Kyoto– category –
-
Yuka-momiji at Rurikoin Temple: The Room Behind Kyoto’s Most Reflected Photo
The Table at Rurikoin Temple, and the Wind That Came With It A breeze crossed the room, then quit. A few seconds later it returned, stronger, and quit again. Just as I accepted that the pleasant part of the afternoon was over, the air mo... -
The Path That Skips the Bamboo Grove: Daihikaku Senkoji, the Temple I Put Off for Three Years
Two Western tourists were talking at the foot of Togetsukyo Bridge. "Does this way go to the Bamboo Grove?" "No. It doesn't." I was heading in exactly the opposite direction. My destination was a temple that had been bothering me for thr... -
Where Is the White Sand Cone? A Night at Kamigamo Shrine’s Summer Illumination
I picked July 15 for a reason. That night was Yoiyama, the eve of the Gion Festival's grand procession. Every human being in Kyoto, as far as I could tell, would be funneling toward Shijo-Karasuma to drink beer under the lantern-lit floa... -
Gion Matsuri Float Procession (Yamaboko Junko): The Festival That Makes You Wait
The Gion Matsuri float procession begins at nine in the morning on July 17. I was on Shijo Street by eight, feeling clever. I had done my calculations. The procession departs from Shijo-Karasuma, so Shijo-Karasuma would be mobbed. I got ... -
Walking Barefoot Over Coals: The Tanukidani Fudoin Fire Walking Festival
Empty your mind, and even fire feels cool. Every Japanese child hears that proverb at some point, and I was still repeating it to myself on the way up the mountain to the Tanukidani Fudoin Fire Walking Festival, where I had voluntarily s... -
Gion Matsuri Yoiyama: The Nights Kyoto Belongs to the Lanterns
Every guidebook says the highlight of Gion Matsuri is the grand float procession on July 17. The guidebooks are not wrong. But ask people who actually live in Kyoto, and many of us will tell you something different: the real pleasure com... -
Gion Matsuri’s Other Night: Omukae Chochin and Mikoshi Arai on July 10
The moment I climbed the stairs out of Gion-Shijo Station, a wind hit my face like the exhaust of a hair dryer. This particular kind of wind, I had always believed, existed in exactly two places: in front of an actual hair dryer, or besi... -
Adashino Nenbutsuji: Kyoto’s Temple of 8,000 Silent Stones
Temple fatigue is real. Ask anyone on day four of a Kyoto itinerary. The gold of Kinkakuji, the raked gravel of Ryoanji, the wooden stage of Kiyomizu. All beautiful, and after a while the beauty starts sliding off you like rain off a goo... -
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove: A Local’s Guide to Seeing It Empty
Why do people photograph bamboo? I ask myself this every time I come to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. I grew up in Shizuoka, where my parents' land holds more bamboo than anyone knows what to do with. For me, photographing bamboo is rough... -
Eikando Temple, Kyoto: Why I Can’t Quite Recommend the Temple of Maples
I have been to Eikando four times. I don't plan on a fifth. The first visit was in the green season. Rain had just lifted, the stone approach was still dark with water, and overhead the young maple leaves filtered the light until the who...
