Guide to Kyoto - showing Mum around

With no rest for the wicked, Mum arrived in to Osaka after a day-long flight from Wellington and after dinner at the local 280 izakaya and a good nights sleep we were off to Kyoto on Friday morning to spend three days there. This will probably be my last trip to Kyoto before I go home in early August so I thought I would include some information so other people can experience the magic of it too. The city has always held a special place in my heart since I spent six weeks of my summer holidays of 1998-9 on exchange at Ritsumeikan High School homestaying with the Ikeda family. It was lovely to take my Mum there and show her around some of the touristy spots in the city, which I enjoyed even with a little rain.

Most of the information below is from Japan Guide which is a great online resource for everything Japan. We decided how to spend our three days by grouping the main attractions together into suburbs and found it worked quite well. Day One was Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, Yasaka-jinja, Gion and Pontecho. Day Two was Fushimi-inari-taisha, Sanjusangen-do, Kiyomizu-dera and strolling around the Higashiyama District. Day Three was Heian-jingu, Nijo-jo, Nishiki Market and Kyoto Station. Kyoto is well covered by a bus system which has a flat fare of Y220 so I have included the bus numbers from Kyoto Station to get to all the places. Sometimes the bus can take some time but there is also a Hankyu Line, Keihan Line and a subway line running through the city. If you group the attractions together as we did (but don't get caught in a typhoon) you can walk between a few of them ;) Cycling around the city is also nice. Here is an overview of transport options to and around Kyoto and below is a run-down of the places we visited

Kinkakuji
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00
Admission: Y400
Getting there: Take Kyoto City Bus number 101 or 205 from Kyoto Station for about 40 minutes.

A zen temple in Northern Kyoto whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. Formally known as Rokuonji, the temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and according to his will it became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect after his death in 1408. Kinkakuji is an impressive structure built overlooking a large pond, and is the only building left of Yoshimitsu's former retirement complex. It has burned down numerous times throughout its history and the present structure was rebuilt in 1955.

Ryoanji
Hours: 8;00 to 17:00 (slightly shorter in winter)
Admission: Y500
Getting there: Ryoanji is a five minute bus ride or 15 minute walk west of Kinkakuji.

Probably most well known for its famous rock garden, which attracts hundreds of visitors every day. Originally an aristocrat's villa during the Heian Period, the site was converted into a Zen temple in 1450 and belongs to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. The garden consists of a rectangular plot of pebbles surrounded by low earthen walls, with 15 rocks laid out in small groups on patches of moss. An interesting feature of the garden's design is that from any vantage point at least one of the rocks is always hidden from the viewer. Ryoanji's temple grounds also include a relatively spacious park area with a pond, located below the temple's main buildings.

Yasaka-jinja
Hours: Always open
Admission: Free
Getting there: Take Kyoto City Bus number 100 or 206 for about 20 minutes and get off at Gion Bus Stop. The closest train stations are Gion Shijo Station on the Keihan Line and Kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu Line.

Yasaka Shrine, also known as Gion Shrine, is famous for the Gion Matsuri, one of Japan's largest festivals. It is located at the eastern end of Shijo-dori and is one of the city's most popular shrines. The many lanterns that decorate the shrine's stage are lit after dark and bear the names of their sponsors. Located just next to the shrine grounds is Maruyama Park.
 

Gion and Pontocho
Getting there: To get to Gion follow the instructions above as it is close to Yasaka-jinja. The closest bus stop to Pontocho is Shijo Kawaramachi, which is served by ten bus lines, including lines 17 and 205 from Kyoto Station. It takes about 20 minutes. The closest train stations are Kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu Line and Shijo Station on the Keihan Line

