Alone In Kyoto

I went for a walk in a Buddhist temple complex near where we stayed on our last day in Kyoto. It was all very Zen.

Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Fushimi Inari in Kyoto is the primary Shinto shrine in Japan dedicated to the spirit of Inari. Inari is the protector of cereal grains (especially rice) and is associated with wealth. As a result, many families and businesses will donate barrels of rice wine or vermilion torri gates as offerings. As Fushimi is the principal Inari shrine in Japan, many have donated and paths leading to the shrine are lined with over 10,000 torri gates!

Inaria's official messengers are foxes, and so shrines are often adorned with fox sculptures. There is even a special sushi dedicated to Inari made of rice-filled sweetened tofu called Inari-zushi. Sounds nasty, but they are some tasty nums!

Ginkaku-ji 銀閣寺

Built in 1474, Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion) was commissioned by the grandson of the Shogun who built Kinkaku-ji temple. Originally intended to emulate the Golden Pavilion with a covering of silver leaf, the cost of an ongoing war at the time prevented the structure from ever reaching completion. While the Silver Pavilion may not live up to its intentions, the surrounding gardens more than make up for any lack of "bling".

Kinkaku-ji 金閣寺

The Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion Temple) is one of Kyoto's most famous sites. The original structure was built in 1397 as a retirement villa for a local Shogun. Later, it was converted into a Zen Buddhist temple.

In 1950 the temple was burned to the ground by a disturbed monk obsessed with its beauty. The current structure dates from 1955 and is completely covered in pure gold leaf apart from the ground floor.

Maiko

On one of our days in Kyoto, we took in the annual Spring Dances which are performed by apprentice geisha called maiko. The dances were performed at the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theatre, complete with a tea ceremony previous to the performance. I tried to wear my best, but couldn't help feeling like a bum as many locals wore their kimonos to attend. There were even some geisha in the audience!

Kyoto

After taking in Hiroshima, we moved on to Kyoto. There was so much to see there that we easily could have stayed a week and still not seen all the sights. After awhile though, every temple and shrine starts to look the same, and it was easy to feel over saturated with all the history that surrounded us. A beautiful place to see, but after three days we were wrecked. These first series of pictures were all taken in the Gion district of the city.

Mount Misen

After visiting the shrine, we hiked to a cable car that took us to the summit of Mount Misen, the highest point on Miyajima. Though clouds were moving in at the top, we still had a great view of the Seto Inland Sea.