Kyoto
Kyoto is the old capital of the Japanese empire, earlier known as Heian-kyo. The name Kyoto literally means “capital city”, so naturally there are several historical & cultural sites, castles, shrines and gardens in and around this city. Also it’s an anagram of Tokyo, in English 🤓
It was little hard to plan the day trips here, firstly, because there aren’t many JR lines for commuting within the city, secondly, most historical places are quite far apart so you can cover one area in one day and by the time you reach the second area, it’s closing time, and thirdly, it’s such a beautiful city that it’s hard to decide which part to give a miss. In retrospect we could have gotten a bus pass in Kyoto to save time & money (a day pass costs approx ¥600) and planned the days better.
It took 2hrs by shinkansen to reach Kyoto from Tokyo through a beautiful countryside, green fields, foggy hills and of course blooming cherry trees. It started raining as soon as we left Tokyo and followed us to Kyoto till late evening 🌧 . Our hotel was less than a kilometre away but we decided to take a taxi due to rain. The hotel was old, retrofitted but it was clean and had a very friendly staff (and free breakfast spread). There was a huge mall right outside the hotel, where we had Indian food for lunch (because veg and satiable). The food stall attendant was from Delhi and seemed very pleased to learn that we were traveling from India 🇮🇳 And immediately switched to Hindi.
Day 1: Toji temple
Toji temple is a famous ancient Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Toji means East temple. Its pagoda was visible from our hotel so we set out towards that. One thing that struck me as we walked through the residential area was how clean and impeccable the roads and pedestrian paths were. It was a Wednesday afternoon but there were hardly any people on the roads. A lone elderly lady was slowly walking along the sidewalk with a walker, she looked even smaller because of her hunched back.
We came across Rokusonno-jinja shrine with a small garden area and cherry trees. The shrine was closed and there was a wedding photoshoot going on near the pond, probably Christian wedding (the bride was in a beautiful white wedding gown). We tried not to get in their way and moved on. Toji temple was closed too but was going to reopen at night for special viewing. We had some time, so thought of further exploring the area.
We saw the remains of Rajomon gate in a park, a small shrine next to it and some beautiful houses. Then we came back to the Toji temple and joined the queue. The temple was worth the wait in cold and drizzle. The architecture was exquisite and technology quite remarkable. Some structures were restored after a fire destroyed them in 17th century. There were several halls housing huge statues of Buddhaji, Boddhisattvas and smaller artefacts like mandalas. The iconic five storied wooden pagoda is the tallest in Japan. It was surrounded by different varieties of cherry trees in full bloom. The entry to the halls was restricted at night. We spent about an hour there then returned to the hotel.
Day 2: Fushimi Inari, Maruyama Park
We started the day early with a nice breakfast in our hotel, then took a train to Inari station and walked to the Fushimi Inari shrine. It’s one of the famous landmarks in Kyoto, with thousands of torii gates ⛩️ along a mountain trail. Passing through a huge torii gate we reached the main shinto temple area which was guarded by two foxes (statues of course 🦊 ). The prevalent color was orange or vermillion. Apparently according to shinto culture it empowers the deities and protects against evil. Kind of reminds me of our own sankat mochan Hanuman ji. There were several small temples and halls around the main temple. One temple had a couple of brass bells hanging from the ceiling that visitors could ring using the attached cloth rope. At one corner a traditional Japanese musical performance was on; two ladies in kimono were playing string instruments, koto or shamisen, supported by drums. When the performance ended we proceeded towards the trail.
It was pretty crowded, but pleasant. We reached halfway point from where we can see the whole Kyoto city. People can return from this point or go further to the top of the mountain. We of course decided to go on to the top ⛰. The trail was less crowded now and the density of torii gates decreased. There were several small shrines on the way with guarding fox statues. We also met a few cats, real ones 🐈. A lady was hiking with her chihuahua in a bag. There was a sign warning about the wild monkeys, but luckily we didn’t meet any. The fresh mountain air was a treat; it was literally like passing from mundane to sacred realm — that torii gates symbolize. There were several elderly people walking on this trail with amazing agility. Perhaps walking is like meditation, that’s why so many religions have ritual circumambulation of a sacred places, invariably on a mountain trail. At the end of the trail we had some snacks, then took a train to Gion-Shijo station for Maruyama park.
The park is a straight walk from the train station. The Gion area is famous for entertainment and geishas. There was a kabuki theatre right across the train station. There were lines of shops and restaurants on the way to the park. Maruyama park, apart from being one of the most popular cherry blossom viewing spots, has several shrines, most notable is the Yasaka shrine. This too was a shinto shrine, with similar architecture and deities. Then we walked further enjoying the beautiful park with different types of cherry trees blossoming 🌸, the petals floating in the air, scattered on the paths and the koi pond. Opposite the weeping cherry tree, there was a bronze statue of a pigeon, which was a little odd (esp for someone like me who loathes pigeons). Other bronze statues in the park were of people, so I wonder if there was some story. Walking further up, we came across a huge Buddhist temple complex and a cemetery. Some monks were chanting and praying in one temple.
