Kyoto Sightseeing

Kyoto is a city where old and new exist side by side. Department stores, restaurants, shopping arcades, theaters and hotels can be found around the modern station, however old temples such as the Higashi Honganji Temple, Nishi-Honganji Temple and Toji Temple are also dotted around the area.

For over 1,000years, Kyoto was the political, cultural and artistic center of the country. Today, Kyoto is home to the greatest wealth of historical and cultural properties in Japan. Japanese history can't be told without Kyoto's history.

The city of Kyoto is considered World Heritage itself. There are 17 World Heritage Sites that are the treasure of Kyoto.

Without doubt, a trip to Kyoto will allow you to enter a new world that you have never been.

 

 

Gion

Gion is one of the main districts of Kyoto, and for many people it is the Gion district that comes to mind when they think of Kyoto. The area developed as a town near the Yasaka-jinja Shrine, and is considered the most prestigious entertainment district in Japan. Wooden lattice windows made of thin wooden beams in a grid pattern create a lace effect that is in perfect harmony with the elegant maiko (apprentice geisha) dancers. The streets boast stores selling traditional Kyoto crafts, such as kanzashi or ornamental hairpins, incense and kimono accessories.

Ryoan-ji Temple

Ryoan-ji Temple is famous for its mysterious rock garden, the most celebrated in Japan, which defies attempts at explanation. Enclosed by an earthen wall, fifteen carefully placed rocks seem to drift in a sea of raked white gravel. A viewing platform right above the garden gives visitors an unimpeded view, although from whatever angle you view the garden, you can never see all fifteen stones.

JR Kyoto Station

JR Kyoto Station is the starting point for sightseeing in Kyoto, a city where old and new exist side by side. The station building, a new landmark of the old city of Kyoto, opened in 1997 and boasts a concourse with an impressive 60-meter atrium, 45-meter raised glass-made passage connecting the eastern and western parts of the station.

Kinkaku-ji Temple

 It is perhaps the most widely-recognized image of Kyoto: the small, graceful temple whose upper tiers, balconies and eaves are covered in shining gold. Seen reflected in the adjoining "mirror pond" with its small islands of rock and pine, Kinkaku-ji Temple, "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion," is a breathtaking must-see.

Tenryu-ji Temple

Tenryu-ji Temple is main attraction is its Zen garden which dates from the 14th Century. A triumph of design, the garden features a large pond which catches the reflection of the maple trees and large rough-cut rocks which surround it. It also makes use of "borrowed scenery" from the nearby hills of Arashiyama, which seem like the next tier of the garden. Many elements of this garden were prototypes for later gardens built elsewhere.