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Below a calendar depicting the garden within, a pair of modest zori thong footwear sit on a shelf in a temple’s entrance.
*See district maps on pages 66 (Northern Kyoto), 96 (Western Kyoto) and 122 (Southern Kyoto) for sites outside this map.
KYOTO’S MAIN HERITAGE SIGHTS
CENTRAL AND EASTERN KYOTO
1. Kyoto Imperial Palace, page 36
2. Nijo Castle, page 40
3. Heian Shrine, page 42
4. Downtown Kyoto, page 46
5. The Gion District, page 50
6. Kiyomizu Temple, page 54
7. Kennin-ji Temple, page 58
8. Nanzen-ji Temple, page 60
NORTHERN KYOTO
9. Ginkaku-ji, page 68
10. The Philosopher’s Path, page 72
11. Shisendo Temple, page 76
12. Shugakuin Imperial Villa, page 78*
13. Shimogamo Shrine, page 80
14. Kamigamo Shrine, page 80*
15. Daitoku-ji Temple Complex, page 82
16. Mount Hiei, page 86*
17. Enryaku-ji Temple, page 86*
18. Kurama Village, page 88*
19. Ohara Village, page 92*
WESTERN KYOTO
20. Kinkaku-ji Temple, page 98
21. Ryoan-ji Temple, page 102
22. Ninna-ji Temple, page 106
23. Myoshin-ji Temple, page 108
24. Arashiyama, page 110
25. Sagano Village, page 116
26. Takao Village, page 118*
SOUTHERN KYOTO
27. Tofuku-ji Temple, page 124
28. Fushimi Inari Shrine, page 128
29. Saiho-ji Temple, page 130
30. Katsura Imperial Villa, page 132
31. Daigo-ji Temple, page 136*
32. Byodo-in Temple, page 138*
33. Ujigami Shrine, page 140*
34. Genji Museum, page 140*
INTRODUCING KYOTO
For thousands of years, footsteps have smoothed this land. First barefooted, then wrapped in straw or raised on wooden clogs, feet continue to pat down mountain trails and river banks, divide orderly rows of vegetables, meander through stately gardens, mount temple steps, thread alleyways and stroll along concrete sidewalks. The feet that strode these passageways span centuries, encompassing tradition and modernity. Today, feet shod in sneakers, children’s shoes sporting cartoon characters, British oxfords and Italian stilettos, or kimono-clad citizens in elegant zori, impart their signature tone and tempo to the city.
The home of seventeen World Heritage Sites, over a thousand temples and shrines and some of the world’s most beautiful gardens, Kyoto now resonates with the footfall of appreciative tourists.
Framed within cinnabar red shrine gates, a Shinto priest in formal headgear and silk robes invokes the resident gods of Yoshida Jinja, a shrine founded in 859.
The sun casts a long elegant silhouette on a stone-inlaid lane in the Miyagawa geiko district.
Beautifully attired in colorful summer cotton yukata, young women gather before Kyokochi Mirror Pond at the Golden Pavilion. A World Heritage Site, the estate became a Buddhist temple in 1422, but the stroll garden surrounding the pond and pavilion remains much as it was 1,000 years ago when property of a court aristocrat.
Raised stepping-stones in the garden of Okochi Sanso entrancingly lead one to the rustic, yet elegant Tekisui-an teahouse on the estate of the late film star, Okochi Denjiro (1898–1962). The stones are deliberately spaced to slow the visitor in the approach to the teahouse, allowing one to savor the scenery. The infinity-shaped pathways farther on lead to a garden the actor designed for meditation.
Toyokeya, a neighborhood tofu and yuba shop, located near Kitano Shrine.
A traditional toro stone lantern stands at the edge of the garden pond (with a reflection of the wooden five-storied pagoda) amidst autumn foliage at Toji Temple, a World Heritage Site.
The vast gravel courtyard fronts the immense Founder’s Hall (Goei-do) of Higashi Hongan-ji temple in the vicinity of Kyoto Station. Founded in 1602, it is one of two head temples for the Jodo Shinshu Sect of Pure Land Buddhism. The building supports a roof of 175,000 clay tiles making it one of the world’s largest wooden structures.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAPAN’S ANCIENT CAPITAL
The city of Kyoto began to take shape in the 8th century when some of its earliest residents, the Hata family, invited the Emperor to make his home on their hunting grounds. Under the most rigorous dictates of geomancy, planners created a grid of roads patterned after the western Chinese city of Xi’an, terminus of the Silk Road.
Rich with game, traversed by rivers and sheltered on three sides by mountains, Kyoto began its transformation into one of the great cities of the 9th century. By the late 800s, the network of avenues and byways had become the new Imperial Capital. Workers who lived in rough huts helped build a palace and estates for the nobility. A political court thrived on ritual, bureaucratic intrigue, poetry and the newly introduced spiritual practices of Buddhism, a faith introduced to the former court in Nara.
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