Japan – Kyoto

Travel and hotel info in Kyoto

I initially planned on just a one stay in Kyoto to see the sites and then move on. When I looked at the map, I realised Kyoto is only a 15-30 mins train ride from Osaka. I noticed that the trains also ran to near several of the sites I wanted to visit so effectively again with my JR Rail Pass I could then get to then easily from Kyoto Central Train Station.

This was looking good – free rail transport again on Japan’s extensive rail network. I had some fears about reading the signs and destinations in Japanese but read that much is also translated into English. Actually when I got to Japan so much is subtitled in English that I had no issues at all at finding places.

The train indicator boards have English on them too so finding the right platform etc was really easy.

I would recommend the J R Rail Pass as you can move about the city to the main places using nearby train stations (which often are so extensive they feel more like a combined underground Metro system. Click here for info on the JR Rail Pass, for all of Japan, in my Tokyo post.

The hotel prices were coming out really expensive, even for Japan and then I read that Kyoto is such a prestigious city that prices are naturally high there. The rooms were double what I was paying for similar in Osaka down the road.

I also realised I would have to uproot myself from my Osaka hotel in the morning and possibly not be able to check into a Kyoto hotel till the afternoon. That meant I was missing most of the day to do this and thus would need an extra night in Kyoto to be able to see Kyoto fully the next day.

The economics worked out to be that Kyoto was too expensive. But how could I miss out on such a beautiful and famous city – the Imperial Palace alone was enough to persuade me to rethink.

I decided to risk it and stay much more cheaply in Osaka, take an early morning train to Kyoto (free using my JR  Pass), come back late eve and stay again at my Osaka hotel. The risk was being able to negotiate Japanese train, signage and travel without getting lost. In the end it was really, really easy. I should never have worried at all.

Thus, you won’t find any hotel info on Kyoto here unfortunately – unless you really want to stay here a few days and incur the high cost I advise to stay in Osaka and commute in, even for a few days.

However, if I were to stay here, from my experience negotiating the city, I would stay near the central train station. The station is a hub for virtually all the trains that will get you easily to the main attractions  and also connects to the underground Metro subway system for access to even more sites.

How I commuted into Kyoto from Osaka

You can take a Shinkansen “bullet train” between Osaka and Kyoto for around £28 each way. They run about every 30 mins and it takes 15 mins from early morning to late eve.

Alternatively, you can take a local train for about £4 each way that run every 15 mins or so and take about 30 mins, again running from early morning to late eve.

As the prices for a one night stay in Kyoto were around twice the price as a similar hotel in more competitive Osaka, I decided to stay longer in Osaka and commute into Kyoto. As I had the JR Rail Pass, I could use the trains for free between the cities and go city centre to city centre in 30 mins on a local train.

The trains are modern safe and comfortable and as my hotel was at a major transport hub, just south of the Osaka Central Train Station, I even had trains that went directly from here to Kyoto – easy.

J R Rail Pass

I have preached extensively about the JR Rail Pass in other blogs.

My post on Tokyo – click here for link,  will have the full run down on how I see the JR Rail Pass as a superb money saver, if you are travelling around Japan and even for using it on JR Rail for local journeys, as I did for Osaka to Kyoto.

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Remember you can buy a JR Rail pass for 7 days travel for £217. With that I would get my return trip from  Tokyo to Hiroshima, the Hiroshima to Osaka ride included and all my train trips in Tokyo and from Osaka to Kyoto also. It even got me to Osaka airport for free..

Firstly, a little bit about Kyoto’s past

The city today has a population of around 1.5 million inhabitants although Greater Kyoto in reality holds around 4 million. It is part of what seems a continuous conurbation – and I saw this for myself – as it seemingly joins onto Osaka and Kobe cities, in one sprawling mass of buildings and many millions of more inhabitants.

So, if we really want to find the beginnings of this city we have to go way back to 794 when Emperor Kanmu decided to move his imperial court from Nara, to an area about 30 km north. His residence, called Heian Palace, was built on open land where the present day Nijo Castle sits and he named the city Heian Kyo (Tranquillity and Peace Capital). This established the city as the capital.

At various times from then onwards, it was called Kyo, Miyako or Kyo no Miyako but finally settling on Kyoto (meaning capital city) in the 11^th Century.

The city grew in importance but suffered several disasters and destruction from internal wars and insurrections. The Imperial Palace even burned down three times over the centuries and was eventually abandoned in 1227 after another fire – nothing remains of that Palace today.

