Japan: Kyoto - National treasures

We traveled on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) south from Tokyo to the ancient city of Kyoto, where some spectacular temples and shrines are a draw card for visitors from afar. Kyoto was hot - sitting in a valley surrounded by mountains on both sides, the temperature was above 35 degrees and the skies clear. Of the many shrines and temples to see, we decided to concentrate on two - Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple, and Fushimi Inari, a shinto shrine.

Kyoto skyline

Firstly, Fushimi Inari, a shinto shrine. It is one of several thousand shrines dedicated to Inari, the shinto god of rice. What makes this shrine amazing is the many thousands of red torii gates which form tunnel like trails leading up the sacred Mount Inari. Amazingly, this shrine pre-dates AD 794, when Kyoto became Japan's capital (until 1868).

Entrance to Fushimi Inari shrine complex

Start of the torii gates, painted in vermilion red

One of the highlights was coming across a bamboo forest, after we wandered down a side-track to see where it led. The forest had an airy, ancient feel to it. If you've seen the movie "House of Flying Daggers", it almost felt like there were warriors hiding in the bamboo trees, waiting to pounce.

The next site we explored was the Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple. It is an UNESCO World Heritage site, and the hondo (main hall) of the temple is classified as a national treasure.  The temple was founded in AD 798 and the present buildings were constructed in 1633.  Another cool fact - no nails were used at all in its construction. The large overhanging balconies (which provide a great view of the city below), were built to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims.

Entrance to Kiyomizu

3-tiered pagoda

The Hondo - a national treasure

These guys are actually all tourists - Matt didn't get the memo on the attire

Buddhist followers lining up for some holy water

Overall, Kyoto was one of the highlights of our trip to Japan. A direct contrast to the western world, it then strikes you that when the French started building Notre Dame de Paris in 1163, both Fushimi-Inari and the site of Kiyomizu-dera had been in existance for around 400 years.