Day 14 detailed - To-ji Temple, Kyoto

  Wednesday, 11 May 2016 in more detail

Original posted LIVE here.

Today is our first full day in Kyoto so we caught the subway to central Kyoto to explore. The main Kyoto train station is a gigantic structure which has Kyoto Tower next door.

We found a vending machine next to the bus station which dispensed hot food, so for Y370 we got some hot chips! We then explored the main concourse inside Kyoto Station and bought some delicious ice cream.




















Near Kyoto station we picked up our transport for the next four days, bike hire is about $10 per day each.




Our first destination is the famous Toji Temple.

Toji Temple (東寺, Tōji), literally "East Temple", was founded at the beginning of the Heian Period just after the capital was moved to Kyoto in the late 700s. The large temple, together with its now defunct sister temple Saiji ("West Temple"), flanked the south entrance to the city and served as the capital's guardian temples. Toji Temple is one of Kyoto's many UNESCO world heritage sites.

About thirty years after the temple's establishment, Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism, was appointed head priest of Toji, and the temple became one of the most important Shingon temples besides the sect's headquarters on Mount Koya. Kobo Daishi also added many of the large wooden buildings that stand on the grounds today.



There is a modest entry charge to visit the To-ji Temple and we enjoyed exploring the grounds and beautiful gardens in this peaceful setting.






This is Toji's five storied pagoda, which was originally erected by Kobo Daishi in 826. It stands 57 meters tall, making it the tallest pagoda in Japan, and has become a symbol of both the temple and Kyoto as it can be seen from many places across the city. The ground floor of the pagoda is irregularly opened to the public and houses four smaller Buddha statues.

Next we visited the Shinkumano Shrine found here, shown below.




One of the benefits of riding pushbikes through the streets of Kyoto, is we can discover tranquil gems like the Taikoan, found here.






After seeing all of the above we headed back towards central Kyoto where we were aiming to see a traditional Geisha performance at 4pm.  We purchased our tickets to this geisha show, called Kamogawa Odori at Ponto-Cho at the tourist information area in Kyoto JR station this morning.

After parking our bikes (there are bike parking areas which cost a few yen) we made it in time for the 4pm geisha show. It is a rare opportunity to see one and even though the tickets weren't cheap (~$100 each) we had excellent seats. We could not take photos during the show but this is the stage before hand. Hidden behind curtains to the left was the live orchestra, playing traditional Japanese instruments, which were shown later in the show.

All the performers and orchestra are women (even those playing male roles) and even though the performance was in Japanese, we could understand most of what was happening by the dramatic performance and set and costume changes.

The website for the Kamogawa Odori at Ponto-Cho show we saw is here, where you can see a description and some photos from the performance.  The ticket prices on the website today certainly seem cheaper than when we went in 2016!





After the performance we explored this nice part of Kyoto, that's a canal running along next to the road.




Dinner tonight was Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kyoto style. Note the menu below, including fish coated in the famous herbs and spices.






We head back to our apartment through one of the many covered shopping arcades. No bike riding allowed in here, so you have to walk your bike in these pedestrian areas. We would come back and explore this area a few more times before we leave Kyoto.