It was pretty much the largest city in Japan until the 16^th Century when Osaka and Edo (Tokyo) took over that title. It slowly was overtaken further and today, despite it fame, is the 9^th biggest city in Japan

After the last Imperial Palae burned down, the Emperor lived in various large temporary Villas for several centuries. The Imperial family then largely stayed in a residence where the present Kyoto Imperial Palace sits – even these residences burned down eight times over the years, due to being made of wood. The present Kyoto Imperial Palace was built in 1855 and so far …. has not burned down!

It was thus the country’s capital from 794 until Japan’s capital moved to Tokyo (meaning Eastern Capital) in 1869, after the Emperor took over the Tokyo region from a defeated warlord.

When that happened, the city was even briefly called Saikyo (Western Capital).

You can now see why the city was nicknamed ”the thousand year capital” – I think it must be the only city I’ve visited that has that length of time as a country’s capital.

Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto

Getting here was a breeze, I took my train from Osaka to Kyoto main train station. At the station I changed to the Nara line (plenty if signage where the line is  but make sure you ar going in the right direction).

It costs 150 yen for a single ticket but as I had my JR train Pass, I get the trains for free (I love a freebie). Trains come frequently so there is usually no more than a 10 min wait. Two stops down the line and I get of at Inari station. Walk out of the station and you can’t miss the rising hill/mountain in front of you with a huge red Tori gate in front – you are here!

This is a world-known place of pilgrimage – a Shinto Shrine dedicated to the God Inari, the god of rice. This god just happens to also be the holy power god of foxes (which is why there are so many fox statues and shrines here too). Just to be sure, the god is also protector of sake wine, fertility, tea, industry, agriculture and general prosperity – there’s a lot riding on this god’s shoulders!

This god is so revered and popular in Japan that there are around 32,000 other Inari sites in the country, but this site is regarded as the most important. It also has Royal patronage.

One of the more touristy things here also is to rent out (or even bring your own) Kimono and traditional clothes to perform the walk in. It seemed very popular with groups of girls and ladies especially and they were used to being photographed, even loving it.

I snapped this pick as a group stood to enjoy their moment of fame being photographed by me and around 20 other photographers. Yes, it felt kitsch but it does also lend an air of tradition and local culture to the site.

The Shrine is more than just a building. It is world famous for the scenery of its thousands of Tori (gates) painted in vermillion (lustrous red), through which everyone walks when they ascend the mountain. The rectangular gates are jutted so close together their supports form an almost walled tunnel through which to walk.

Luckily there is a pictorial map in the entry area so if you haven’t brought a map for the route, then here is the opportunity to take a pic of it for reference later. I actually never needed the map and there is basically one route up the mount and one route down.

It’s origins

Well, the original shrine dates from 711 but the buildings were moved to its present site here in 816. Little remains of that period and what you see as the main shrine building behind the massive gate date from 1499.

I don’t know a lot about the Shinto religion so will not try to falsely lecture you on everything here but I do know it is based on many gods representing and having powers over the natural world.  At the main hall the expectation is to bring an offering to the god and present it here.

The main frontal concourse has many shrines and buildings for worship, so do be careful as you wander that you are not walking in front of worshippers facing the buildings.

The plethora of buildings here is immense and it does take a while to wander round them all. Many others were just wandering too, possibly, like me, wondering as to the function of each structure, as there are a limited number of info boards. It is an official place of worship, so I was not expecting the full-on tourist info descriptions – although there were thousands of tourists like me (virtually all Japanese), doing the same.

The colour red stood out as the dominant design and buildings were topped with sloping pagoda style roofs of green or brown tiles. Some buildings are extensive, yet others very person sized, all dotted around the frontal area.

This place is open 24 hours, has no entrance fee and never closes on any day – at least one place that you don’t have to check up on to see it it is open and its entry fees!

At various points in the site there are traditional styled wooden stalls set up, selling items as offerings. I had seen the ribbons of multi-coloured paper cranes before in Tokyo at similar shrines and this site also sold them.

Paper cut-outs were also being sold and bought by visitors to place at the multitude of shrines.

Remember I mentioned that Inari is the god of foxes? At many points you will see statues of foxes (they often look more like slender dogs). Again, they often have a golden key in their mouths, like the one in my pic. The key is supposed to be the key to the rice barn and the foxes keep/guard the keys as the protector of the barns. They are also seen as messengers for the God.

The buildings began to take on an almost village atmosphere due to how many there were, in perfectly clean and paved walkways around them all. No-one seemed to go inside any building and everyone looked at them and worshipped from the outside.

