1) Heian Shrine (Heian-jingu)
This a large temple complex in Higashiyama north of Yasaka-jinja built in 1895 to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of Heiankyo as the capital of Japan from the 8th century to the mid-1800s. It’s near the Kyocera Museum of Art, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the Kyoto Museum of Crafts and Design and the Kyoto Zoo, so you will probably be going there for something. There are several interesting buildings and a large garden that hugs the northern side of the complex. Note: when you look at the garden entrance inside the main courtyard of the shrine, it can seem not very impressive. Early on in the walk, it’s not. But it becomes amazing the second half of the walking path.
Entry to Heian-jingu: free; entry to the Heian-jingu gardens: 600 yen pp.
2) Nanzen-ji
The Nanzen-ji temple is the head temple of the Rinzaishu-Nanzenji school, a Zen sect. It became a temple after Emperoro Kameyama donated his villa in 1291. It is considered to be above (in a supervisory role) the Gozan or Five Great Temples in Kyoto [the Five Great Temples are Tenryu-ji, Shokokuji, Kennin-ji, Tofukuji, and Manju-ji). The Nanzen-ji complex is quite large consisting of probably a dozen buildings and halls. The approach to Nanzen-ji is pleasant, with big houses and ryokans, and various shops and restaurants to either side of the street. You enter the complex through the Nanzen-ji Chumon (Central Gate).
Several interesting areas to visit include the viewing deck on Nanzen-ji Sanmon Gate (600 yen), the aqueduct (free), and the Hojo Hall and Garden (600 yen). If you only pick one of these, visit the Hojo Hall and Garden further east into the complex (google map) (there is another garden on the south side that also charges admission). You take off your shoes and walk around in socks or slippers through the wood halls viewing beautiful dry gardens, meeting and prayer rooms, and a large number of screens painted in the 17th century (some are recent replicas due to decay). Unfortunately, they don’t permit photos in most of Hojo Hall and Garden, so we don’t have any pictures of the amazing screens, rooms or most of the gardens.
3) Kiyomizudera
Kiyomizudera is one of the oldest Buddhist temples. There are records going back to 778. It’s located in eastern Kyoto at the base of the mountains. It’s a 15-20 minute walk south of Yasaka-jinja and the Gion area. The approach to Kiyomizudera includes two shopping streets Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka. There are various restaurants, as well as food, ceramics, souvenirs, and other craft item stores. If you like to eat or shop, it may take you a little while to make it through the gauntlet.
Kiyomizudera is always crowded. During our stay in Kyoto in early 2023, every other temple (including Ginkakuji) was a peaceful, calm experience with only a few people. Kiyomizudera was packed. Luckily the complex is relatively large so once you get through the ticket gate and test your strength on the three metal poles, the crowds dissipate because there are so many photogenic locations.
The main hall actually sticks out over the mountain it’s built on, so from that platform, you get some great views. Unfortunately, the love stones at Jishu Shrine were closed when we were there (remodeling in that area of the complex); when the shrine reopens, if you can walk the 30 feet between the two stones with your eyes closed, you will apparently find romance.
At the Otowa no taki (Otawa waterfall) below the main hall, three jets of water spray out from the spring in the mountain. You can use a ladle to wash your hands or drink some the water. Drinking the water apparently grants wishes.
One nice thing about Kiyomizudera is that it opens at 6 AM, so you can see the sun rise there almost any time of year.
Admission is 400 yen/person.
4) Ginkaku-ji (aka Higashiyama Jisho-ji or the Silver Pavilion)
The Silver Pavilion is probably one of the most spectacular of temples in Kyoto – it’s no wonder that it’s a UNESCO Heritage Site. Most of the walking in Ginkakuji is through the dry and wet gardens, in particular several sand sculptures, and lots and lots of moss, and of course the Silver Pavilion itself, a relatively small but beautiful temple hall.
The Pavilion got its name from the reflection of water off of the lacquer on the building; the lacquer has long since worn away, and though there were discussions about putting silver foil on the roof when Ginkakuji was renovated in the 2000s, in line with the original plans, it was decided to leave the Pavilion as is.
Admission is 500 yen/person
5) Eikan-do Temple (aka Zenrin-ji)
Eikan-do Temple might just be better than Kiyomizudera. Beautiful art and architecture, lovely expansive gardens, chanting monks, beautiful view of the city, no crowds. This is the head temple for the Seizan branch of Pure Land Buddhism. Eikan-do is particularly known for fall foliage and nightly illumination during the summer. Even in winter the gardens are beautiful so they must be amazing in summer and autumn. As we strolled around and through buildings, including a prayer hall, we could hear monks chanting and then came upon a monk clanging a big bell. There are lots of small, self-contained gardens that are only visible from one location as well as several ponds with enormous carp. Finally, you can climb up the hill a bit and get a view from the pagoda.
