Kyoto – Kinkaku-ji, Hirano Jinja, and a Revisit to Torito

As much as we enjoyed Kanazawa, the Missus was excited to be heading to one of cities She feels right at home in; Kyoto. She was also interested to see if the Sakura Forecast was right. We were either too early or too late at all the other cities so far, but were supposedly getting to Kyoto at the perfect time.

We don't go crazy seeing stuff when on vacation. We just have a list of what we want to accomplish and if we have time for other things….well, we go for it. We act like we'll return someday and in Kyoto's case, it's lucky visit number three.

The one place on the list for the Missus this time around was Kinkakuji. Originally the home of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Upon his death in 1408, the property was turned into a Zen Buddhist temple according to his wishes.

We got off at Kyoto Station, stored our bags and caught the bus up to the area. The only reason we'd never visited before was that the temple wasn't on any of the train lines. Well, if the Missus has Her way; I don't think we'll ever catch the bus in Kyoto again….it was stuffy, crowded, and She just wasn't pleased.

But of course, we got to see this.

It was quite stunning to say the least. I'm sure all the other folks thought so too.

This structure was actually rebuilt in 1955. You see, on July 2, 1950, a novice monk named Yoken Hayashi burned down the temple, then tried to commit suicide. He was tried and convicted, sentenced to seven years in prison, but was eventually released due to mental illness. One of Yukio Mishima's most popular novels, The Temple of the Golden Pavillion is based on these events.

There are more interesting facts about the temple here.

We strolled around the gardens taking in the sights, like the White Snake Pagoda.

Eventually, we headed back out. Because we weren't catching the bus back to Kyoto station, we headed down Nishioji Dori, stopping for a cup of coffee, and window shopping until we noticed this.

Looking at the signs, I figured out this is Hirano Shrine and it seemed like they were having some kind of fair/festival so we decided to check things out.

And while folks were having a great time…….with those reserved sitting areas….

Or with folks who did their own thing…..

It was the cherry blossoms that were the focus of attention.

It was getting close to check-in time at the apartment we were staying at. So we walked on down to Emmachi Station for the short ride to Kyoto Station, then onward to Higashiyama.

I love the signs in Japan…..

We got in, had some time to freshen up and headed out the door to dinner. One of the Missus's coworkers was in Kyoto at the same time. She loves yakitori, so we met her at Torito. I've posted on Torito before, plus, this was more of a social outing, so I'll just do photos this time around.