Fushimi Inari Taisha

Day 3 in Kyoto and we continue with  our quest to see as many of the city’s treasure trove of temples. This time we’re heading north to a cluster of beauties where temple gardens are as significant as the buildings. 

We’ve discovered that the 205 bus that stops just outside our hotel not only goes to a Kyoto station, but goes all the way up to Kinkaku-Ji - our first visit of the day. Bus travel is easy and cheap - just over £1 for any distance. There’s an English commentary in terms of stops - but even so, we get it wrong, get off too soon and end up adding a significant walk to our day. 

Still, it’s more than worth it when we arrive at the temple popularly known as the Golden Pavilion. This is an exquisite setting - a beautifully tiered temple with walls covered with gold leaf sitting by the side of a glassy lake so that both it and the sublime landscaping are reflected. Rocks, small wooded islands, perfectly manicured conifers - perfection. 

 Walking around the lake reveals new views at every turn, with bamboo features and buildings carefully constructed to both blend in and add to the beauty. 

From here we walk further to come to the next temple on today’s list - Ryokan-Ji. This is also famous for its garden - but here it is a Zen gravel garden which is the star attraction. Before this, however, there is another lakeside walk with beautiful vegetation and features. The lushness of this - even in midwinter - contrasts starkly with the gravel garden - a rectangular 
area of raked gravel with four islands constructed of small groups of rocks - all of which will have been carefully chosen for their aesthetic qualities.  We join others sitting on the shallow steps surrounding the garden - of course nobody is allowed to step onto the perfectly raked gravel. It’s austere but has a beauty of its own.  Intended to be a focus for meditation, the current level of chatter and activity makes such concentration impossible. It’s very difficult to photograph - unless you can get a bird’s eye view. 

Last of the northern temples is Ninna-Ji which turns out to be an unexpected pleasure. Here, whilst some of the temple buildings are undergoing restoration, we are able to follow a wooden walkway around these and view the gardens which combine raked gravel, rocks, lanterns and vegetation. 

We’re overdue a refreshment break; temples are not places for cafes - but here there’s a simple pop-up establishment with one large table and we join a group of local women on a Sunday jaunt. They’re very friendly, though their English is only marginally better than our Japanese, and when they discover our next destination they offer to show us the way as they’re going in the same direction. We thank them, but we still have more of this complex to see and bid our farewells. 

The next and final destination is Fushini Inari Taisha, south of Tokyo. This is the temple famous for its 3000 vermillion torii gates; it’s a ‘must see’ and we’ve timed it fir late afternoon when hopefully it’ll be a bit quieter and we’ll catch the last rays of the sun, it’s a bus to the station, then a train two stops to the temple. Predictably, the area is still busy, and the street full of food outlets and souvenir shops. Having not eaten since breakfast, we pop into a yakatori shop and have a couple of chicken skewers to keep us going. 

Pushimi Inari Taisha is everything we’ve hoped for - and the crowds are thinning out. Golden light is casting leaf patterns on the torii gates, and sending rays into the tunnels of red. Of course, the quest is to get these features free of people - or with perhaps just one or two to get a sense of perspective, but this is far from easy. As soon as a break in the lines seems in prospect, more people arrive. I try to stand my ground to hold back those behind me, and just about manage clear shots on a couple of occasions. I’m amazed that those behind me aren’t interested in getting the same shot for themselves - a group of beer drinking Spaniards (there’s a no eating or drinking rule so I’m not sure how they manage it) charge through, clearly just ticking this off as a destination but taking little notice of their surroundings. In contrast, a group of young Americans join up as a team for us all to get a clear view of this glorious sight. 

The lines of torii snake up the hill behind the temple and it is possible to complete a circuit, but we have neither the time nor energy for this. It’s getting dark and it’s time to head back to the city - we just hope that with all the people on the platform we will be able to get on the next train, and of course we do! 

Another brilliant day in Kyoto! I don’t know when I’ve ever had a day when there have been so many beautiful landscapes and buildings to photograph so it’s been even harder than usual to choose. My main is a corridor of torii gates at the glorious Pushimi Inari Taisha. I’ve chosen one with rather than without people, but I’ve put a deserted corridor in extras - I’d be interested to know what people think! There are also views of the other temple landscapes and some collages including one of the late rays on the torii.