15 September 2024
Kyoto is old Japan writ large: atmospheric temples, sublime gardens, traditional teahouses and geisha scurrying to secret liaisons. We may well have travelled here by bullet train, but after that it was a step into Japanese history. While Tokyo and Osaka are witnesses to Japan’s incredible progress and modernity, Kyoto is all about its past.
Such is the beauty of Kyoto that Allied generals agreed not to bomb it during the final days of the Second World War. Luckily for us because here the traditions and architecture are to be found nowhere else in Japan. Seventeen world heritage sites are dotted in and around Kyoto, mostly immaculate Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines; but there are also ethereal zen gardens, bustling food markets and an impressive range of day trips available further afield.
The only downsides we encountered were the heaving throng of tourist crowds and the relentless and humid late-summer heat as we plodded to and from these majestic shrines but in the end, it was a small price to pay to witness such beauty.
With over 2000 temples on offer, how many you actually visit depends on how much time and temple tolerance you have. We managed to visit at least one every day and although there was a common Buddhist/Shinto theme to them all, each had its own particular history and spiritual importance as well as their unique natural surroundings.
Fushimi Inari is perhaps Japan’s most remarkable and photographed Shinto shrine. Dedicated to Inari, the God of good harvests and business, it was awash with the selfie-set but it is unmissable all the same. Ten thousand vermilion torii gates line paths around Mount Inari. The practice of donating a gate to the temple has been in place since the Edo Period and carries on today as businesses celebrate their successes with an act of gratitude. The full loop takes over two hours to complete, but it was worth making the climb to the top to avoid the throng of visitors that populate the lower levels.
Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, has had more misadventures than most other temples. This gleaming temple, whose two top floors are completely covered with gold leaf, has been burnt down several times in the 600 years since it was first built, the most recent being in 1950, before being restored to its current splendour.
No visit to Kyoto could be complete without a visit to the humungous Chion-in, home of the Jodo, or Pure Land, sect of Buddhism, the largest in Japan. This headquarters is suitably grand and was originally founded in 1234AD. Highlights around these august grounds include the Sanmon, one of the largest wooden gates in Japan, the Mieido, the main temple hall and a national treasure and the largest bell in Japan, which is almost 400 years old and takes 17 monks to ring it each new year.
Within walking distance of the temple grounds are two other temples worthy of a visit, Nanzenji Temple and Yasaka Shrine. Another beautiful temple belonging to the Jodo sect is Eikando, whose main buildings are built alongside the base of the hillside and are connected by wooden corridors. Its most recognizable building, is its Tahoto Pagoda, which is nestled in the trees on the hillside above the temple's other buildings and from which the city of Kyoto can be seen. The gardens are beautiful.
Away from the temples, there was lots of other things to see and do in Kyoto.
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is one of the most photographed sights in Kyoto. It is very crowded but still worth the long bus ride out from the city and not just for the photo shoot. No picture can quite capture the feeling of standing in the midst of this sprawling bamboo grove, the whole thing has a palpable sense of otherness that is quite unlike that of any normal forest I have been to.
There is an argument to say that the Nishiki Market is at once the most and least Japanese place in Kyoto. On one hand, you can find lots of traditional foods here, on the other, there’s something slightly chaotic about this narrow lane packed tight with loud hawkers and it can get elbow-to-elbow busy. The place is nonetheless worth a diversion. We tasted the fried dumplings, washed down with sake.
Geisha, or geiko as they’re called in Kyoto, are one of the icons of the city. These skilled hostesses and entertainers are usually employed at dinners and other high-end events at venues along the lantern-lined streets of the Gion neighbourhood. Like the geiko themselves, the district is a living tribute to the Edo era, with its narrow wooden storefronts and stores dedicated to traditional handicrafts creating the perfect backdrop for a step back in time. The best way to experience Gion is with an evening stroll around the atmospheric streets lined with 17th-century traditional restaurants and teahouses lit up with lanterns.
Like many of the main train stations in Japan, Kyoto’s is much more than a functional transport hub. This huge, labyrinthine building, in which we got lost more than once, has its own department store and dozens of restaurants. The majority of the city’s best budget hotels are also located around it; we were lodged at the Miyako Hotel and were very satisfied with the price/quality ratio it offered.
The hotel was also conveniently located close to our favourite ramen restaurant, the Aeon Shopping Mall (featuring Daiso’s and Uniqlo) and Don Quixote’s (for a little well-earned indulging after the daily pilgrimages to the temples).
Behind the Miyako, we came across another iconic temple, Toji, dating originally from 796 and featuring amongst several impressive buildings, a five-storey wooden pagoda, the highest in Japan.
But now it was time to move on to our next destination and so we boarded the Shinkansen once again, this time in the direction of Hiroshima.
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