Day 19: Saturday, April 26th
Today we toured the east side of Kyoto (yellow boxes) with our amazing tour guide, Kenya.
Over the next THREE blog posts we will be zig-zagging through the Gion District and then ending at the Fushimi Inari Shrine (Thousand Torii Gate Shrine).
But before that all started, we begun our day with breakfast at 7-11. You really can't beat those egg sandwiches!
We walked past this small local shrine that was located next to the 7-11. They don't call Kyoto "The City of 10,000 Shrines" for no reason (even though there are more like 3000).
We met Kenya at a Starbucks that was located on the corner of the Sanjō Ōhashi Bridge and the Kamo River.
From there we headed east across the river on the Sanjō Ōhashi Bridge when Kenya stopped us so we could see this:
There are a few large gashes from a samurai sword on this giboshi! Kenya said it may have happened during the Ikedaya incident or during a duel between two samurai. That's how sharp samurai swords are!
We made a right after we crossed the river and headed south along the river towards the Gion District.
[Statue of Izumo-no-Okuni across the road from the Minamiza Theatre]
[Minamiza Theater]
Izumo-no-Okuni was a Japanese entertainer who revolutionized the theatre scene. She created an all women group who became pretty popular in the late 1500s.
We then made our to the Yasaka Shrine. This beautiful shrine was founded over 1350 years ago and every July there is a massive festival that takes place in the street that leads up to the shrine. Kenya told us that it's the most famous festival in Japan and he's attended it many times since he lives on that road! But this year he was planning on being out of town - sometimes it's nice to take a break from all the crazy-ness that comes from the festival!
[Dance Stage with lanterns bearing the names of local businesses that have donated to the shrine]
We left the shrine and headed into the Maruyama Park. This park is a nationally designated "Place of Scenic Beauty" and it definitely has the right to be on that register.
[Shidarezakura (weeping cherry tree)]
After touring the park we headed into the Ōtani Sobyō Temple (aka Higashi Otani). This large temple belongs to a branch of Pure Land Buddhism and it contains the mausoleum of Buddhist Monk Shinran (who died in 1263).
[Mausoleum of Monk Shinran]
After leaving the Mausoleum of Monk Shinran, Kenya told us that there is another temple nearby that is not open to visitors very often, but it is open now. He said that it wasn't on our original itinerary, but it was worth seeing. We defaulted to his expertise and we headed towards the Daiun-in temple.
This temple dates back to 1587 and has a large tower (Gion-kaku) that we were able to climb.
[Gion-kaku]
[Sleeping Buddha]
We first went through the main hall where we were able to see the beautiful sculptures and offerings. We were not allowed to take pictures inside.
We then hiked to the top of the Gion-kaku. Inside was beautiful artwork depicting the Chinese zodiac. Once we were at the top we had an amazing view of the city. We were not allowed to take pictures though since the tower overlooks private residences.
Behind the temple was a graveyard where Ishikawa Goemon (1558-1594) was buried. Goemon is an infamous thief that was boiled alive after attempting to assassinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
We left the Daiun-in behind and headed towards the Ninen Zaka Path which is a long and busy pedestrian street lined with shops.
[Yasaka Pagoda]
[Of course there is a Starbucks]
We were getting hungry from all the walking, so we stopped by a shop and got some fried chicken.
And then I went and got a matcha drink, of course.
As we continued along our path, the area became busier and busier. That was most likely because we were approaching the Kiyomizu-dera Temple! Stay tuned for Part II!
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