7 hours in Kyoto 京都市 - Part 1

Kyoto

Kyoto was the capital of Japan between 794 and 1868. Kyoto actually means "capital city" and was originally called Heiankyō. Bizarrely there is an argument as to whether Kyoto is still Japan's legal capital, although it is a bit of a stretch.

Kyoto is a beautiful old city and one of the few places in Japan that was spared the devastating fire bombings of WW2. Apart from WW2, Kyoto had many fires and earthquakes over the centuries and like most Japanese cities there are only pockets of history in an otherwise very concrete, very modern city. that said, Kyoto is a by rights, a major tourist trap and well worth a visit.

We chose to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto, which took 60 minutes (30 minutes from our house into town and 30 minutes from Nagoya station to Kyoto station). We did this because the 150km trip by car takes 2.5 hours if the traffic is good but took our friends five hours when the traffic was bad.

There is a lot to see in Kyoto and we expect to visit again. We had a terrific time and the highlights were some Japanese dry/rock gardens as well as a ubiquitous temples.

As usual the photos below follow our journey though the day.


Getting started

A bit slow getting in the train station, we were not sure where we were going, and in the end we used a local bus to get us to the Gion district. Promptly got off the bus too early and luckily ended up near kiyomizu-dera.

We started the day walking up what happened to be some of the most famous tourist shopping streets in Kyoto, Sannen-zaka ("three-year-slope") and Ninen-zaka ("two-year-slope"), both are stepped streets leading toward Kiyomizu-dera temple. Next time we will come here at the end of the day and go shopping as we were not willing to purchase many items as we would have had to carry them all day.

Warning - slipping over on these streets brings three or two years' bad luck respectively. - wiki

Kiyomizu
One of the many shops open for business

Kiyomizu
Fan Shop

Kiyomizu
Hair Pins

Kiyomizu-dera 清水寺

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple complex that overlooks Kyoto. kiyoi mizu (清い水) means "pure water" and the temple is named after a waterfall inside the temple complex.

Kiyomizu-dera is built completely out of wood and like much in Japan, it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since 798 when it was founded. The present buildings date from the 17th century.

Of all the temples in Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera is probably the most famous.

Kiyomizu
Photo Copyright - New Seven Wonders of the World

The temple is a complex of many buildings, each with its own history and importance. I have borrowed this photo from the New Seven Wonders of the World website. It is taken from a balloon and gives an idea of the temple that I could never photograph myself.


Kiyomizu
Kiyomizu-dera is one of 21 finalists in the new seven wonders of the world competition to be drawn on the 7-7-2007.


new seven wonders of the world Finalists

The Acropolis, Greece
Alhambra City, Spain
Angkor, Cambodia
Chichen Itzá City/pyramid, Mexico,
Christ Redeemer Statue, Rio - Brazil
The Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Easter Island, Chile
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
Great Wall of China
Hagia Sophia （Istanbul not Constantinople), Turkey
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto Japan
Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
Machu Picchu, Peru
Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
Petra, Jordan
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Statue of Liberty, USA
Stonehenge, UK
Sydney Opera House, Australia
Taj Mahal , India
Timbuktu, Mali

Here are my top seven
Great Wall of China
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Stonehenge, UK
Taj Mahal , India
Easter Island, Chile
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
Machu Picchu, Peru

Kiyomizu
Stairs leading to the temple

Kiyomizu
The Nio-mon (Gate). The lion-dogs (koma-inu) protect the temple from evil.

Kiyomizu
The Nio-mon (Gate)

Kiyomizu
still walking

Kiyomizu
The Sanju-no-to (Three Storied Pagoda), the tallest of it's type in Japan

Kiyomizu
Looking back over Kyoto

Kiyomizu
New Year wishes, not the boar pictures.

Kiyomizu
Walking through the temple grounds

Kiyomizu
Kyodo (sutra hall). Looking back where we have just walked

Kiyomizu
Water to cleanse before entering the shrine. See kateigaho's page for the proper etiquette

Kiyomizu
Footprints of the Buddha

Kiyomizu
Hondo(Main Hall)

Kiyomizu
Butai (dancing stage). Looking out toward the mountains

Kiyomizu
Butai (dancing stage). The stage is held up by wooden scaffolds that extends the stage 10 meters over a 12 meter cliff.

Kiyomizu
Shinto Jishu Shrine. Omamori (amulets) for sale. The top left is the "Happy lover/ happy marriage" amulet.The bottom right are two for "safe traffic". I am a bit worried that "Safe traffic" comes in two sizes!!

Kiyomizu
Amida-do, is a small shrine housing 180 small images of Jizo a Bodhisattva (enlightened one).
" According to folklore if you come to pray at Hyakutai Jizo and see the face of your deceased child you can be sure that your child is at peace." - Yamasa.org

Kiyomizu
A view from further around of the Butai (dancing stage). You can now see how the stage is built on a cliff

The expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" (「清水の舞台から飛び降りる」) is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive jumping from the stage, one's wish would be granted....though the practice is now prohibited. 234 jumps were recorded in Edo period and of those, 85.4 percent survived. - wiki

Kiyomizu
Some of the prettiest views were toward the end of the temple walk

Kiyomizu
Temple pond




Continued on Page 2

Page two contains lots of photos of

Yasaka Shrine ( Gion)
Nanzen-ji
zenrin-ji
Kinkaku-ji


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