Kyoto – Day Seven – MM4.Travel

Sunday 24 May

This was first day of looking around Kyoto, our goal was to explore Higashiyama.

Bukkō-ji Temple

We had walked past this temple the previous night, we decided to pop in and check it out. The name of temple translates as The Buddha’s Light Temple and dates to 1324. It was at one time a major centre of Jōdo Shinushū school of Pure Land Buddhism, until another sub-school took exception over some minor doctrinal differences & decided to take it over. I’ll leave it there as this is getting perilously close to being way over my pay grade, but at some point was burnt down & in 1586 it was told by a major Japanese warlord to move to its current location in Kyoto. What we had thought of as just being the local temple turned out to have bit of a murky past, it was nonetheless, stunning & mercifully free of tourists.

A bit of architecture-geekery, the downpipes discharge into these stone basins & then into channels around the temple.

Walking to Higashiyama

From the temple we headed to Higashiyama

A nearby lane – where we were staying was a mix of charming older buildings & decidedly uncharming newer buildings.

What over-tourism – heading up Matsubara-Dori the main road leading to Kiyomizu-Dera.

Kiyomizu-Dera Temple

The temple besides being stunning, is one of the oldest in the country being founded in 778. The current temple building dates to 1633, and in what is a recurring theme in Japan has burned down multiple times, in this case nine times. This temple is associated with the Hossō school of Yogācāra Buddhism, which is one of the oldest schools in Japan. It became an Unesco World Heritage Site in 1994.

The Niōmon Gate and Sanne-no-to Pagoda on the right.

More pagoda – it was fiendishly hot when we were there, just out of frame were water misters to keep people cool.

More Tik-Tok, than traditional – you can hire Kimonos, quite how you walk up that hill in 30 degree heat in jandals & metres of silk brocade we don’t know, but it definitely must be worth it.

It is common for people to come Kiyomizu-dera to pray for romance, academic success & health

The main temple is stunning, the hall overhangs the valley by 13m.

The Koyasu-no-to Pagoda is a short walk away

These little guys wearing the red bibs are quite heartbreaking, these are *Jizō*, and are protectors of the souls of babies who have died.

The temple is quite high – it was thought that if you leapt off the edge & survived your wish would come true, this practice was rather sensibly banned in 1872.

Sannen-Zaka Path – Yasaka Pagoda

After finding something to eat we headed up the Sannen-Zaka path to see the Yasaka Pagoda.

Turns on a dime – a Jinrikisha/Rickshaw runner, these guys are seriously athletic running up & down those steep streets.

This is the Yasaka Koshin-do Temple which was just off the street. This is a *Kōshin* temple which is a syncretic blend of Shintoism & Taoism. You can buy a colourful ball for good luck.

Looking down Sannen–Zaka Path to the Yasaka Pagoda, the pagoda is all that remains of a former Buddhist temple & this dates to 1440.

Ninen-Zaka Path

Is another traditional street that leads up to the Kiyomizo-dera temple.

Chion-In Temple

This the main temple of the Jōdo Shu school of Pure Land Buddhism. The current temple complex dates to the 1600s.

This sculpture called Magnus Rinn is by the Irish Artist Joseph Walsh in front of the steps leading to the temple.

The Main Hall – it was still wildly hot when I scrambled out to take this photo in the sun.

Shōren-In Temple

This temple is literally next to the Chion-in. However, most of the Buddhist temples in Kyoto seem to close at 4.30pm, we were rapidly running out of time so we largely popped our heads in to check it out. While the temple as an entity has existed since 1150, the current temple only dates to 1895, after a series of fires burnt down previous iterations of the temple. This is also the main temple for the Tendai School.

Yasaka Shrine

This Shinto or Japanese Folk Religious shrine dates to 656. Shinto focuses on Kami these are spirits or gods that reside in nature. Up until the Meiji restoration in 1868, Shinto & Buddhism were largely intertwined in Japan. The shrine until that point had Buddhist buildings, with shrine’s principal deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto having become associated with Buddhist figures.