Kyoto–Day 6

So I hit the road for my first full day in Kyoto.

As you can see the weather was fine and a rather hot 27 degrees C. I headed east from my hotel.

I crossed the Kamo River.

I walked along Shichijo-dori towards the Sanjusangen-do temple.

I think I paid about 600 Yen to gain entry.

Apparently it is the longest wood structure in the world. They used to have archery competition along the veranda.  Apparently they still do but only once a year as a ceremony to honour tradition.

It is certainly an impressive structure from the outside.

After skirting the exterior I removed my shoes and went inside. Again, unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos but one side of the hall is filled with rows and rows of statues (and that would be hundreds) and one large statue in centre which is of the god ‘Kannon’. There are 1,000 smaller statues of Kannon with 124 made in the 12th century and 876 made in the 13th century.

There are also 28 statues in front of the 1001 Kannon statues that protect the Buddhist deity Kannon.

I continued my journey east and ran across more temples.

Interestingly, many of these were quite active with some even conducting services inside.

I came across a crowd of people heading up the hill and since that was in the general direction I wanted to head I followed along.

At the end of the road was the Kiyomizu temple.

The first sight is the gate which you walk through and head towards the temple.

View back from the gate over Kyoto.

Near the gate is this pagoda.

From memory you pay 300 yen to enter the temple (which isn’t very much at all).

This temple has an impressive veranda that is held together without a single nail.

Impressive to think that there are no nail holding all those people up the veranda.

The path then winds through a wonderful garden and makes it way back around to the front of the temple.

Back down the hill I went with everyone else.

After a few twists and turns I ended up at the Yasaka Pagoda. Note the Geisha in the front wearing green.

Here’s an examples of the streets in the area.

I then entered a memorial dedicated to the Japanese soldiers who dies in World War II. There is a small fee to enter and you also get an incense stick.

I also found an interesting memorial to all Allied soldiers killed in Japan during war (during their internment I believe). There is soil from these countries in a shelf off to teh side (including Australia).

People were also heading up the hill here so I joined them.

There seemed to be some sort of entry fee to go further up the hill so I kept going and found a path on the side that didn’t charge a fee.

At the top were two temples and a graveyard.

Interestingly, this area was far less trodden than the paid area (which you can see over a fence). It is therefore in much better condition.

So back down the hill I headed again, snapping this outside a new museum.

I continued through the street coming across many temples and other interesting sites.

I also came across the big cemetery with great view across Kyoto.

Yasaka Shrine

Heian Shrine