Japan part III - Himeji and Kyoto

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One palace covered, one palace not covered

In the end of this trip in Japan we went to Kyoto. Kyoto was for more than a thousand years the capital city of Japan and still today there are thousands of historically important sites in and around the city. Before we came to Kyoto we thought the entire city would resemble a museum. Instead we came to a city that wasn't much different from any other city in Japan. Well, at least it wasn't very different from the three other cities we visited on this trip, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Himeji.



Even though Kyoto at first glance might look like just another Japanese city there are plenty of important historical sites within the city limits. There are over 2,000 temples and shrines, there are palaces and many museums. Seeing all of these historical places is of course out of the question. We decided to limit ourselves to visit two temples and one palace.



The first temple we visited was Kinkaku-ji also known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The golden pavilion itself is not the original. It is a 20th century reconstruction of the original pavilion which was burned down in the 1950-ies when a monk deliberately set fire to it. The pavilion is covered with a very this layer of real gold and sits on an island in a lake making it very photogenic. In a way it resembles the Golden Temple in Amritsar in India.



The other temple we visited was Ryoan-ji, the Temple of the Dragon at Peace. The claim of fame of this temple is the rock garden. The rock garden is an area, similar in size and shape of a tennis court, where there are 15 rocks jutting out of the ground. In between the rocks the ground is flat and covered by gravel.



For us one of the highlights in Kyoto was the Nijo Castle, a large fortified palace in the centre of Kyoto. Nijo Castle was built as a residence for the local Shogun, the highest ranking regional leader. The main palace covers an area of 3,000 square meters and features every detail you might have seen in movies such as paper walls, sliding doors and so called nightingale floors, floors that make a high-pitched sound when you step on them. The purpose of the nightingale floors was that if an intruder entered the palace to assassinate the shogun he or she could not walk around without being detected.



In Kyoto we also visited the Arashima Bamboo Grove. It is a very popular place to visit both for locals and tourists. The lights and the colours there were almost magical. Visiting a bamboo forest is something we definitely recommend anyone visiting Japan to do.





When we laid out the plans for this trip we thought it would be a good idea to visit the city Himeji on the way between Hiroshima and Kyoto. Himeji's claim to fame is the Himeji Castle, one of the finest castles in all of Japan. We left the Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train, at Himeji station and walked towards the castle. Very soon we realised that we would not get to see what we came for. Himeji Castle was undergoing restoration work and was therefore covered with scaffolding and tarps. We basically saw nothing of this magnificent castle.



We went to the castle and visited the garden and some of the other buildings belonging to the palace complex. But the castle itself was off limits this time. We have already decided to go back to Japan some day so we simply have to revisit Himeji.

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Photos

Arashima Bamboo Grove
Arashima Bamboo Grove is a very popular place to visit both for locals and tourists

Arashima Bamboo Grove
Arashima Bamboo Grove is a very popular place to visit both for locals and tourists

Temple of the Golden Pavilion
The pavilion is covered with a very this layer of real gold and sits on an island in a lake making it very photogenic.

Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Buddha statue in the temple garden

Temple of the Dragon at Peace
The claim of fame of the Temple of the Dragon at Peace is the rock garden, an area similar in size and shape of a tennis court where there are 15 rocks jutting out of the ground

Japanese girls
Japanese girls dressed up and doing the V sign. Doing the V sign is very common in Japan when posing fo photos

Lanterns
Lanterns outside a shop in Kyoto

Nijo Castle
Nijo Castle is a large fortified palace in the centre of Kyoto

Nijo Castle
Nijo Castle was built as a residence for the local Shogun, the highest ranking regional leader. The main palace covers an area of 3,000 square meters and features every detail you might have seen in movies such as paper walls, sliding doors and so called nightingale floors

Nijo Castle
A gate to Nijo Castle

Himeji Castle
As it looks when it is not undergoing restoration work

Himeji Castle
As it looks when it is undergoing restoration work

Shinkansen
Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train

Capsule hotel
In Japan they have so called capsule hotels. Capsule hotels have extremely small "rooms", only large enough to sleep in but not much more

Do not disturb
Since there is no door to the "rooms" this is how you hang the "Do not Disturb"-sign (Thank you Mikael Forsström for coming up with the joke)

Electric wires
Electric cables looking like this is not what we expected to find in Japan

Manhole cover
The manhole covers in Kyoto are adorned with throwing stars

Metro information sign
In the metro the information signs were quite interesting. We didn't always understand what they sign wanted to say but we enjoyed the pictures

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Capsule hotel
That is wild. I've always wondered about those. Very cool to see a photo.

[Ake Och Emma]

Fun experience
It was fun to try it too. There is more space in the capsule than you might expect. And more privacy than in a dorm room. /Ake

[taracloud]

No old town?
So surprised to hear that Kyoto looks like any other city! I guess I imagined those 2000 shrines, etc, bunched together in a European, old-town sort of way for a sense of old Japan. Still the bamboo grove and castle were pretty gorgeous.

[Ake Och Emma]

Not really any old town
Kyoto did not really have any old town. At least none that we noticed. We were surprised too and quite disappointed too. /Ake