My Amazing Time in Japan V – Kyoto

And finally Kyoto! The city I wanted to visit more than anything else. Its charm, carisma, the traditional neighbourhoods, the fantastic food, not to mention the amazing temples... I couldn't wait to wonder around the streets of this magnetic city, and I'm beyond excited to tell you everything about it!

Having a wander in amazing Gion, the geisha neighbourhood

This is part V of my amazing time in Japan. If you missed the previous bits, where I'm talking about my journey in Tokyo, Kamakura and Hakone, you can just click to open the links!

After having visited the fabulous terms in Hakone and having seen Mount Fuji, I took once again the Shinkansen, direction Kyoto. It took my roughly two hours to reach the previous capital of the Country of the Rising Sun, and as flashes of the landscapes were changing outside my window seat, I couldn't but daydream of the wonders expecting me.

A tea house in Gion

I arrived in Kyoto in the early afternoon. I had a bento in a nearby 7/Eleven, and then went straight to visit the Yasaka-jinja Temple. It is a fairly big complex, situated in the Gion area. It's a shinto temple, and one of the most important and loved in Kyoto. Reach it walking by the Shijo-Dori, a beautiful road full of little shops and restaurants. The most beautiful part of this temple has to be the construction with the lanterns, other than the little park just behind it.

One of the constructions in the beautiful Yasaka-Jinja complex of temples

After having had a little wander around, I went to Gion, where my guide Mika-san was waiting. Gion is one of the biggest Geisha neighbourhood in Kyoto, where about 1200 geisha still work. You can admire the typical wooden, low houses, and the narrow roads that bring you back straight-away to the old, traditional Japan.

Mika was so nice to show me the neighbourhood, and explain how to recognise the Ochaya, the traditional tea houses where Geisha work. She explained me the meaning of the wooden tablets on the door (they carry the names of the geisha working for that particular tea house) and how to recognise a maiko (apprentice geisha) from a geisha. As the tea houses usually open at 6.00 PM, we were so lucky to spot a few geisha and maiko who were going back after having done a few commissions and start to work, which was amazing!

I also saw the school where the geisha study and practice their art, and as I was having a walk around I recognised the bridge where the famous scene from Memory of a Geisha was filmed.

For dinner Mika-san pointed me a fabulous restaurant in the area, and once I was back to the hotel I started to plan the two following days I was spending in Kyoto and decide what to see.

Kyoto is full, but seriously, full of fabulous temples and shrines (over 4000!!). I didn't have time to visit them all (and I probably would not even if I was staying there a month), but I tried to see at least some of the most important ones.

Fushimi Inari

Basically a must see when you visit Kyoto. The 10.000 red gates temple is one of the most iconic in the area, and the one I really was eager to visit. It is impressive, absolutely stunning, and if you have enough breath and energy to reach the top of the hill, the view of the city under you is unforgettable.

The silver pavilion and its stunning gardens

And the golden pavilion. They look so much alike, so they?

Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji Temple

Respectively, the Golden and the Silver pavilion. Both of them are stunning icons of Kyoto. The two buildings are pretty similar in structure: the Silver pavilion was built in 1490 by order of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who wanted it to be as similar as possible to the Golden pavilion, built in 1937 for his grandfather Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. They are both zen temples, very peaceful, extremely beautiful to visit during the foliage season.

It is not possible to take pictures in the Sanjusangendo temple, so here is one taken from ancienthistory.eu website

Sanjusangendo Temple

This temple is very important, more than for its structure, for what it contains. It actually hosts over 1000 human size golden statues of Kannon, one of the most important gods worshipped in Japan. The statues are all handmade (you can admire the little differences among them, and how each artist added a special feature to the ones they were making, as sort of mark). Unfortunately it is not possible to take pictures inside, so I'll post here a pic taken from the web (I'll link under it where I took it from).

Tenryugi Temple

One of the most iconic zen temples, with a stunning garden. The most famous feature of this construction though is the impressive painting of the dragon on its ceiling. The temple has acquired the status of UNESCO world heritage in 1994.

Kifune Shrine

Last but not least, Kifune Shrine is famous for its road of red lanterns, top spot for Instagram lovers nowadays. Curiosity: this temple is said to be particularly favourable for love vows, and it is a specially chosen location for weddings.

So, these are all the places I managed to visit in Kyoto in three days. I certainly missed some of the must-see spots (Kyomizu Temple above all probably), but I am planning to go back to Japan in a couple of years time, and visit all the places I missed (I mean, this time I didn't manage to see Osaka, which is almost unforgettable! So as you can understand, I just must go there again).

The beautiful "Philosopher's path", a long road by the river in Kyoto, so peaceful and relaxing

Hope this little post might be of little help if you're thinking about travelling to Japan. The last stop of my little journey has been Nara, and in my next post we'll talk a bit more about this beautiful city, especially known for its deer park. Talk to you very soon, take care!

M.