Some buildings had high single bells with a long flowing cord on which to make the offering then ring the bell. A practice unfamiliar to me, so I watched people as they did this and visually took in the ritual several times.

Having spent some time walking the area I needed to find the beginning of the mountain trail. The mountain is 233 metre tall and a long route takes you up to the top, rounds the summit then brings you back down to the same starting pointfrom another direction.

I followed the masses as everyone was heading through another tall red Tori (gate) and we emerged at the start of the upward trail.

The Thousand Gates

Two gateways stood ahead both with the famous tori’s abutting each other. The trail is often called “The Thousand Gates Trail” as, funnily enough there are around one thousand of these closely packed gates in total on the walkway.

They started being placed her at the beginning of the famous Edo Period (from 1603) and over the course of the centuries have accumulated to this number today.

The gates were placed here by benefactors hoping to gain favour with the God or even as a thank you for having a wish granted. The names of the donors and year of placement are on each Tori.

I took the righthand entrance as many other did but I noticed you can go up or down either way.

On a busy day you cannot go at your pace, The sheer numbers of visitors walking this trail means you go at the crowd’s pace. This was frustrating at first for me as I am a fast walker so I had to resign myself to the slow pace at the start. As the crowds thin further in, you can pick up your own pace and even stop at points for the all necessary Instagrammable pics!

Avoid New Year if crowds annoy you, as usually around 2.5 million visitors do this hike over the 3 day event! It lays claim to be one of the most visited sites in Japan.

If you want people-free shots inside the tunnel of red gates, you will have to wait until you are much further along the route, where the crowds thin out. I actually still found it impossible to get a pic without someone on the frame, such is the density of people visiting here, even on a quiet day like I had.

At various points on the upward trail, you emerge from the tunnel of gates into large open areas full of yet more shrines and resting places. Some have very different designs to the all-encompassing red with can be a little over whelming after an hour of it.

The spaces give you a chance to sit down and even pop into one of the many cafes and restaurants (all built in small wooden traditional styles to blend in) for food or drink. I took a water bottle with me and I have to say the long, long slope upwards can be draining physically. The route to the top takes about 2 hours and then it is presumably quicker down.

At certain points the route seemingly overlaps and you get a shot of the “tunnel” you are about to go through on the next turn on the mountainside.

Kyoto foxes everywhere

There are often small, again traditionally housed, stalls selling tourist trinkets and offerings. I loved the stall selling painted figurines of …. Yes, you guessed it …. Foxes in kimonos and traditional dress. Cute eh?

Sections are so steep that it becomes a series of steps rather than a long slope so do take plenty of rests and be aware of the physicality of attempting to reach the top.

I had really had my fill of red Tori’s after about an hour and had read that once you reach a certain viewpoint overlooking the city, the rest of the route upwards becomes blander and more samey. I reached that point and got my snaps of the city below.

The top was only another 30 mins further but I knew I was on a tight time schedule so decided to take the review’s guidance and started the descent back down the way I came.

The route is well paved and spotlessly clean so remember to wear comfy walking shoes but at least you don’t have to clamber over rocks or uneven/broken paving slabs. Yes, I did see many overdressed women (usually Chinese) in heels and make-up struggling to make the journey – clearly no-one warned them!

If you are intent on getting to the top and back down again at a reasonable pace then I would give yourself 4-5 hours to do it and see the site’s shrines as well. It is basically a day-trip for many!

Do not miss this in Kyoto – it is a marvel of design and so, so unique. The effort is worth it and if ever I am back, I will dedicate a whole day to this walkway to the top and back down again – and I would definitely buy one of those cute fox figurines as a memento.

Rengeoin Sanjusangendo Buddhist Temple

First place visited and I was ready for my next one. I had carefully planned my route and knew that to get to my next place I just needed to retrace my steps back to the station. Then walk a little through the town, cross the river and then board my train at another station called Fushimi-Inari Station. It has a similar name to Inari station so don’t get them confused. Trains run frequently northwards and at the third stop I had to get off … simple.

The complex is down the road from the station heading away from the river. I couldn’t miss it as it’s opposite the Kyoto National Museum, with a huge sign on its perimeter wall directing you round the corner to the entrance.

These religious sites are often set behind outer walls among later, modern buildings. Like many places in modern Japan, they have been retained but have to contend with modern developments around them.

This Buddhist Temple was founded in 11964 in the grounds of the then Emperor’s palace grounds by a nobleman.