6) Tetsugaku no michi (Philosopher’s Path or Walk)
The Philosopher’s Path (google maps) is a walk along a shallow canal that brings water from Lake Biwa. This path connects Nanzen-ji to Ginkaku-ji and goes past many temples and shrines. One temple of note is Eikan-do, just north of Nanzenji (see discussion above). There are number of shops and interesting buildings/houses along the canal. You can probably walk without stopping between Nanzenji and Ginkakuji in about 30 minutes. The path is well-signposted to indicate the direction of each temple.
7) Pontocho-dori
There are a number of narrow streets in and around the Gion. Perhaps the best known is Pontocho-dori (Google maps), a stretch of about 500 meters packed with izakayas and food shops. Best seen at night when everything is open and both tourists and locals pack the alley.
8) Tenryu-ji temple
Tenryu-ji is a large temple complex located in Arashiyama (west of central Kyoto). It has lovely gardens and buildings you can explore. (Note that the buildings (Main Hall entrance) and gardens have separate entry fees of 600 yen each.). We had made reservations at Shigetsu (the Zen vegetarian restaurant on the grounds of Tenryu-ji) and you have to pay to enter the garden to get to the restaurant (see below and Food in Kyoto). So, after a lovely lunch, we spent most of our time in the gardens. In the winter, the garden feels a little sparse but the rock formations and ponds stand out more. In February, when we were there, camellias were blooming, plum trees were just starting to bloom and all the other plants just had buds. The garden is well-sign posted with plant names.
If you want to eat at Shigetsu, you must request reservations at least 3 days in advance and pick the set meal you want. We picked the Tsuki set (5500 yen), which is described as rice, soup and 6 side dishes but had several other ‘appetizer’ type dishes as well. Those dishes included soy milk hot pot, vegetable tempura, a type of chawan mushi made of wheat gluten (rather than egg), simmered vegetables, a dish of sweet items including yuzu mochi, pickled ginger stem, candied nuts, and fresh fruit for dessert. It was a lot of food, so prepare yourself for being hungry before getting there! Also, note that guests typically sit on the floor (on tatami mats) but we saw some people request a low chair.
While in Arashiyama, we decided to visit the Monkey Park. There is a group of macaque monkeys living on the top of Mt. Arashiyama. You walk uphill for about 20 minutes to 160 meters above sea level for an expansive view of the city and lots of macaques. Apparently the group consists of over 120 monkeys – we probably saw 40 or 50 just in one area. They are wild in the sense that they aren’t caged, and you shouldn’t pet or get close to them, but you can feed them small bags of apples or peanuts you purchase on-site for 100 yen (so it’s not clear how well they know how to forage on their own). The monkeys are not afraid of humans so they were just walking around us or flopping down next to us to groom. You can also walk to the top of the mountain – it’s another 10-15 minutes walk and there are apparently more macaques further along (we did not go to the top.). Cost is 600 yen.
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is contained within the Kyoto Goen National Garden, a huge rectangle in the middle of the city that’s 1.3 km (north to south) by 0.7 km (east to west). You can enter the gardens in a variety of locations (no entry charge) and meander your way to the center where the Kyoto Imperial Palace complex is located. The entrance to the Palace complex is in the middle of the western wall (so don’t do like we did, which was start at the northeast corner and go all the way around…). Entrance to the Palace complex is free as well and they sometimes offer guided tours (though not necessarily in English) – the days we were there, they didn’t seem to be offering any tours. The buildings are well sign-posted in both Japanese and English, though unfortunately you can’t go into any of the buildings if you aren’t on a tour. There are also shrines, meeting halls, gardens, screens and courtyards you get to see along the way. It is absolutely worth visiting to get a sense of the grandeur of Kyoto as the capital of Japan for almost 1,000 years – this was the center of everything.
This villa was built by the Mitsui family in 1925 and is definitely worth visiting. This family still owns a conglomerate that included Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, Sapporo Brewing, Isetan Mitsukoshi and many other companies, including non-Japanese companies. The villa was the home of the patriarch of the family for 2 generations until it was donated to the city in 1949. The villa has classic late Taisho architecture and a nice garden. It’s interesting to see how they adapted modern changes into classic architecture. For example, the tea room has a small alcove with a water faucet and cooktop. Very few tourists seem to visit here, yet it’s only 10 minutes walk north of the Gion. Located south of the Shimogamo-jinja, it costs 500 yen per person.
