We were in Kyoto about 9 years ago on our first trip to Japan and loved it. So many beautiful temples and gardens to see. This time we didn’t repeat anything, just went to new sights.
Our day started at the Kyoto Imperial Palace which is located right in the middle of Kyoto. Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan’s imperial court by the Emperor Kanmu.
The emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869 when the capital moved to Tokyo.
The palace itself was surprisingly unassuming but the grounds surrounding the palace were beautiful.
Next month it will be incredible with all the cherry and plum blossoms. But even now the gardens were nice to walk through even in a merciless rainstorm.
The hills that surround Kyoto are filled with temples and pagodas. With its 2,000 religious places – 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines, as well as palaces, gardens and architecture intact – Kyoto is one of the best preserved cities in Japan.
From the Imperial Palace we paid a visit to the Kiyomizu-dera temple. The temple was established in 778 and continued to be improved through to the 17th century. There is not a single nail used in the entire structure.
Walking up to the temple is really quite dramatic.
On the other side of the entrance gate and up the stairs you get a panoramic view of Kyoto.
The temple is quite extensive and you are able to light and burn incense for prayers.
You could also write your prayer on a board and hang it with the rest of the prayers.
There is a shrine that wasn’t identified but had dozens of little statues in it.
Kiyomizu-dera sits at the top of the hill overlooking Kyoto’s Gion district which is known for its entertainment, especially geisha houses. Today tourists can rent their kimonos in one of the many rental shops.
Gion also now contains many restaurants and shops and was thronging with people as we walked through.
The Yasaka Pagoda that sits in the midst of the Gion District was originally built in the 7th century. it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times with the most recent rebuild in 1408, over 600 years ago.
Once down into the Gion district we went and found a place that serves duck ramen called Gion Duck Noodles. After standing in a very grim line for about 20 minutes
we were rewarded with a delicious lunch.
Tomorrow we leave Kyoto and head north to the Noto Peninsula on Japan’s west coast.
2 comments
Kyoto looks beautiful! Definitely on my list of places to see.
Not Fosse, but mossy, mossy, mossy!
Comments are closed.