Sites of Kyoto

Kyoto was Japan's capital city before Tokyo. As a result of its history, the city has a variety of amazing temples and shrines.

Quick Tips:

Summers are HOT...try to visit the lareger sites when they first open in the morning, as there is no air conditioning! Be aware that many of the sites are going to be filled with local tourists on weekends and holidays. Also, ask before taking photos.

Best Way To Get Around:

Kyoto is easy to navigate. Public transportation is quite good, and once you are in the general vacinity of the site you wish to visit, it is usually a simple walk. Taxis are also a good way to get around, however they are expensive.

Conveniently located directly across the street from the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) station, it is in a great location. It is within walking distance of many temples and other interesting places. The hotel has over 700 rooms, many restaurants, bars, several retail shops, a coffee shop and a beauty salon. Rooms all have toiletries, coffee/tea maker, refrigerator, hair dryer, TV and trouser press. I liked this hotel for its location, it was a very convenient base for exploring Kyoto and the surrounding area.

There are many places in the world that have beauty that cannot be captured on film. Kinkaku-ji is one of those places. Peaceful gardens surround a magnificent golden temple, which sits on a pond.

The history of the land winds through many fascinating people. Including the third Ashikaga shogun, who left a will stating that after his death the land would become a temple.

The gardens serve a purpose of reflecting the Buddhist view of the surrounding world. The famous golden pagoda was built to house the sacred relics of the Buddha. Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

Kinkaku-ji is a very popular tourist destination and it is reasonable to expect to see several other visitors around the temple and wandering along the garden paths.

The Heian Shrine is a large orange structure that definitely cannot be missed! Not only is does the color attract a great deal of attention; the immense size does as well. Everything in this shrine seems to be on a grand scale. It was built in 1895 to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of the foundation of Kyoto as a capital. The shrine is a replica of the original palace in the city, although on a much smaller scale!

Upon approaching the shrine you will first see the main gate or "Torii"; however, when I was visiting the shrine the gate was being renovated and was therefore covered. The next most obvious feature before entering the shrine is a trough of running water surrounded by wooden dippers and covered by a roof. This trough is for purification, one is supposed to cleanse both hands and their mouth before entering the shrine.

As a traditional shrine, it has all of the traditional features. A shimenawa is a rope with strips of paper that marks the area of something sacred. You walk under this to enter the sacred area of the Heian Shrine. Once inside the main area there is a large open space in front of the main and offering hall, it is used for festivals. On the approach to the main building of the shrine look to the left to see a tree filled with omikuji, the fortune telling papers from the shrine. There is a tradition of tying your fortune to the branches of the tree after you read it, a good fortune will come true or a bad fortune will go away. Near the tree is a small shed filled with wooden plaques containing handwritten wishes.

The offering hall of the shrine is an important area, where the Shinto gods can be summoned. From here you can view the main hall, which contains the sacred objects that represent the gods, these are deep inside the innermost chamber and cannot be seen.

After visiting the shrine, do not miss the gardens. A small entrance fee applies, but it is well worth it! The gardens at this shrine are particularly beautiful, filled with many types of flowering trees and plants as well as several ponds of quoi.

Shrines are a popular place for special events. It is not uncommon to see a newborn baby being brought in for their first visit just a few days after birth. It is also very common to see weddings at the shrines on the weekends.

The easiest way to get to the shrine is by taking the Tozai Line of the subway to Higashiyama Station and then a short 10-minute walk.

As the plaza in front of the shrine is a wide open space covered in white gravel, it becomes VERY hot in the summer. If you are visiting in the summer be sure to either visit the shrine early in the day or bring a hat to shade yourself.

Following a large victory, Nijo castle was built around 1603 by united Japan’s first Shogun. It stands out in the center of Kyoto, with an outer moat and high walls. Located on the edge of a large compound, the castle must be entered through the main gate on the east side. Once inside the walls look to the right for an interesting display of samurai clothing in the guardhouse. Continuing on the path around to the left, enter the actual palace building by walking under the Kara Mon, an intricate gate with carvings of cranes, butterflies, flowers, tigers and a dragon. The magnificent workmanship is highlighted by colorful paint and gold leaf designs.

The main palace is located after the Kara Mon and consists of a total of 5 buildings. The magnificence of the colorful entryway carries on into the structure with glorious decorations in 33 tatami-lined rooms. Although the building and surrounding gardens are intended more for beauty than protection, the shogun did take some interesting measures. The most obvious of these is noticed immediately upon stepping into the first hallway, a "nightingale" floor squeaks with even the lightest step.

In addition to the amazing palace, do not leave without visiting the garden. It is filled with plants that bloom at all times of the year, in addition to having a really spectacular pond.

The Ryoanji Temple is located in the northwest section of Kyoto. It is most well known for its Zen Rock Garden. This temple is another of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Kyoto, since December 1994. Upon entering Ryoanji, there is an enormous pond that is home to a variety of different water birds. In the pond are two islands; one has a small shrine.

Continuing along the pathway and then up some stairs, you reach the actual building that has the garden. Built in the 15th century, the garden consists only of walls, raked gravel and 15 medium-to-large rocks. It seems quite small, only 30 meters long and maybe 10 meters across. A fascinating aspect is that no matter which angle you view the garden from, you can only see 14 rocks. There are a variety of theories regarding why the garden is so simple, one of the main theories says that it was influenced by the tea ceremony, which also relies on simplicity.

Leaving the rock garden and going out on to a covered walkway, the next most striking feature is a stone water basin that is very low to the ground. It is surrounded by a series of Japanese characters, which essentially refer to knowledge, an important concept of Zen. This temple is extremely pleasant to visit, even in the heat of the summer, because the trees offer plenty of shade.

Kyoto has a wide variety of tea houses where it is possible to experience a traditional tea ceremony. The tea house that I went to was located near the Ginkakuji Temple. In the front room there was a bakery and in the back was the tea room. The only decoration was a scroll on the wall and one flower, otherwise the room just had small tables.

The ceremony is from the 16th century and it serves mainly as a way to exhibit good hospitality. At the beginning of the ceremony, one girl enters the rooms and takes a seat near a kettle, which is boiling over some type of fire. Before she prepares the tea she explains the meaning of the ceremony and the history of the tea house. As she is doing this, another girl comes around serving an item from the bakery, usually something sweet made from rice and bean paste.

Next, one girl begins serving bowls of tea. There is a whole procedure to drinking the tea, first you have to acknowledge your neighbor and then you pick up the cup in your right hand and place it in your left hand. Finally you rotate the cup before drinking the tea. Much to my surprise, the tea had a very strong and bitter taste. One important thing that all guests should remember is to remove their shoes before going into the tea room.