Gion is Kyoto's most famous geisha district, located in the city center around Shijo Avenue between Yasaka Shrine in the east and the Kamo River in the west. It is filled with shops, restaurants and teahouses, where geisha and maiko (geisha apprentices) entertain. Gion attracts tourists with its high concentration of traditional wooden machiya merchant houses. The most popular area of Gion is Hanami-koji Street from Shijo Avenue to Kenninji Temple but my favourite part is the Shirakawa Area which runs along the Shirakawa Canal parallel to Shijo Avenue. The canal is lined by willow trees, high class restaurants and ochaya, many of which have rooms overlooking the canal. As it is a little off the beaten path, the Shirakawa Area is typically somewhat quieter than Hanami-koji Street. We wandered down Pontocho as it got darker and had dinner at a small okonomiyaki place. This is one of the traditional nightlife districts. It is a narrow street running from Shijo-dori to Sanjo-dori, one block west of the Kamo River. In the evenings, the narrow street offers a great atmosphere and lots of restaurants and teahouses, ranging from inexpensive to highly exclusive establishments which require the right connections

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Fushimi-inari-taisha
Hours: Always open
Admission: Free
Getting there: Take the JR Nara line to Inari Station (5 minutes, 140 yen one way from Kyoto Station on the local train). The shrine can also be reached in a short walk from Fushimi Inari Station along the Keihan Main Line.

One of my favourite places to spend a few hours in Kyoto this is an important Shinto Shrine in Southern Kyoto and famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates. The trails leads into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice, agriculture and industry. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794. While most people visit to explore the mountain trails, the shrine buildings themselves are also attractive. At the shrine's entrance stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. At the very back of the shrine's main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates"). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate.

The mist that day really added to the atmosphere, I could easily spend over half a day here just walking around and taking pictures (even though I already have hundreds). The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours but after about a 30-45 minute ascent and a gradual decrease in the density of torii gates, we reached the Yotsusuji Intersection (roughly half way up the mountain) with some nice views over Kyoto. From here the trail splits into a circular route to the summit but seeing as it was a fairly warm June morning and we had a lot of other things to see today, we decided to descend.

Sanjusangen-do
Hours: 8:00 to 17:00 (slightly shorter in winter, last admission 16:30)
Admission: Y600
Getting there: Take Kyoto City Bus 101, 206 or 208 for 10 minutes to the Hakubutsukan-Sanjusangendo-mae bus stop or it is a five minute walk from Shichijo Station along the Keihan Line. Alternatively, it takes about twenty minutes to walk there from Kyoto Station

This is the popular name for Rengeo-in, a temple in eastern Kyoto which is famous for its 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The temple was founded in 1164 and rebuilt a century later after the original structure had been destroyed in a fire. The temple hall is with 120 meters Japan's longest wooden structure. The name Sanjusangendo (literally "33 intervals") derives from the number of intervals between the building's support columns, a traditional method of measuring the size of a building. In the center of the main hall sits a large, wooden statue of a 1000-armed Kannon (Senju Kannon) that is flanked on each side by 500 statues of human sized 1000-armed Kannon standing in ten rows. Together they make for an awesome sight. You are not allowed to take pictures inside (although a google search will quickly show you that some people were sneaky and did), but for me enjoying it without trying to get the perfect picture for once was nice and peaceful.

Kiyomizu-dera
Hours: 6:00 to 18:00
Admission: Y300
Getting there: Take the Kyoto City Bus 100 or 206 for 15 minutes to Kiyomizu-michi bus stop,and walk uphill for ten minutes. Alternatively, it is also a 20 minute walk from Kiyomizu-Gojo Station on the Keihan Railway Line.

Kiyomizudera ("Pure Water Temple") is one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa Waterfall in the wooded hills east of Kyoto, and derives its name from the fall's pure waters. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Kiyomizudera is best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside below and built without any nails it is an impressive site and has a beautiful view of cherry and maple trees below that erupt in a sea of color in spring and fall, as well as of the city in the distance.

Around the entrance of Kiyomizudera (outside the paid area) stand various other temple buildings, including a vermilion three storied pagoda, a repository for sutras, large entrance gates and the Zuigudo Hall which is dedicated to Buddha's mother and where (for a small entrance fee) you can wander the pitch black basement that symbolizes a mother's womb. 

Behind Kiyomizudera's main hall stands Jishu Shrine, a shrine dedicated to the deity of love and matchmaking. In front of the shrine are two stones, placed 18 meters apart. Successfully finding your way from one to the other with your eyes closed is said to bring luck in finding love. You can also have someone guide you from one stone to the other, but that is interpreted to mean that an intermediary will be needed in your love life as well. With a little bit of rain and so many school children and umbrellas about this was impossible on the day we were there but we still enjoyed the shrine.