Its name Sanjusangendo means the “Thirty-three Ken Hall” – a ken was an ancient unit of measure around 1.82 metres long. I suppose we could call it “The 60 Metre Hall”, but that doesn’t sound so Japanese! It is Officially known as “The Lotus King Hall”.

Most of the original buildings, along with most of its famous 1000 religious images were burned down in the great city fire of 1249.

The main Hall was then rebuilt in 1266 and it is the building we see today. The surviving statues were placed back in the Great Hall and new ones carved to bring the number back to 1000. The new Hall, despite keeping its old name, is actually 120 metres long.

There are traditionally styled buildings in red and white and anothers in brown and white set next to a beautiful pond and tree landscape at the entrance area. However, the absolute main attraction is the still-standing dark timbered, high roof pitched, long building.

Its size is the overwhelming image you get as it has relatively little external embellishments, apart from the symmetry of its windows and columns.

The Thousand buddhist statues

Inside is a different story as the whole length of the Hall is filled with a magnificent display of the 1000 Buddhist statues, intricately arranged. They are carved from Japanese cypress wood, often with extensive gold leaf inlay.

The lack of pics here is due to the fact that photography is not allowed inside, so I can’t show you the intricacy of the carved statues. If you do want to get a glimpse of what’s inside, click here for its official website. It’s in Japnese but at least you get to see pics of the internal statues.

Along one side of the great Hall, the gravelled area is set up as an archery course, and every year a tradition of an archery competition is held here that dates from 1606.

Having now seen all I wanted it was time to get back to Shichijo Station, where I arrived.  I waited 10 mins for the next train going north on this line.

My next stop was two stops away at Gion Station. You can see how easy it is to get around Kyoto so far on public transport and especially the great train network.

Gion district of Kyoto

As you get off at Gion station, head to the nearby river promenade. Here ia a small statue that is rather underwhelming, given the immense influence this person had.

The person in question is Izumo no Okuni, a female born in 1598 to a working class family. She became a shrine Maiden and invented a style of dance that was very different to that of the time. She became well known for its style that some called overtly sexual and provocative and others called artistic and creative.

As her fame grew, she employed a troupe of dancers – often prostitutes and low paid workers, always female, in an attempt to give them a career. Her performances in the Gion area drew crowds and they called her dance and song style “Kabuki” (meaning slanted or swaying) – a now world- famous theatre performance style.

Her statue stands by the river in Gion near to where most of her performances were made.

This district within Kyoto was establish in the 15-16^th century as a travellers and entertainment area near the Yasaka Shrine (Gion Shrine) of 634 AD. The shrine still exists.

The district today is also known as the Geisha district, named after the “Geisha” – white face-painted women who dress in traditional costumes to perform tea ceremonies, singing displays and general entertainment shows, mainly for private gatherings.

Today the area is filled with traditional wooden “Machiya” houses (townhouses), often only six metres wide on their street facing side. However, they usually extend up to four times that length from the street. Houses were taxed for the street frontages so they were deliberately built short width to the street.

The city extensively renovated these buildings and even placed overhead cables etc underground to return them to their original landscape.

Hanamikoju-Dori Street – Kyoto Geisha and entertainment area 

Now there are expensive and somewhat exclusive restaurants, teahouses and dining clubs here served by the Geishas. The area is somewhat of a throwback to a traditional Japanese village look, with exquisitely preserved houses and amenities.

If you want the ultimate Japanese Geisha experience here is where it is found. These women perform this as a lifelong career. The evening would be spent being entertained by a Geisha while dining at a teahouse. The Geisha works as an expert hostess, ensuring everyone’s enjoyment by engaging in light conversation, serving drinks, leading drinking games and performing traditional music and dance

The evening is not cheap – in fact it is a sought after, very expensive experience needing to be booked well in advance and often only accepted by recommendations from discerning folk.

Needless to say, I gave it a miss and just enjoyed the street scenery.

Here, in this district, is yet another place where you can live the experience of walking down a preserved street dressed in traditional kimonos – I saw many doing just this.

An interesting fact – the traditional dress that the studios here will dress you in, will be an inaccurate representation (but still looks good). This is because it is illegal to dress as an actual Geisha if you are not one.

Kenninji Buddhist complex

If you walk down this street to the end you arrive at something very different.

Established in 1202, this is the oldest Zen Buddhist Temple in Kyoto. Its founding monk is buried within its grounds

You enter through an ornate wooden, tiled gateway into what feels like a green park.

