伏見稲荷大社（ふしみいなりだいしゃ） Fushimi Inari Daisha Shrine is located at the Eastern Mount District (東山) of Kyoto. It’s famous for 千本鳥居, which translates to one-thousand-torii.
The official site is at: http://inari.jp/
1/3 the tunnel of Torii along the hiking path.
2/3 tourists visiting the shrine. the two kids are counting the number of torii while hiking up the hill.
3/3 stone torii monument. the place was covered by ginkgo tree leafs.
宝厳院(ほうごんいん), Hougon-in Temple is near Arashiyama Mount and Togetsukyo Bridge. I visited the temple while waiting for the tofu restaurant open.
Hougo-in’s official site is at here: http://www.hogonin.jp/
1/5 Maple leafs fall on the yard covered with moss.
2/5
3/5
4/5
5/5
嵐山(あらしやま) Arashiyama Mountain is located at the Western Kyoto (洛西). The mountain has been famous across Japan since ancient times, and the famous Ukiyoe (浮世絵) painter, Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎), has one theme for Arashiyama together with the bridge, 渡月橋 (とげつきょう, the bridge name in the painting is 吐月橋 with the same pronunciation).
A little bit more about the painter, Hokusai. He actually traveled across Japan, and created lots of art pieces, among them there was a series, called 富嶽三十六景（ふがくさんじゅうろっけい）, which contains 36 of paintings of different locations along the way from Tokyo to Kyoto. The paintings describe the scenery, lifestyle, traditions and etc, in Hokusai’s years. The awesome part is that the scenery of all locations are well preserved. The same buildings, bridges, mountains and etc are inherited from the ancient time. If you visit those locations and view them from the right angle, you will see the same thing as from the ancient paintings. I always wanted to have a bike trip from Tokyo to Kyoto, following the 36 painting’s trial, but haven’t made it yet.
Anyway, here’s the picture of the Arashiyama painting that I get from google. (This is not one of the 36 though.)
The current scenery has not changed much from the painting, if you view it from the same angle, but the painting is at spring coz the sakura trees are in blossom.
1 嵐山(あらしやま): Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to take a photo from the same angle as the painting. My photo only has the mountain, and no bridge. And my lens view angle is not as wide as the painting’s.
2 Monks at 渡月橋(togetsukyou). They’ll pray and chant for you when you donate.
3. 嵯峨野: Taking the rickshaw taxi in Kyoto is a special experience; the driver can take you to authentic places upon your request.
4. 嵯峨野：Tofu Restaurant, soup tofu is a famous dish in Kyoto, something you don’t wanna miss.
5. 嵯峨野：the queue outside the restaurant; and yes, I tried the tofu there. It tastes great, and worth queuing for 1 hour.
6. 嵯峨野
永観堂(えいかんどう), Eikando Temple is located at the Eastern Mountain District of Kyoto, and very close to Nanzenji.
The official site of Eikando is at here: http://www.eikando.or.jp/.
The maple leaves in the temple are very beautiful, however, I didn’t enter the building, as the entry fee is priced at 1,000 yen. There were lots of tourists outside the temple, peeking into the walls and taking photos of the scenery, and I joined them instead.
1/4 Maples from outside the temple
2/4 the pillar in front of 永観堂 with the inscriptions.
3/4 Maples from the walls.
4/4 Lion statue along the way of 哲学の道（てつがくのみち）. (Maybe it’s Kirin rather than lion, but I’m not sure.)
二尊院(にそんいん), Nison-in Temple of Kyoto is located in western part of Kyoto, near 嵐山. The name directly translates to “Two Buddhas”, and it is exactly how its name comes (https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E5%B0%8A%E9%99%A2).
Nison-in Temple is famous for autumn leafs. The maple trees near entrance are the great place to get started.
1/4, maples near the entrance.
2/4, the tiles of the roof in the temple
3/4, hiking road
4/4, lamps
南禅寺(なんぜんじ), Nanzenji is located at Eastern Mountain District of Kyoto. It belongs to my planned route for the eastern region of Kyoto.
山門(Sanmon) directly translates to “Hill Gate”. Although the name is widely recognized by Japanese, Nanzenji’s official site (http://www.nanzen.net/) has suggested that the correct name should be 三門 (Three Gate), which is related to Buddhism’s philosophy, 空、無相、無作, those are three difficult gates that Buddhists should exercise Zen and get through.
東福寺(とうふくじ), Tofukuji Temple is located at eastern part of Kyoto, in East Mountain District (東山区). It is one of the “five great Zen temples of Kyoto”.
The most famous spot for maple leafs is at 通天橋 (Tsutenkyo), which literally translates to the Bridge leading to the Heaven. Tofukuji’s official site is here www.tofukuji.jp/.
1/2 Tsutenkyo is obviously fully occupied by the tourists. So I watched the bridge from far, and the scenery is pretty awesome as well. Due to El Nino 2015, this autumn’s temperature isn’t stable, which is why some of the maple leafs are turning colors and some are still green. You can clearly see from the picture.
2/2 Another temple right next to Tofukuji.
醍醐寺(だいごじ), Daigoji Temple of Kyoto is world heritage. It’s famous for maple leaves, and has less crowd of tourists, due to the inaccessibility. I visit the place at night for the light-up event.
The maple light-up event has shown me the beauty of Kyoto from a totally different perspective. It’s totally impressive!
The official site is at: https://www.daigoji.or.jp/
1. Monk chanting at the lake.
2. Night scenery
3. Night scenery of the bridge.
4. Night scenery
5. Night scenery
Kiyomizu Dera (清水寺) is famous for autumn leaves, at day and also at night (there will be light-up events for autumn leaves).
1/4 Fallen leaves in the pond.
2/4 Temple structure in the background.
3/4 Ladies in kimono, taking selfies.
4/4 Stairs under maple trees.
黑夜里的萤火虫 