5/13/24: Three Unmissable Sights in Kyoto!

Once Steven and I left the Inari station in southeast Kyoto, we certainly didn't need directions to reach what's been described as "the ultimate Torii gate experience" of Fushimi Inari Taisha aka Fushimi Inari Shrine, we just had to follow the wave of umbrella-toting visitors ahead of us!

Fushimi Inari, the number one Inari shrine in the whole of Japan, was founded in 711 by the Hata family, more than 80 years before Kyoto became the capital of Japan, in 794. The shrine grew in size and importance over time, even receiving a torii gate in 1589 from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, known as the second "Great Unifier" of the country.  

I felt bad for Steven later when the drizzle turned into full-fledged rain as his 'raincoat' turned out to be just a windbreaker and therefore not water-repellent at all.

As you can tell from the large map, the World Heritage Site of Fushimi Inari was an extensive Shinto complex that extended over many acres.

A short flight of steps led us to the shrine's Honden or Main Hall where people paid their respects by giving a coin offering, ringing the bells, and praying by bowing and clapping twice, praying silently, and then bowing once again. The shrine's most sacred building was rebuilt in 1499 following a fire during the Onin War.

Before we left Fushimi Inari hours later, we'd spotted dozens of small statues around the shrine of kitsuné or foxes, Inari's messenger. Each fox statue held a ball-like object that represented the spirit of the Gods, a scroll for messages from the Gods, a key for rice storehouses, or a rice ear in its mouth.

Many shrine visitors wrote their wishes on ema, small wooden tablets in the shape of foxes, that were then hung up for the deities to receive them.

At the rear of the temple's main grounds was the entrance to the three-kilometer-long hiking trail and the Senbon Torii or "thousands of torii gates" which began with two parallel rows of vermilion-colored gates that lead pilgrims and visitors up the sacred Inari Mountain. I read that vermilion is said to be a color that counteracts evil forces and that is why it is often used in shrines, temples, and even palaces in Japan.

The individual torii or gates that made up the famous vermilion "tunnels" were donated by individuals and companies from all over Japan wishing to get ahead in business. When I looked at the back of the gates that are replaced every ten years, I noticed black kanji lettering on each torii inscribed with the donor's name and the donation date. The donation amount starts at around 400,000 yen (~$2,500) for a smaller gate and goes up to over one million yen (~$6,300) for a larger one.

Inari is worshiped as the protector of grains, in particular rice. In Japan, rice meant wealth, and even today people from all walks of life and officials from companies, come to pay their respects.

Since 823, a little over a century after its founding, Fushimi Inari has also been associated with Shingon Buddhism as the monk Kukai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism was appointed as abbot of Toji Temple then. He chose Fushimi Inari to be the temple's guardian shrine, and had it moved somewhat closer to the temple. How heartwarming to see the convergence of the two religions when there is so much strife among believers of all faiths today.

After walking a while and noticing a gradual decrease in the density of the gates, we reached the Yotsutsugi intersection, about halfway up the mountain.  The sight of the 10,000 or so torii that lined the path up the mountain to the shrine at the top must be one of Japan's most iconic views. Even the miserable weather didn't dampen our enthusiasm for witnessing the spectacular sight.

Instead of continuing to the shrine at the top of the mountain, we made our way down through the forest and past many more shrines.

Not a long walk away was another map showing the medieval 24-temple complex of Tofuku-ji Temple which belonged to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. The temple was founded in 1236 by the powerful Fujiwara clan. Its name is a combination of the names of two great temples in Nara, our stop two days later, that were also associated with the Fujiwara, Todaiji Temple, and Kofukuji Temple. Little wonder I got the names of the temples mixed up at times as they often sounded so familiar to my Western ear. 

The immense Sanmon Gate at the temple's west entrance is the oldest in Japan. The 72-foot-high gate was destroyed by fire several times before being disassembled and reconstructed in 1978. Even though it was an entrance gate, the temple could NOT be accessed through Sanmon.

The Zendo was a seated meditation hall and was also where screening for priests who attained Nirvana took place. For the past 400 years, monks undergoing Zen have eaten, slept, and studied in this monastic hall. As the meditation hall is the largest and oldest in Japan, it was designated an "important cultural property" in 1898.

There were many striking buildings in the complex but they had no English signs so they remain a mystery, a situation unfortunately common to too many temples we toured in Kyoto.

Arranged around the Hojo or former head priest's living quarters were gardens on all sides, a unique characteristic of gardens often built alongside Hojo buildings. What I loved about the gardens at Tofuku-ji was that each garden had a different character, employing pebbles, large rocks, moss, trees, and checkered patterns. The Hojo was most recently reconstructed in 1890, and the gardens were relatively modern dating just from the late 1930s when garden design went through a sort of modern renaissance. 