There are approximately 270 handicrafts designated as Traditional Industry items in Japan. Of those, 74 were created or based in Kyoto. This small museum highlights those crafts. Many of the crafts have hands-on components as well as some good videos and exhibits on how the crafts are done. Some of the items in the museum are for sale and there is also a museum shop highlighting various craft items. This museum is part of the complex of museums near Heian shrine and is good to visit if you are in the area. Even if you go slowly, this museum probably will take no more than an hour. Admission is free (though the special exhibits do require a fee).
(not to be confused with the Kyoto National Museum)
This museum focuses on the history of Kyoto; its beginnings as the capital of Japan, its growth over the 1,000 year period as capital and its ‘rebirth’ after about 1870 into a modern city. Unfortunately, just about all the signs and descriptions are in Japanese. So, if you have the patience to do google translate on every sign, this museum provides a concise and interesting historical review. Special exhibits while we were there include color photos taken in Kyoto just after World War II, a hina (doll) exhibit, and an amazing scroll and screen exhibit highlighting a school of artists from the 18th and 19th centuries. Additionally, there was a free live brass band performance while we were there so it was fun to explore the museum grounds while listening to music.
Admission is 700 yen per person. No photos were allowed in the museum so no slide show here.
14) Nijo Castle (Nijo-jo)
Highly recommended. Nijo Castle was built as the Kyoto residence for the Tokugawa shogunate (Tokyo aka Edo continued to serve as the capital but the Imperial Court was based in Kyoto). It was built by the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1601. A number of significant historical events occurred at Nijo Castle, in particular the transfer of power from the Tokugawa Shogunate to the Emperor in 1867. The castle consists of two sections – the Outer Keep and the Inner Keep. You can explore the Ninomaru Palace in the outer keep, where you can see various screens, paintings and some recreations with mannikins showing how the Shogun received visitors and councilors.
Like most of the older buildings in Japan, you find the same two things here – the buildings are made of wood, and the majority of the them burned down at least once and have been rebuilt. That doesn’t take away from the impressiveness of the buildings, as you learn about components of the buildings that were kept or left out in the next revision. The inner keep has more gardens and several buildings there are under significant reconstruction when we were there. You can climb the foundation of the inner keep tower and get a spectacular view of the Nijo Castle grounds. Be sure to have at least 2 100 yen coins so you can buy food for the carp and feed them in the moat at the entrance to the inner keep. (You can also feed the pigeons there with the fish food. We did, and got some of the pigeons to come onto our arms to eat. Then I captured one and had fun holding it for awhile!)
There are also several gardens, including a plum (Japanese apricot) grove (plums bloom between early February and late March), several dry gardens and the relatively recently built Seiryu-en garden, which is used to receive foreign dignitaries. There are two teahouses located in Seiryu-en – Waraku-an serves tea and sweets, while Koun-tei is a reservation-only teahouse that serves breakfast in the summer and lunch in the winter. When we tried to go to Koun-tei to make reservations, we were intercepted by an employee who wouldn’t let us near the teahouse and also wouldn’t tell us how to get reservations. After some research, we found that the meals are provided by Isobe, a Kyoto cuisine restaurant near Maruyama Park and Yasaka-jinja. Although several articles indicated one could make reservations online for Koun-tei, we determined that only an in-person visit (or maybe a phone call) was likely to work.
Admission to Nijo-jo is 1300 yen per person for adults.
15) Kodai-ji Temple
This temple is located a few minutes north of Kiyomizudera and surrounded by several other temples including Entoku-in and Ryozen-Kannon.
You can buy a ticket that combines a visit to Kodai-ji and Entoku-in, and save 200 yen (ticket price is 900 yen pp). Both temples are worth seeing so if you have time consider doing it. Each takes about 30 minutes to walk through. Entoku-in didn’t allow photos but you get to walk through the temple, view screens and look out over a lovely garden.
16) Kinkaku-ji (The Gold Pavilion)
Another UNESCO World Heritage Site and it’s pretty spectacular. This complex dates from before 1397; but in 1397, the third shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate (Ashikaga Yoshimitsu) purchased and expanded the villa and surrounding buildings, which at the time were called the Kitayama Palace because this became the Shogun’s center of power. He specified that when he died, he wanted the villa to be turned into a temple; the original name for the complex was Rokuon-ji (and that name is sometimes still used today). The gold pavilion is what it says – a pavilion coated in gold. There is a pond and gardens that surround the pavilion, as well as some other wood buildings that in any other complex would be the highlight. More touristy than many sites, as there are several shops for temple goods (charms, wood prayer items, etc.), as well as shops for souvenirs and food.
