Kyoto - November 2009
This is the entrance gate to the Golden Pavilion which is also known as the Rokuon-ji Temple. In 1397, the temple was originally built as a retirement home for Yoshimitsu, the third Shogun of Ashikaga. After his death, it was converted to a Zen temple per his wishes.
This bell is located outside the entrance.
The Golden Pavilion seen across the Kyôkochi Pond (the Mirror Pond).
The abbot's quarters.
The Kyôkochi Pond and Ashihara Island (the small island of trees on the left).
kyotojapangolden pavilionrokuonji templeKyôkochiAshihara Island
The Golden Pavilion.
This is a close up of the material forming the roof.
The Fudô Hall contains a stone statue of the deity Fudô Myôô.
The Kyoto Station is a gigantic train station and shopping mall. This shot was taken from one of the upper open air floors. You can see that the Christmas decorations are in place. The nearby Kyoto Tower can be seen in the background.
This is another outdoor shot at Kyoto Station.
We were surprised to see lots of Japanese wearing traditional kimono.
Day two - southern Higashiyama.
This is the outside of the Sanjusangen-do Temple (Rengeo-in Temple). The open wooden doors allow light to filter into the temple through rice paper.
Unfortunately, photography is prohibited inside, so there are no pictures of the 1,00 5.5 feet tall statues of the Buddhist deity, Kannon. There is one more statue of Kannon that's much larger than the previous 1,000. The statues were built during the 12th and 13th centuries. There are another 28 statues representing the guardian deities in front of the 1,001 statues.
Here you can see the rice paper behind the doors.
Visitors purify themselves by pouring water over their hands from this basin. The red clothing on the statues is an offering to unborn babies.
This is a closeup of the ladles used to get water for purification.
This is the front entrance of the Sanjusangen-do Temple. Visitors actually enter from the rear.
This is the entrance to the Yogen-in Temple. It was built in 1594, but now, its entrance sits right on an modern street complete with modern traffic.
We just took a peek through the gate before continuing on. We didn't have it on our itinerary for the day. Apparently, the ceiling of the main corridor in the main hall was taken from Fushimi Castle. There is still blood stains in the wood from the samurai who committed seppuku. They tried to defend the castle, but failed in the end.
This is a closer look through the gate of the Yogen-in Temple.
Another unplanned stop - the Myoho-in Temple.
This bridge leads to the Nishi Otani Mausoleum.
The bridge to the Nishi Otani Mausoleum.
The entrance to the Nishi Otani Mausoleum. This was another unplanned stop. We took a quick look around inside the entrance before continuing to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
This is a closer view of the entrance.
A close up of the entrance door.
Japanese tourists coming back from Kiyomizu-dera Temple. They really seem to enjoy having their photo taken by other tourists.
I think this was a monk begging for alms near the Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
More Japanese tourists in kimono.
And more Japanese tourists in kimono.
The gate to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The left and right pillars of the gate each contain two guardian statues.
The Three Storied Pagoda.
These are prayers.
This is a look back at the gate along with modern Kyoto.