Though I never tired of seeing another swirling, raked gravel garden, the Southern Garden was too cluttered for my taste. It comprised a cluster of four giant rocks symbolizing the Four Elysian Islands on raked gravel representing the swirling sea. 

Astronomy buffs would be interested in knowing that the Eastern Garden featured seven pillars amidst carefully raked patterns in the sand that form the shape of Ursa Major, the Big Dipper!

The Northern Garden used foundation rocks from the front gate and moss to depict an irregular field of square checks that faded into a backdrop of azalea bushes. 

From the Northern Garden, we caught our first glimpse of the famous Tsūten-kyō Bridge or Heavenly Way Bridge over the garden wall. 

I almost felt like playing hopscotch in the Western Garden with its juxtaposition of squarely trimmed azalea bushes planted against square fields of white gravel to reflect the ancient Chinese character for land division sei!

We paid extra to cross the bridge which spanned a maple tree-filled ravine, one of Kyoto's most popular fall viewing spots because of its gorgeous colors. Crossing the bridge made us think we were floating on a green cloud of maple trees!

Shots strolling through the ravine:

Sansho-ji sub-temple:

Seeing these splashes of red in mid-May made us wonder how truly magnificent the maple trees would be at their peak in the fall.

Our garden stroll led us to Kaisando Hall, the mausoleum of the temple's first head priest. The stone path in front of the Kaisando was flanked by a dry rock garden on the left and a lush pond garden on the right. The hall and its gardens were last reconstructed during the Edo Period (1603-1868).

Inside, a priest was playing music befitting the solemnity of the hall and its history.

If you're lucky enough to visit Kyoto, make sure you include both Fushimi Inari and Tofuku-ji on your list as neither should be missed! 

I hope you'll bear with me as I write about our visit to Heian Shrine also referred to as Heian-jinga Shrine. I wonder if you'll agree with me that its Shinen Garden ranks among the best we toured in Kyoto.

Though Heian was only founded in 1895, Kyoto's most famous Shinto shrine commemorates the 1,100th anniversary since Kyoto was made Japan's ancient capital in 794. The shrine buildings were an exact replica of the Chodoin or State Hall of the Imperial Palace built on a 5/8th scale.

On entering the magnificent garden, we saw one of Japan's earliest electric trams that operated in Kyoto in 1895, the same year as the temple was founded, and was powered by hydroelectricity. This tram was one of the original trams that operated between Kyoto Station and the Heian temple area. 

The eight-acre Japanese-style Shinen Garden incorporated garden designs from each era of the country's history. I hope the pictures convey the garden's stupendous beauty.

We smiled to ourselves on noticing the "This Way" sign thinking when do people have an option where to go in Japan even in a garden?!

One of the most special things we loved about the Shinen Garden was its almost total absence of other people and this in a city where so many of its temples are mobbed. I don't know if Heian is a hidden gem or just the madding crowds chose to visit other sights in Kyoto that day.

The bridge's rounded roof line was unusual in Japan.

Imagine being here on October 22nd any year, the date Kyoto was made the ancient capital because that's when Heian Shrine holds the Jidai Matsuri or Festival of the Ages, one of the city's Three Great Festivals. It's described as a living scroll painting when a parade of people dressed in costumes covering a millennium of Japan's history fills the streets against a stunning backdrop of fall leaves.

It was only after we left the shrine that we came across the shrine's massive torii gate to the main entrance as we'd entered by another way.

On the way to the bus stop back to central Kyoto, we saw but didn't stop at the Kyocera Museum of Art. Buses in the city cost just 230 yen or about $1.50 per ride. English-speaking tourists in Kyoto are lucky in that all upcoming stops are not only announced in English but also written in English on signs on the bus.

It was our second time shopping at Daiso, the 100 Yen store where the quality of products, everything from clothing to kitchen, bath, household items, toys, and candy, was far superior to the equivalent dollar stores all over the US and Canada. The store, a national chain, had all sorts of things we both had to have!

In previous posts, I mentioned people in Kyoto renting kimonos to walk around the city's sights. Here was one of the city's larger rental shops that happened to be near our apartment in Gion.

Next post: Tying up loose ends on our last day in Kyoto!

Posted on July 11th, 2024 from the first of four sweltering days with temps of 100 degrees plus in one of Denver's burbs. I hope you and your loved ones are safely enjoying the dog days of summer wherever you and they are.