Little remains from that date as it suffered, like so many Kyoto and even Japanese buildings, from fires that ravaged through the wooden buildings of cities. So in the 13^th and 15^th Centuries most of the buildings were burned down,

However. a few survived so it is an eclectic mix of buildings from the 15-18^th centuries.

Having no real knowledge of this complex I was happy to wander and admire the buildings, whatever age they are. Its website is here for those who want more indepth info

The glorious white painted barn-like structures captivated me. These were some of the largest, ancient, single buildings I had seen in Japan so far.

The huge two storey pagoda-like structure was an immense dark brown building that impressed from its sheer weight and heavy look.

The Tea House

Part of the complex contains what feels like a house/tea house. You can wander the corridors and admire what I often think of a typical Japanese house – reed mats, sliding wooden doors, painted silk screen artworks, paper screens etc etc.

The inner courtyards are stupendous for their simplicity. One with a tree surrounded by a lined gravel circle within the rectangular courtyard represents Zen extreme simplicity.

Another had simple rocks placed within a mossy grassed area surrounded by trees. Local photographers clearly appreciated their designs. Several had models in traditional kiimonos seated in relaxing positions, hoping to recreate a scene evocative of ancient Japan.

One large exterior garden, with a backdrop of views of the nearby buildings lying outside the walls had me enchanted. I sat down for a while and contemplated the area – as I suppose it was designed to encourage. The raked gravel lines were supposed to represent the sea waves with rocks as islands set in the panorama.

The setting is overwhelmingly peaceful and contemplative – try it for yourself.

To get to my next place from here I had to backtrack back to Gion Shijo train station and take the train one stop north. Here I changed onto the Kyoto Metro subway system to take me to my next place, 3 stops away on the Metro.

Kyoto Nijo Castle

This castle – completed in 1626 – has a huge, tall, thick, moated outer wall extending around the almost square interior. Within, is a small similar walled, moated area with a keep in one corner.

Both held palaces that were the residences of then Shogun (warlord) of the region. The Royal residences were also here at various times over the centuries.

There were originally 55 building within the castle grounds, although not all still survive – sounding like a broken record I have to say that many buildings were burned down by various fires over the centuries.

To enter the complex, you approach the eastern huge gate through the massive defensive walls. To the left is the impressive and beautiful white pagoda style watchtower, giving you a taste for the wonder that is within.

Once through the gate, look back at what you have just passed through, as its size is impressive.

On my visit, the side area was holding an open-air festival of food and drink, which was an interesting 10 mins of browsing, though I bought nothing.

At the entrance booth you can pick up an audio guide in English, which I recommend you do. The interior has so much to see and learn about that without it you will miss some significant areas that are not obvious at first.

Once in, you follow the crows round to the left and into a huge open area with views down the length of one side of the castle outer walls. Then you approach a curved brown high gateway richly decorated in brown pine wood and gold leaf designs glinting in the sun.

Once through this gateway the main Palace lies ahead. It a huge brown wood almost barn-like building with highly decorative roof eves and yet more gold inlay.

Many parts of the Palace are off-limits but certain parts can be seen from walkways and observation points.

The open gravelled areas outside lead you round the collection of five adjoining buildings, all part of the Palace complex.

They are somewhat plain from the outside, with only the intricate carving and slatted shutter-like sections giving away its regal importance.

In its day, only high- ranking people were allowed inside and they were even limited to certain areas, The shogun would receive them in a huge hall, seated on an elevated platform.

Inside, a unique feature of part of the Palace is its “nightingale floorboards. These make a chirping noise (although I found them to be more like a creaking noise) when walked on as a protective measure to alert the guards to movement inside the building.

Imperial Gardens

Near to the palace, are picturesque water pools with landscaped rocks and pine trees. If ever there was an authentic Japanese garden scene, it is here. The backdrop of wooden buildings to the ornate pools with koi fish and manicured trees was an idyllic, almost serene rural panorama.

The gardens lead to the inner ward, where you cross another wide moat, lined with high stone defensive walls. Inside are yet more gardens and smaller ancient buildings.

In one corner, is the remains of the old keep. Its stone foundations and platform are still here but the wooden tower burned down in a huge fire in 1759 – here we are again with the constant burning down of wooden buildings in Japan.

You can climb the steps and reach the summit of the platform, from where you will get a great view over the surrounding inner and outer areas. The wooden buildings nestling between the forest of green trees is a captivating sight. You can even catch a glimpse of the city beyond the walls and the far-off mountain ranges on the horizon.

