Fushimiinari Jinja

Though I hadn’t planned on visiting Kyoto this year a last minute change of plans saw me return to this enchanting city.

The last time I visited Fushimiinari-jinja, the shrine with thousands of red torii, I promised myself I’d return as I didn’t have time to see all areas of this huge shrine. As it turned out, I didn’t see every torii this time either. I spent a lot of time taking photos and even though I was there for at least 2-3 hours I didn’t walk the entirety of the torii trails. Despite the rain showers, I enjoyed walking around. The further you go, the fewer people there. Actually, I did see one maniac using all the steps as a jogging course! Towards the end of the route I took I came across some sakura. It wasn’t in full bloom but still made for some great scenery.

I headed back to Kyoto station and found a Bic Camera where I bought a tripod for some nighttime photography. Then I jumped onto the Subway and decided to walk from City Hall towards Yasaka-jinja and Maruyama Koen.

Yasaka-jinja & Maruyama Koen

Maruyama Koen was surprsingly quiet given the amount of sakura blooming. In a few days from then I imagine it was packed with people doing their hanami under the blossoms like I witnessed last year. I took a quick walk around and passed through Yasaka-jinja, where hundreds of Chinese tourists ran around excitedly ringing the shrine’s bells and taking photos. There was also some kind of water font where a couple of Japanese girls were saying that washing yourself with the water there would make you more beautiful.

Koudaiji

Along the back roads not far from Maruyama Koen is Koudaiji. Before visiting the temple itself I grabbed a bite to eat in a very bizarre little restaurant. The restaurant was a room overlooking a small but well kept Japanese garden. A large bar area, a little like a teppan-yaki restaurant provided the seating whilst the owner worked in the central area, preparing and cooking food. A young man came in and stood awaiting instructions. It appeared he was from a local high school or university doing some voluntary work. A couple of women came in soon after and attempted to kill me with their cigarette smoke. After eating I left as fast as I could!

By then it was getting dark but that was perfect because Koudaiji was lit up by numerous lights and a walking course had been laid out to follow. The temple and gardens were exquisite but there was one part which was a let down. From a small viewing platform a beautiful sakura tree dominated a raked gravel  garden. However, for some reason horrid neon lights lit up square patches of the garden in garish colours. A beautiful scene ruined if you ask me.

Annoyingly, despite having gone to the effort of buying a tripod I was quickly told I wasn’t permitted to use it. I still managed by propping my camera up on various wooden posts but it was a bit of a hassle and limited my photographs to some extend. Saying that, a large pond with a bridge and temple building in the distance made for some spectacular photos. The walking route also led me through a small bamboo forest which looked fantastic. I don’t know why, but I love bamboo.

Tokyo Night Rush

After visiting Koudaiji I hopped on the Shinkansen towards Tokyo and fell fast asleep. At Shinagawa I was horrified to hear that the Yamanote Line was experiencing delays. Also given that it was about 11:30, the trains were packed in any case. I freaked out and jumped into a taxi instead!