of it. 

Daigo-ji is laid down in three parts, on the first picture you can see the view from inside Sambō-in, which is a temple with a tea garden, a museum and other complexes.

The second picture is from a room with a terrace in front of the tea garden; it is prohibited to take a picture in that room, and also there was a private shooting at that moment!.

The guard saw me, but I had already taken this one, and I really like it, is like peeking at someone, and looking at the picture relax me because the lady is like enjoying the moment with a cup of tea.

Kondō is the temple behind the lady in yellow in the third picture, it is the central hall in the Daigo-ji complex, and the seated statue of Yakushinyorai (the Healing Buddha, the main devotion of the temple) is the principal image of Daigo-ji Temple.

Beside the Kondō (golden hall), there was a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Fudodo, Goma-dojo temple. From the picture above is possible to see musicians, I don't know if they were also monks, and from the picture below is possible to see the monks. The ceremony was a mixture of praying (mantra) and music.

At one point there was a bonfire and monks and the audience were throwing sticks on it, fortunately, I was with the girl that hosted me and she told me that the sticks represented wishes that, burning, went directly to the gods.

Bentendo hall is dedicated to Benzaiten (Sarasvati), the goddess of knowledge, liberal arts and music, and is generally known as one of seven deities of good fortune (Shichifukujin).

As I said before, I came here because of an Instagram picture, and the picture was from this temple; the place was magical as the one from the picture.

I was lucky to be there in the perfect period, maybe a bit before the perfect period. The place was magical because in autumn the maples and ginkgos turn red and yellow (momigi); so the combination between the leaves, the vermilion hall and the pond draw amazing scenery.

A nice way to say goodbye to one of my favourite cities in the world. 

The same day I went to Kyoto station to take a shinkansen fast train Kyoto Tokyo directly, in two hours I was in Tokyo were a couple of days after I took a flight back to Europe.