Back in September, I visited Japan with friends traveling through Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. I previously visited Kyoto in 2009 (blog posts here), but saw completely different sights during this visit.
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- My first visit was to the popular Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine, which sits at the base of a mouintain. Its pathways up and around the mountain are lined with torii gates.
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- Miniature torii gates are a common feature as you climb the mountain.
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- “Ema” are small wooden plaques on which prayers or wishes are written.
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- Many street food vendors will prepare the food right in front of you.
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- A tour of the river was a nice relaxing way to see part of Kyoto.
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- The tour guide didn’t speak English, but he was friendly and accommodating to everyone. I got the sense that he had been doing this for a while.
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- The Kamo River Walkway. Many restaurants on the left allow you to dine with a view of the river.
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- Kyoto’s downtown has a wide variety of retail choices, like most of Japan’s cities. I noticed that several different buildings across many blocks all shared the same overhang system above the sidewalk, which I assume is designed to make it more convenient to get around when it’s raining.
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- I loved the colourful lights of this game centre. While arcades fell out of favour in North America during the 1990’s, they continue to flourish in Japan.