Note that Kinkaku-ji is a little bit out of the way from other sights (it’s in northwestern Kyoto) but relatively easy to reach by bus – from the center of Kyoto, it’s about 40 minutes. Exploring the complex takes maybe an hour.
Cost is 400 yen pp.
You can walk (1-2 km) to several other temples near Kinkaku-ji, including Kitano Temmangu, which has a lovely plum tree garden in bloom from late January to late March, and Ryoan-ji, which has highly regarded dry Zen temple gardens.
This is the largest Inari shrine in Japan. Inari is the kami (deity) of agriculture and, in particular, rice. So, farmers and sake brewers often come to an Inari shrine to pray – you often see sheaves of rice and other grains, as well as sake barrels, at various halls and shrines in these complexes. There are many Inari shrines throughout Japan; they are distinctive due to the bright red torii (arches) that typically grace the entrance to a shrine. In the case of Fushimi Inari-taisha, there are thousands of torii throughout the shrine that you walk through and around.
The shrine is in the Fushimi district of Tokyo, and is on a very large area of land that also includes Mt. Inari. Other temples, such as Tofuku-ji, Sennyu-ji and Unryu-in temples, are nearby. To get to Fushimi Inari, you walk up a food/souvenir street to the shrine entrance. You can continue up the food/souvenir street to enter the shrine or turn right and then walk through a gigantic torii to enter the shrine, passing by a number of bright orange buildings also selling souvenirs and food. That’s when the thousands of torii start. There are various paths to take but it’s hard to get lost as it seems all the paths eventually lead to the top or the bottom. There are many smaller shrines throughout the property (many are numbered on the map; some are just along the side of the path), such as the frog shrine, the dragon shrine and the sword shrine. The snake waterfall is near the top of Mt. Inari and a little off the beaten path but fun to see. The top of Mt. Inari itself is a fun challenge to reach but the views of Kyoto are better from spots just below the final loop reaching the summit. Overall, it takes about 2-2.5 hours to make your way to the top while sightseeing along the way.
There is no admission to enter Fushimi Inari.
18) Tofuku-ji
This beautiful temple complex is located just north of Fushimi Inari Taisha, and consists of various sub-temples, some of which are also open for exploring. The buildings here are incredible – far larger than almost any other temple. There are many Japanese maples trees here and photos taken in the fall are amazing. We definitely recommend visiting, especially since the crowds are far smaller at Tofuku-ji versus Fushimi Inari next door.
It’s free to enter the temple grounds, and 1000 yen for ticket that covers both the gardens, and a long bridge and some shrines.
Day Trip 1) Tamba Sasayama
Tamba Sasayama is a town in Hyogo prefecture, west of Osaka. We took a day trip there to explore towns further out from Kyoto. It was fun to see another part of Japan and we definitely recommend Tamba Sasayama if you have extra time in/around Kyoto or Osaka.
While there, we ate botan nabe (wild boar hot pot) which the town is known for, visited a samurai house, explored the castle, visited the local sake brewery/shop and explored the merchant street which has many preserved homes and stores.
Boten nabe is served by a number of restaurants in Tamba Sasayama; there are several at the most central intersection where the bus drops you off in town (Nikaicho stop). Check the photos to see some obvious botan nabe restaurants… There are also a number of well-preserved samurai houses to the west of the castle grounds – two that you can visit are the Aoyama History Village and the Anma Family Samurai Residence. The houses show some of the furniture, gardens, clothing and art of the samurai from about 150 years ago.
The castle was originally built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa Shogun who was based in Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo). It was a strategically important location that helped defend against lords who were further west and and loyal to the Osaka shogun, Toyotomi Hideyori. The palace itself has burned down several times, most recently in 1945. But with extensive records and drawings, it was faithfully reproduced a few years later. You can explore various rooms in the palace, see some beautiful screens and see many suits of samurai armor. We also visited the Houmei Sake Brewery shop (Google map location of shop). Their sake was ok; they had some interesting blends, including a chestnut and sake drink. Finally, we walked along the Kawaramachi Tsumairi Merchant Housing District. This 3 block stretch had a number of interesting-looking shops – unfortunately, only a few were open, apparently because tourists haven’t really returned to Tamba Sasayama post-COVID.
