My friend Jenny is visiting! So we took a weekend and went to Kyoto.... the heart of Japan. Kyoto is known for it's shrines, temples, palaces, and gardens. It was about a 45-minute train ride from Nagoya. Kyoto is what you would picture traditional Japan to look like... streets of wooden houses, geisha, temples, pagodas, cherry blossom trees, etc. We narrowed it down to 5 different temples to see: Sanjusangen-do, Kiyomizu-dera, Muruyama-koen, Kinkaku0ji, & To-ji.
Sanjusangen-do. This long temple housed over 1000 Buddha statues. Unfortunately you couldn't take pictures inside the temple... but I copied some pictures from the internet so that you can see.....
1000 Golden Buddha statues. Made out of wood and painted with gold lacquer.
Giant Buddha in the middle. He separated 500 golden Buddhas on each side.
God of Wind. It was Joe's favorite, he even bought a t-shirt :)
Kiyomizu-dera. This temple and surrounding area is one of Kyoto's defining sights. This picture is of the main entrance.
Temple bell overlooking the city.
3-story pagoda.
Maki is one of Jenny's friends. They met in Spain studying abroad, and are both fluent in Spanish. Maki is Japanese and was nice enough to take us on a tour of Kyoto. Maki would explain something to Jenny in Spanish, and then Jenny would translate to English.
Pretend Geisha. These women dressed up in Geisha outfits to take pictures with tourists.
Muruyama-koen. This temple was near our hotel downtown. This picture is of the main entrance.
The temple.
There was a wedding at the temple: groom on the left in black, bride beside him.
Kinkaku-ji. The famous temple of the Golden Pavilion. It's surrounded by Mirror Pond, which makes for an awesome picture with the reflection! This was originally built as a retirement villa in 1358 but was converted into a Zen temple after his death. The 1st floor is palace-style, the 2nd floor is samurai-style, and the 3rd floor is Zen temple style.
To-ji. This is a 5-storey pagoda, Japan's tallest! Founded in 794.
Sanjusangen-do. This long temple housed over 1000 Buddha statues. Unfortunately you couldn't take pictures inside the temple... but I copied some pictures from the internet so that you can see.....
1000 Golden Buddha statues. Made out of wood and painted with gold lacquer.
Giant Buddha in the middle. He separated 500 golden Buddhas on each side.
God of Wind. It was Joe's favorite, he even bought a t-shirt :)
Kiyomizu-dera. This temple and surrounding area is one of Kyoto's defining sights. This picture is of the main entrance.
Temple bell overlooking the city.
3-story pagoda.
Maki is one of Jenny's friends. They met in Spain studying abroad, and are both fluent in Spanish. Maki is Japanese and was nice enough to take us on a tour of Kyoto. Maki would explain something to Jenny in Spanish, and then Jenny would translate to English.
Pretend Geisha. These women dressed up in Geisha outfits to take pictures with tourists.
Muruyama-koen. This temple was near our hotel downtown. This picture is of the main entrance.
The temple.
There was a wedding at the temple: groom on the left in black, bride beside him.
Kinkaku-ji. The famous temple of the Golden Pavilion. It's surrounded by Mirror Pond, which makes for an awesome picture with the reflection! This was originally built as a retirement villa in 1358 but was converted into a Zen temple after his death. The 1st floor is palace-style, the 2nd floor is samurai-style, and the 3rd floor is Zen temple style.
To-ji. This is a 5-storey pagoda, Japan's tallest! Founded in 794.
love all the pics - looks amazing!
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