Kyoto: a visit to the historical wonders of Old Japan

By far the majority of tourists in Japan visit Kyoto as part of their travel or as their main destination. We have visited the Kyoto sights countless times. Isa has lived in Kyoto, too. So we know what we are talking about: Kyoto is a fantastic place to visit.

One of the best views over Kyoto

Signs on the walkway below the blooming cherry trees say that tripods are forbidden by all means. The congestion caused by all the visitors taking snapshots with their smart phones and digital cameras easily explains why it wouldn’t be a good idea to let gear-conscious Japanese amateur photographers put up their tripods and massive lenses in this bottleneck of the walking route around Kiyomizu temple. This spot offers the best views (and photo opportunities) of one of Kyoto’s most famous temples.

The Kiyomizu temple was founded more than 1200 years ago. That was just after the founding of the city itself. It is famous for its enormous wooden veranda projecting high into the mountain side. Of course, the veranda offers good views of the city. Women in colourful yukatas take pictures of each other and giggle trying to climb the long stairs. Many of them are Asian tourists. On their visit to Kyoto they are for the first time wearing the traditional Japanese garment which restricts leg movement. The lane leading up to the temple is lined with souvenir shops. In the afternoon you often have to queue just to pass up or down.

The top highlight for most visitors of Kyoto – the Golden Pavillon

With millions of visitors Kyoto’s most visited site, however, is a Zen temple called Rokuon-ji. Most visitors know it as the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji). Originally the retirement villa of a fabled 14^th-century Shogun (or military ruler), this gold-coated pavilion burned down in 1950 in an Arson attack by a mentally disturbed novice monk. This real-life story became even more famous when Mishima Yukio adapted it into a novel and Ichikawa Kon into a movie.

The city soon rebuilt the Golden Pavillon using five times as much gold as before. The small golden building mirrored in the lake looks truly splendid and accordingly attracts droves of Japan travellers.

The world’s most visited Zen garden

Not far from the Golden Pavilion, another Zen temple is famous for its far more subdued garden. The minimalistic rock garden of Ryoan-ji is supposedly the epitome of Zen gardening.

It is quite small, about the size of a tennis court, just a few raked pebbles, 15 large stones and a little moss.

If you come early enough to sit on the veranda with less than ten busloads of other tourists and a whole middle school around you, you will glimpse a bit of Zen spirit. Something about contentment, being yourself, focusing on the present. Or perhaps it’s something quite different – the stones can only help you in finding your own explanations.

Well south of the old city, the Toji, or East Temple, used to protect the capital’s south gate. It was the first temple belonging to the Shingon School of Buddhism founded by Kobo Daishi, and features Japan’s highest pagoda.

On the outskirts of Kyoto

Even further south in the town of Uji, the Byodo-in was originally, like Kinkaku-ji, a noble villa but later became a Buddhist temple. The flat and widespread 10^th-century building symbolised – researchers think – a phoenix and a paradisiacal landscape. As a typical example of that period’s architecture, Byodo-in is the image on the back of the 10-Yen coin. Byodo-in is among the relatively few temples among Japan’s top tourist attractions that belong (partly) to the Pure Land School of Buddhism. Jodo-shu or Pure Land Buddhism has far more followers in Japan than the more famous schools of Zen Buddhism. However, Pure Land architecture is rarely well preserved and impressive. Other great examples of this style are totally off the beaten path in the small town of Hiraizumi in Tohoku with its magnificent temple gardens.

All these temples are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. They are collectively inscribed as Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. In Kyoto, Uji and Otsu, a total of 17 individual sites belong to the UNESCO list. Most are Buddhist temples, but the old Shinto shrines of Shimogamo and Kamigamo, associated with Aoi Matsuri, one of Kyoto’s famous traditional festivals, are also part of the list. As is the spacious and lavishly decorated residence of the 17–19^th century Tokugawa Shoguns which they used when they visited Kyoto.

Is it worth visiting Kyoto?

Kyoto is definitely worth a visit. Or two. Or a few more. Isa lived in Kyoto for one year and didn’t manage to see all the temples and shrines, but then there’s over a thousand of them. The UNESCO heritage sites are all worth seeing, although it may feel somewhat repetitive if you try to see them all in one short visit. For the top destinations, described in this post, a pleasant off-season day may be the better choice than, say, the central weekend of the cherry blossom season. Other places, such as Toji or Daigo-ji, however, are almost never too full of people.

How to visit Kyoto on a Japan trip

Kyoto is the main tourist centre of Japan and most tourists will spend at least a few days there. Although the subway network is not very extensive, a few very useful city buses combine some of the most visited sites (especially #100, #101, #102).

For outlying sites such as the Byodo-in in Uji you will need to take a local train.

For some less touristy, off-the-beaten-path highlights of Kyoto, see our travel blog post about Six Highlights in Kyoto.

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