Then we took a bus to the Imperial Palace, but it turned out that the entrance closes at 4pm, even though the palace is open till 5pm ☹️ . The palace is spread in a huge area with several gates and gardens. There is a teahouse near one gate which offers free tea to visitors. We rested there for a while then walked to the bus stop. Even the bus timings were perfect. Tired from all the walking, we went back to hotel after dinner.
Day 3: Arashiyama, Philosopher’s path
On our last day in Kyoto, we planned to explore the western part of the city. We took a train to Saga Arashiyama station. At the station we learnt about the Sagano tram (or toy train) 🚞 which runs along the Hozugawa River between Arashiyama and Kameoka. We could get a two way ticket, or go one way by the train and return by boat or JR line. All the seats of the current tram were booked but one could buy a ticket for standing (for the same price). The next tram was in an hour, so we reserved our tickets then went on to see the nearby area for an hour. There is a Buddhist temple named Tenryū-ji in Arashiyama which is registered as a world heritage site. It has a beautiful zen garden with pond and historical halls. There is another temple attached to Tenryū-ji, called Hōgon-in. It is known for the gardens. One can buy a combined ticket or separate for these temples. They also have a buddhist vegetarian lunch service charged separately. We decided to visit only Tenryū-ji. It was slightly different from the other Buddhist temples we had visited so far, particularly the zen garden with sand pattern, the white panelled prayer hall and beautiful landscaped garden around it.
While we were admiring the gardens, it was almost the time for our Sagano train. We had to rush as the station was about 10min away. The train route was nice indeed, along the turquoise blue river lined with colorful trees and mountains. There were a few boats going back to Arashiyama and the riders from both the boat & train waved at each other 👋 ! For the trip back to Arashiyama, we took the JR train instead. The JR train station is a short walk away from Kameoka Torokko station (where the Sagano scenic train route ends). The JR train takes a slightly different route, but that was beautiful too. Then we walked towards the river, crossed the Togetsu-kyō bridge and had some rice balls & chips with coffee at one of the cafes (also got a chance to charge the phone). There is a monkey park on south side of the river but we decided to skip it. Crossed the river back and walked to the famous bamboo forest. It is a narrow path through the forest which was very crowded. It was nice, looks more enchanting & surreal in pictures though. Noticed some European tourists dressed in kimonos and geisha makeup for a photoshoot which reminded me of our local hill stations and how tourists dress up in Himachali or Kashmiri attire for photoshoots 😊. Then we headed back to the station. It took us a while to find our way back to the Saga Arashiyama station.
We took a train to Nijo station. The castle is a little over 1km away from the station. By the time we reached the castle the entry was closed ☹️ (Google should mention the entry time too, along with the opening hours). Then we took a bus to Philosopher’s path (Tetsugaku no michi). The bus stop, Jodoji, was half a km away from the lane. Initially we were a little unsure if that was the right stop. After walking a little we could see the rows of cherry blossom trees along the Lake Biwa canal. It is a 1.8km long path from Nyakuoji bridge to Jodoji bridge. Apparently this lane is called Philosopher’s path because one of Japan’s most famous philosophers was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University. There were hundreds of cherry trees in full bloom creating a canopy over the path making it one of the prettiest pedestrian paths I have traversed 😍.
There were some charming restaurants and shops along this path. Also there are several temples and shrines in the nearby area, most prominent of them is a world heritage Ginkaku-ji temple. It was already past 5pm, so we couldn’t visit this too 😞. We were pretty tired and starving by then and looked for some options, ended up having a cheese-less pizza. Perhaps our server confused vegetarian with vegan 😒 It wasn’t too bad though. Then we boarded a bus to our hotel, which took us through the Nishiki market area. It had pretty upscale shops, from what we could see from the bus. It’s a shopping district of Kyoto, particularly famous for local food and kitchen supplies.
We had to pack and get ready for next morning’s checkout. Out next stop was Osaka. Before that we had to make another run to the mall for coffee and cash withdrawal 💸 Next morning we were the last ones in the cafeteria and as we finished our breakfast a lady from hotel staff came up to us with some parting gifts. She gave both of us a writing pad with traditional Japanese print accompanied by origami swans. It was such a beautiful gesture 💕 . Then we picked our luggage and walked to the Kyoto station for our shinkansen to Osaka. Will write about Osaka trip in the next blog.
Kyoto trip was a little unsatisfactory because we couldn’t visit three places we planned to visit. Even if we had, there are several other places that we were going to skip anyway. Surely three days are not enough for Kyoto visit. I hope to visit again, stay at a traditional hotel (ryokan), try some local veg food and see all the places in my list.
Related posts
How we planned our Japan trip 👇
Notes from our next stop, Osaka👇
