Temples, shrines and geishas

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Kyoto has more than its fair share of (Buddhist) temples and (Shinto) shrines so you may easily overdose yourself on the number of temples and shrines visited. With that in mind I chose just 2 temples and 1 shrine for today.

First off was the Rokuon-ji temple which is famous for its Golden Pavilion whose name derives from the fact that gold leaf is used in its construction.

Next was the Tenru-ji temple in the Arashiyama area. In addition to the buildings and the Sogen garden, the temple has on it northern border a fantastic bamboo grove.

The Fushimi Inari shrine is very interesting because of the thousands of toriis that form a sort of covered walkway.

Here's an interesting fact: the total number of Buddhists and Shintoists in Japan exceed the total Japanese population. If you're wondering how that is possible it's because each Japanese person may be a follower of more than one faith.

Finally, any visit to Kyoto can hardly be complete without a visit to the Gion district in search of geishas and maikos. Seeing as these creatures are very shy and possibly close to extinction, maybe a documentary narrated by David Attenborough to help preserve these elusive creatures would not be out of place.

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Photos

Geisha hunters
If you see a crowd such as this in the streets of the Gion district then you know that they are waiting for geishas to appear.

And then there were more
Man do they walk fast. Your autofocus had better be good as the geishas are very good at fooling your camera's autofocus mechanism. Must be the special make-up they use.

Lost in translation
Must be the place you go to if you're infertile.