Kyoto Part 1

Kyoto

Kyoto was the second Capital of Japan, and the city is laid out in a large grid pattern making it easier to navigate. The city was spared a lot of bombings during WW2, due to the many historical landmarks around the city. It has a lot of temples and shrines worth checking out, so we decided to hit the most famous on our first visit.

We had a national holiday on Monday, which meant we had a 3 day weekend. Although Kyoto is only 45 minutes away by train from Osaka, we decided to stay for the weekend and do touristy stuff. We stayed near Kawaramachi which is near the Gion area, famous for the historical looking streets and access to some sights.

This was also the end of some travel discounts for locals, right before opening Japan up fully to foreign tourists. It was the most crowded we have seen at tourist spots so far, but still only medium crowded by Japan standards.

Our trip started with a 45 minute train ride from Umeda Osaka Station. We took the Hankyu line, since that took us directly to Kawaramachi which was the area we were staying and near Shijo/Gion.

Yasaka Shrine

Yasaka Shrine has been around since the 7th century and is notable for being at the eastern end of the Gion district and hosting the Gion festival. The festival has been an annual tradition since the 800s! We missed it this year, maybe if we’re still around next summer we can check it out.

Gion District

Gion area has retained it’s historical wooden look and is filled with shops, restaurants and tea houses. It is also known for Geisha and Maiko (Geisha in training) culture and sometimes can be spotted walking about the area. Some Gion restaurants and establishments are known to be exclusive, where you need an introduction by another patron and lots of money to even enter. I even found many of the streets didn’t allow photos, there were threats of fines and many signs. Kyoto can be a bit snobbish, or sophisticated if put nicely:)

But to get to to Kiyomisutera, there is a nice long walk lined with many touristy shops and a lot more accommodating for the fellow travelers. We had lunch at an Italian place, a bit odd in Gion but M was craving some pizza! The place seemed a bit pricey at first, but they had a nice course menu that included a drink and dessert so it was actually quite reasonable. Still, we should expect to pay touristy prices around this area.

After lunch, we made our pilgrimage towards the temple, and ran into another. It’s like you can’t help yourself running into stuff around here!

If you were feeling tired making your way up the hill towards the temple, there are some rickshaws for hire.

We noticed a lot of Japanses tourists dressed up in kimonos. It looks like that is a thing, and we did stumble onto quite a few Kimono rentals shops along the way… I guess it makes sense you wanna dress up to see some historical sites, take some photos, and then maybe have the rickshaw take you around.

While M was chomping down an ice cream, we spotted a Geisha or Maiko walking down the steps. Too bad she is out of focus, but we just saw maybe 2 or 3 during our outing. We could tell she wasn’t a tourist, due to the heavy traditional white makeup and design of her extravagant wear.

Kiyomizutera

Not a bad entrance, it’s just a short hike from here to the rest of the temple.

There are a few interesting looking temples along the way.

This place is on every guidebook, if not the front cover. I remember visiting as a kid, young adult and that means there is something quite striking about this place above the hundreds of other temples in Japan. Kyoto is almost synonymous with Kiyomizutera, and even for locals it’s the first thing that pops into their heads. M loved it, especially standing out on the terrace and getting a nice view back onto Kyoto. When continuing down from the temple, you also get a nice view of the wooden beams holding up that terrace and why it feels like you’re standing high above the hill and trees.

Below that temple, there is also 3 little streams of spiritual water we get to catch in these long handled ladles. There are some significance to each one, and we washed our hands with it for good luck. Some folks were drinking it, that’s true belief!

After all that, we walked back to our hotel and the step counter reached 20k! I feel the walk is part of the experience, especially in Gion near the temple so M didn’t even seem to mind the long trek. There are a ton of shops, street food and tea spots so we’d pick up a snack when needing more motivation:).