This article is transfer.ed from my previous blog site and revised slightly.
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| The approach slopes down to Butsu-den main hall. |
Kyoto holds a winter campaign every year to lure people to come to the ancient capital even when the climate is not kind. Wear warm clothes, hat, gloves, socks, boots, and jacket, and you will love Kyoto’s winter, when there are less visitors and the air is extra crisp.
Oh, don’t forget to drop by a convenience store to get portable adhesive body warmers to beat the cold. Put it on the back of your inner wear. It will warm you up. The same type of warmers is available for your soles too if you like. And non-sticky ones are also on sale. Say “hokkai-ro” forming a rectangle with your fingers, and the staff will understand.
Famous places are fine; in fact, easier than you go there in high season like spring and fall. But take advantage of Kyoto’s winter campaign. A dozen locations in Kyoto have their halls, rooms and items usually closed to the public accessible until March 22, 2010.
One of my recommendations to you is the temple called Sen-nyu-ji, the temple of welling spring water. The temple is commonly called Mi-tera, meaning the temple for the imperial family, because of its historically close links with the imperial court. The temple has 39 imperial mausoleums at the foot of the hill, which is closed to the public.
Pay the admission fee and have fun in the precincts first. Go into the Butsu-den main hall and enjoy the hall as an architectural marvel as well as its interior with the three Buddha statues, the dragon motif painting on the ceiling, and the whitish Kannon Bodhisattva drawing you’ll see just before you leave the hall.
Then you might be ready to pay again to take off your shoes and go into the special area, which includes the six rooms still used by the imperial family members when they take a rest while visiting Kyoto. Enjoy the graceful paintings on the panels of the sliding doors installed at these rooms in Goza-sho hall. The garden is also fine, feels gentle and graceful. A stone lantern near the water adds tasteful atmosphere to the garden.
Proceed to the solemn-looking Rei-mei-den hall which enshrines the tablets with posthumous names of the deceased emperors and imperial members. Look at the ceilings of the inner area. Quite sophisticated. Compare them with the other types of ceilings you see while visiting the area, exclusively open this time of the year.
The temple is 880 Yen away by taxi (smallest type) from the Hachi-jo-guchi gate of Kyoto Station. Or take a train or a bus. You need to walk for 10 to 15 minutes to the ticket gate. Could be more. Ask the information on the second floor of Kyoto JR Station. You’ll enjoy the station as well.
Oh, don’t forget to drop by a convenience store to get portable adhesive body warmers to beat the cold. Put it on the back of your inner wear. It will warm you up. The same type of warmers is available for your soles too if you like. And non-sticky ones are also on sale. Say “hokkai-ro” forming a rectangle with your fingers, and the staff will understand.
Famous places are fine; in fact, easier than you go there in high season like spring and fall. But take advantage of Kyoto’s winter campaign. A dozen locations in Kyoto have their halls, rooms and items usually closed to the public accessible until March 22, 2010.
One of my recommendations to you is the temple called Sen-nyu-ji, the temple of welling spring water. The temple is commonly called Mi-tera, meaning the temple for the imperial family, because of its historically close links with the imperial court. The temple has 39 imperial mausoleums at the foot of the hill, which is closed to the public.
Pay the admission fee and have fun in the precincts first. Go into the Butsu-den main hall and enjoy the hall as an architectural marvel as well as its interior with the three Buddha statues, the dragon motif painting on the ceiling, and the whitish Kannon Bodhisattva drawing you’ll see just before you leave the hall.
Then you might be ready to pay again to take off your shoes and go into the special area, which includes the six rooms still used by the imperial family members when they take a rest while visiting Kyoto. Enjoy the graceful paintings on the panels of the sliding doors installed at these rooms in Goza-sho hall. The garden is also fine, feels gentle and graceful. A stone lantern near the water adds tasteful atmosphere to the garden.
Proceed to the solemn-looking Rei-mei-den hall which enshrines the tablets with posthumous names of the deceased emperors and imperial members. Look at the ceilings of the inner area. Quite sophisticated. Compare them with the other types of ceilings you see while visiting the area, exclusively open this time of the year.
The temple is 880 Yen away by taxi (smallest type) from the Hachi-jo-guchi gate of Kyoto Station. Or take a train or a bus. You need to walk for 10 to 15 minutes to the ticket gate. Could be more. Ask the information on the second floor of Kyoto JR Station. You’ll enjoy the station as well.
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