Leaving the keep, via the gate on the opposite side of the inner walls from where you entered, you can walk along the moat and take in the shade of the nearby trees. Yet more outhouses appear and the area is dotted with various wooden buildings.

The walkway leads to yet more gardens, though this time less formal with vast areas of grasslands and taller backdrop trees on the perimeter. Look across a small pond in the northern gardens and you will see two tea houses in different areas.

On the day of my visit something was happening in them. It looked like a ceremony was happening, with people moving around dressed in traditional kimonos, kneeling and being shown what to do – a tea training session?

Finally, I arrived at what is called the “Green Garden”, presumably because of the vast green lawned area. The backdrop of the tall red/orange/brown leafed trees was a sight I had seen in Tokyo and still remains with me as my quintessential Japanese tree-lined horizon view.

The walk back to the gate I had entered through, having now done a full circle of the whole interior, meant I was nearing the end of my visit here. As I approached the gatehouse exit, the white-washed walls were now tinged a gold colour as the rays of the golden sun were reflecting off their surface.

I now only had one place left to see, to make my day in Kyoto complete and I decided to walk the roughly 25 mins to get there.

Kyoto Imperial Palace

The original Heian Palace (the first one built here when the Emperor moved to Kyoto from Nara) is not in these grounds. That Palace was located to the west of the present one and when it burned down in the 12^th Century (here we go again with burndowns!), it was abandoned and demolished.

The Emperor then lived in various large villas often donated or lent to him by powerful nobles seeking rewards. Thus the “Palace” was often one of these villas. The grounds of the present Imperial Palace are huge – 1,300 metres by 700 meters – and a warning, it does take a few hours to walk around it all.

The various “Palaces” from the 12^th to 19^th century burned down no less than eight times – it’s a wonder no Emperor was ever killed in any of the burndowns!

The present one in the walled enclosed grounds dates from 1855. There are the remains of an older burned down one in the grounds nearby, in its own gardens. It was replaced by a newer, smaller one that still stands but this is now used as an official Imperial residence for the Emperor’s children.

The Sishinden or Enthronement Hall is by far the largest single building in the complex and was used up until 1913 for investitures of the new Emperor. It certainly has the largest tilled roof I have ever seen anywhere.

The buildings are huge, varied and high in number. I lost count after 20 of the individual and adjoining structures that made up guardhouses, waiting rooms, Ceremonial Halls, Grand Hall, Enthronement Hall, mediation rooms, religious rooms etc, etc.

Another warning – you can walk around the buildings and their grounds and you can see inside some buildings from outside but you can’t enter any.

The pics here give you an impression of the massive grounds and the beautiful structures with their symmetry and colours. I couldn’t even start to tell you the function of many of them, although info boards outside each one will inform you as you move around the complex.

Having seen many other complexes on my journey around Japan so far, these were certainly the most impressive if only in their sheer size – gateways were the size of large houses

The Palace has its own gardens and ponds, impressively manicured and maintained  but next door are even bigger gardens that were once part of the Imperial grounds.

Kyoto Imperial Palace Gardens

The Imperial Palace Gardens are now a free to enter public park for all to enjoy. They are massive and it takes a while to totally walk around it, to see everything.

There are formal rows of hedges and tree-lined walkways interspersed with seating areas to rest. The tall canopied trees give great shade in the heat of Summer and the browns and reds of the Autumn leaves are a sight to behold.

The landscaped gardens are used by families and groups as a recreational area and there are even cafes and a children’s playground. If you look well you can also see ethe remains of previous Palaces long gone.

The traditional Japanese garden with ponds, cherry trees and clipped trees are also here – enjoy at your leisure.

My thoughts on Kyoto

The one thing that I really regret about Kyoto is that I did not give it enough time. Yes, I often say that I wish I could have stayed longer in many places but this is one that I totally misjudged the time on.

I did see all I planned to see in the long day that I spent there and that is still possible to do. However, after seeing all the glorious sites that I thought would be just good, they actually impressed me much, much more. Hence, I began to think that the sites I decided to skip, as they seemed lesser in value, must be equally impressive.

I really enjoyed the real Japanese flavour this city gave me. I didn’t do anything Western related here (e.g. visit Museums with western art in them), so I felt immersed in ancient Japanese history and architecture …. and loved it.

I would definitely advise anyone to give Kyoto a two day visit if not more to see everything at a more leisurely pace and enjoy some Japanese food and culture along the way too.

Nov 2017

Below are some related posts on nearby places to visit. Click on the pic to view.