And the last thing to do at Kiyomizu-dera (dubbed the "activities temple" by my brothers when they visited in Decemeber) is the Otawa Waterfall at the base of Kiyomizudera's main hall. Its waters are divided into three separate streams, and visitors use cups attached to long poles to drink from them. Each stream's water is said to have a different benefit, namely to cause longevity, success at school and a fortunate love life. However, drinking from all three streams is considered greedy.

Higashiyama District

Part of the fun of visiting Kiyomizudera is the approach to the temple along the steep and busy lanes of the atmospheric Higashiyama District. The many shops and restaurants in the area have been catering to tourists and pilgrims for centuries, and products on sale range from local specialties such as Kiyomizu-yaki pottery, sweets and pickles to the standard set of souvenirs.We walked up chawan-zaka 'Teapot Lane' and back down through nin-nen and san-nen zaka,  literally ‘Two-Year Hill’ and ‘Three-Year Hill’. These two charming streets are lined with old wooden houses, traditional shops and restaurants. If you fancy a break, there are many teahouses and cafés along these lanes and trying green tea soft-cream is a must. There is also a very small cobbled alley called Ishibei-koji on your left once you have walked all the way along, if you go down here and then retrace your steps you can follow the main road and Nene-no-Michi past Kodai-ji (where Stuart and I went to Sanae's wedding in October) all the way to Maruyama Park and Yasaka Jinja close to Gion. While the walk through the Higashiyama District between Kiyomizudera and Yasaka Shrine is only about two kilometres long and could be done in half an hour, you could easily spend half a day or more in the area, visiting the various temples, shrines, shops and cafes along the way.

If you enjoy walking then I would encourage you to keep going past Yasaka Shrine, Chionin and Shorenin Temples to Heian Jingu (below) and possibly even further via Nanzenji and the Philosophers Path to Ginkakuji Temple (I would take the silver one over the gold one anyday!)

Heian-jingu
Hours: 6:00 to 17:30 (shrine) and 8:30 to 17:00 (gardens) (slighty shorter in winter)
Admission: Free (shrine) and Y600 (gardens)
Getting there: Take Kyoto City Bus number 5 or 100. You can also take the subway to Higashiyama Station on the Tozai Line (from Kyoto Station this requires a transfer at Karasuma Oike Station from the Karasuma Line) followed by a 10 minute walk to the shrine.

Heian Shrine was built relatively recently in 1895 on the occasion of the 1,100th anniversary of the Heian Capital foundation. It is dedicated to the first and last emporers that reigned from Kyoto, Emperor Kammu and Emperor Komei. The shrine buildings are a partial replica of the Imperial Palace of the Heain Period, but only about two thirds of the original buildings in scale. Several events are held on the shrine's spacious inner court in particular the Jidai Matsuri, one of the three most important festivals of Kyoto. The procession of this festival begins at the old Imperial palace, and includes carrying the mikoshi (portable shrines) of Emperors Kanmu and Kōmei to Heian Shrine. It is also famous for having one of the biggest torii in Japan, Stuart and I were here for the festival last October but didn't go into the gardens so I wanted to check them out.

The Shin'en consists of four gardens which surround the main shrine buildings on the south, west, middle, and east. With a total area of approximateley 33,000 square meters, these stroll-style landscape gardens are designated as a national scenic spot representative of Meiji-era (1868-1912) garden design. It is said that it is beautiful to visit in April when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom but we enjoyed our visit in late May even with a typhoon coming through the rain added a special atmosphere to the gardens.

 


Nijo-jo
Hours: 8:45 to 17:00 (last entry 16:00)
Closed: Tuesdays in Jan, July, Aug, Dec and New Years period (Dec 26 to Jan 4)
Admission: Y600
Getting there: The entrance of Nijo Castle is a short walk from Nijojo-mae Station along the Tozai Subway Line (from Kyoto Station this requires a transfer at Karasuma Oike Station from the Karasuma Line) The whole trip takes about 15 to 20 minutes and costs 250 yen. Alternatively, take Kyoto City Buss number 9, 50 or 101 for 15-20 minutes from the station

Nijo Castle was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His grandson Iemitsu completed the castle's palace buildings 23 years later and further expanded the castle by adding a five story castle keep. After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace for a while before being donated to the city and opened up to the public as a historic site. Its palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era, and the castle was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens that encircle the Honmaru and Ninomaru. The entire castle grounds and the Honmaru are surrounded by stone walls and moats.