It’s about 2 hours by train from Kyoto; there are several different trains that get you there (JR and locals), with a short bus ride from Sasayamaguchi station to the town, so use Google Maps/directions to identify the best route. We used Sasayama Castle Oshoin as our destination for mapping. At Sasayamaguchi station, there is also a tourist office with various brochures in English (to give you an idea of the paucity of foreign tourists – the tourist office folks wanted to give us English-language brochures but had to literally rip open sealed box after box to find brochures for us). At the first place we visited (Anma Family Samurai Residence), we bought a ticket for the 4 main attractions, the Anma Residence, Aoyama History Village, Sasayama Castle Oshoin and the Museum of History. The combo-ticket cost 600 yen.
Day Trip 2) Nara
Nara, less than an hour south of Kyoto by train, also served as the capital of Japan from 710 to 794, and has a number of temples, shrines and gardens to explore. In addition, Nara is famous for its deer – they wander around all the sites and even across streets, looking for food and rest spots. We visited Todai-ji, Isui-en garden, Yoshikien garden, Kasuga-taisha shrine and Nara Park.
Isui-en garden was lovely; there are several different areas to visit and some sections include borrowed landscapes. Borrowed landscapes means that temples and mountains nearby are part of the view, and it can be breathtaking. There is also a teahouse at Isui-en (Sanshutei) where you can have tea or amazake, as well as small lunch sets. We enjoyed amazake while looking out over the garden. We recommend visiting Isui-en first when you arrive at Nara, as the crowds tend to go straight to Todai-ji first, leaving Isui-en almost empty in the morning. Right next door to Isui-en is Yoshikien garden, a smaller but equally nice garden to visit.
From there we visited Todai-ji temple. Todai-ji is well-known for its 3 enormous buddha statues (inside the buddha hall). There are also various large metal sculptures (of lotuses and other items) inside the buddha hall.
Kasuga-taisha can be reached either by a 15 minute walk or a short bus ride from Todai-ji. It’s an inari shrine with many sub-shrines throughout the grounds. It’s a pleasant way to spend an hour or two as once you pass the main entrance, the crowds dissipate and you are mostly walking in the woods. Like other inari shrines, there are a lot of torii, as well as hundreds of metal, stone and wood lanterns.
You can pet and feed the deer all over town – many are in Nara Park but really you can find them almost anywhere you walk in or around the sights. Most deer are happy to let you pet them, though if they find out you don’t have food, they wander away. Deer food (crackers) cost 200 yen no matter where you go. Be aware that the deer can get pretty aggressive when you have the crackers, so be careful with kids feeding the deer. Sarah was nipped in the butt (more surprising than painful, fortunately), and the deer will try to eat any paper or other dangling items you are holding.
Isui-en costs 1200 yen pp. This usually includes admission to the Neiraku Museum, located on site at the garden. When we visited the museum was closed for exhibit set-up. Yoshikien garden is free – note that there is a gate at the entrance to the garden so it might look like it’s closed. Just push the gate open to go inside the garden. For Todai-ji, you can pay to enter the buddha hall (600 yen) or both the museum and buddha hall (1000 yen). We did not go the museum, because we were kind of museum’ed out that day. Kasuga-taisha is free to enter.
Two train stations serve Nara, a JR station and a Kintetsu station. Most of the sites are more easily accessible via the Kintetsu station.
Day trip 3) Osaka
Osaka is Japan's third-largest city (after Tokyo and Yokohama) and has many sights to see. We spent a half-day there from Kyoto to visit a few targeted spots: Osaka Castle, Kuromon Market and Global Insect Pet Shop.
Osaka Castle is on a pretty massive piece of land in the middle of Osaka. Just getting to Osaka Castle and getting through Osaka Castle Park from a nearby subway station takes more than 15 minutes. The castle itself is quite large and can be seen from far away in the city. It's probably worth visiting but does feel a little like Disneyland - there are huge tourist crowds and the inside of Osaka Castle is quite modern. There are various museums and exhibitions on the 7 floors of the castle, with the 8th floor being the observation floor. Other castles such as Nijo Castle and Sasayama Castle have a more historic feel.
The Kuromon market feels a little like Nishiki market in Kyoto, though it is somewhat bigger and has wider pedestrian streets. Nearby to Kuromon (mostly towards Namba station) are a number of other covered streets (Namba market). There are many food stores and restaurants in this area, so it should be easy to find food everyone likes. We also visited a Rikuro cheesecake store; it's less of a cheesecake and more of a fluffy souffle or pancake.
Finally, we visited the beetle shop, Global Insect Pet Shop. They have several dozen species of live beetles and larvae, and it was fun to see all of them as moving animals rather than pinned specimens or from books.
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