Tofuku-ji
Kyoto's Supreme Autumn Foliage Temple
One of Kyoto's Five Great Zen Temples. Best autumn foliage in the city. The view from Tsutenkyo B...
Seiryo-ji
The Living Buddha of Saga and Its Hidden Treasures
Houses the 'Living Buddha' statue brought from China in 987, a wooden Shaka Nyorai said to replic...
Shugakuin Imperial Villa
An Imperial Garden Masterpiece with Sweeping Mountain Views
Built in the 1650s by retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Three terraced gardens using the Higashiyama mo...
Kitano Tenmangu
Shrine of Learning Famous for Plum Blossoms and Flea Markets
A major shrine dedicated to the deity of learning and scholarship, celebrated for its 2,000 plum ...
Ine
Ine - The Venice of Japan
The 'Venice of Japan', a fishing village with 230 traditional funaya boat houses lining a tranqui...
Ujigami Shrine
Japan's Oldest Shrine Building, in Kyoto Prefecture's Words, Across the River from Byodo-in
A small, free shrine on the east bank of the Uji River whose main hall Kyoto Prefecture lists as ...
Toei Kyoto Studio Park
Working Film Set and Samurai-Drama Theme Park in Uzumasa
A theme park and active film studio in Uzumasa where you walk an Edo-period townscape used for re...
Higashi Hongan-ji
A Free Giant Seven Minutes from Kyoto Station, With a Rope of Hair
Head temple of the Otani branch of Jodo Shinshu, with a Goei-do 76 metres wide that the temple co...
Adashino Nenbutsu-ji
Eight Thousand Nameless Stones at the End of the Sagano Road
Around 8,000 stone buddhas and pagodas gathered from Adashino, a burial ground since the Heian pe...
Jingo-ji
Four Hundred Steps Above the Kiyotaki Gorge
A mountain temple of 824 above the Kiyotaki gorge, reached by about 400 stone steps, where visito...
Manpuku-ji
Ming Chinese Zen in Uji, With a Monks' Vegetarian Lunch by Booking
Head temple of the Obaku school of Zen, founded in 1661 by the Chinese monk Ingen and built in la...
Honno-ji
The Temple Where Nobunaga Died, Rebuilt Ten Years Later Across Town
The Nichiren-school temple linked to Oda Nobunaga's death in 1582, rebuilt on Teramachi-dori in 1...
Sanzen-in
Ohara's Moss Garden and Its Small Hidden Jizo
A Tendai monzeki temple in the Ohara valley, an hour north of the city, where moss gardens hide s...
Kyozuan Arashiyama
Tofu soft serve the shop says won't fall out upside-down
A small takeaway tofu-sweets counter at the start of the path to Arashiyama's bamboo grove, about...
Shokoku-ji
Kinkaku-ji's Head Temple, With a Crying Dragon and Jakuchu Paintings
The head temple of Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji, just north of the Imperial Palace, with Japan's old...