Nishiki Market
Hours: Varies by store, usually 9:00 to 18:00
Closed: Varies by store, but many close on Wednesdays
Getting there: The Nishiki Market street runs parallel to Shijo Avenue, one block north of Shijo Avenue. It can be reached on foot in less than five minutes from Shijo Station on the Karasuma Subway Line (4 minutes, 200 yen from Kyoto Station) or Karasuma or Kawaramachi Stations on the Hankyu Line.

Nishiki Market is a narrow, five block long shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants. Known as "Kyoto's Kitchen", this lively retail market specializes in all things food related, like fresh seafood, produce, knives and cookware, and is a great place to find seasonal foods and Kyoto specialties, such as Japanese sweets, pickles, dried seafood and sushi. Nishiki Market has a pleasant, but busy atmosphere that is inviting to those who want to explore the variety of  culinary delights that Kyoto is famous for. The stores found throughout the market range in size from small narrow stalls to larger two story shops. Most specialize in a particular type of food, and almost everything sold at the market is locally produced and procured. The market has a history of several centuries, and many stores have been operated by the same families for generations. It all started as a fish wholesale district, with the first shop opening around 1310. A larger variety of shops moved in later, and the area changed from a wholesale market to retail. Today it remains an important market for Kyoto and is often packed with locals and tourists alike.One of my favourite things is the fresh soy milk doughnuts - similar to Lil'Orbits in NZ but a little bit healthier ;P

Kyoto Station
Getting there: Kyoto Station is the city's main railway station, served by all trains of Japan Railways (including shinkansen), Kintetsu Railways and the Karasuma Subway Line. A large bus terminal is located in front of the station building.

The station may sound like a weird thing to list here, but as most people will pass arrive to / or leave from Kyoto Station it is worth stopping briefly to admire it and check it out . The Kyoto Station building was built on the 1200th anniversary of the capital's foundation in Kyoto. It was opened to the public in 1997 and stands in perfect contrast to many foreign tourists' image of Kyoto as the capital of traditional Japan. The building's futuristic design and atmosphere was conceived by the Japanese architect Hara Hiroshi. Hara's design attempts to convey historical Kyoto through a modern aesthetic. The station's large main hall with its exposed steel beamed roof, called the Matrix, is meant to reflect both the structure of the station and the grid like layout of Kyoto's street network. Besides Kyoto Station, Hara's works include the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka.There is also a Skywalky tunnel (open from 10am to 10pm, free) which allows visitors to walk the length of Kyoto Station, 45 metres above the central hall. The Skyway's glass windows provide views of the city and station below. It starts from the restaurant floor on the 11th floor of the station building.

This time around we didn't have a chance to explore Arashiyama (I had been there previously with Stuart - you can read the blog from his visit to Kansai here) but if you have a chance I would recommend Tenryu-ji (8:30-17:30, Y500), the famous bamboo groves and walking across Togetsukyo Bridge and following the signs up to the Iwatayama Monkey Park (9:00-17:00, Y550).

Although a visit to Kyoto is recommended during the autumn leaves and spring cherry blossom seasons as the foliage is beautiful and the weather temperate this also means there are a lot of people visiting and there are always lots of school trips no matter what time of year you go. Honestly, Kyoto is beautiful in any season and I definitely recommend finding at least two-three days in your schedule for it. The last time I visited Kyoto in April purely to see the Spring Light Up at Kiyomizu-dera (they also do one in autumn) which was beautiful and if you are here during the Hanatoro times that is also be a special treat. You can see many UNESCO World Heritage sites and enjoy the sense of the traditional living alongside the modern world, there are also a lot of signs and friendly people around to help you find your way. I hope you enjoy Kyoto as much as I did - feel free to comment below if this was useful or if any of the information is out of date ;)