5 Must-See Places in Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is the city in Japan where the essence of Japanese culture comes to life. The ancient capital, located just east of Osaka,

From Geishas to matcha, from torii gates to Buddhas, deciding the best places to visit can be quite difficult, especially if you have limited time. Through my own experience of traveling in Kyoto, here are 5 of the best places to visit.

5. Sanjusangendo Temple (The Temple of 1,001 Buddhas).

From the outside, this temple doesn’t appear to be much. Many tourists may actually see what it appears to be on the outside, realize there’s a fee of 600 yen for admittance, and choose to spend their time at all the other free temples. But, I must urge you — do not judge a book by its cover!

No pictures are allowed on the inside. Yet, even if you could take pictures on the inside they are not really worth taking. It’s the energy of the environment that is truly worth going for.

4. Nijo-jo Castle.

Nijo-jo Castle was built in 1626. The castle itself contains two palaces (Honmaru and Ninomaru), the gardens, the kitchens, and the guest houses. Ninomaru Palace has many wood carvings and gold leaf trim. Honmaru Palace is filled with a wide array of paintings by several famous masters.

The best time to visit here would be in the spring, summer, or fall in order to really get the full effect of the beautiful gardens. There are also many Japanese cherry blossom and plum trees here, so visits in the spring are filled with many pink blossoms.

3. Gion.

Have you ever wanted to see a Geisha? Then this is the place to go! Just make sure that if you’re goal is to see a geisha casually walking down the street, you have to be there after sunset because they have school all day.

There are several temples and shrines to visit in this area. If you plan ahead and find some connections, it would be best to find an English-speaking Japanese to help explain this area to you, because one could easily walk through it all but completely miss out on all of the rich culture and history behind the area.

2. Kinkakuji Temple (The Golden Pavilion).

Quite possibly the most famous location in Kyoto is the Kinkakuji Temple or Golden Pavilion, more casually referred to as the Golden Temple. To visit this illuminious temple on a sunny day is utterly breathtaking. There is a nice garden to walk around after viewing the temple and a small building that gives tea ceremonies where you receive authentic green tea matcha.

As most of the other temples and shrines, there are prayer candles that you can buy and other prayer items. The benefit of this one, however, is that they have the items listed with their English translation rather than only Japanese, as most are.

1. Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine.

Just a little ways south of Kyoto is the Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine, more commonly known as the Torii Gates. The site is best known from the Memoirs of a Geisha film.

The area is filled with thousands of torii gates that take you through a scenic nature path. The full walk takes about 2 hours, but many opt for the short route and spend only about 45 minutes.

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