We arrived via train in Kyoto, the third largest city in Japan, on Thursday, May 18, 2017. We put our luggage in lockers at the station and set off for Kinkakuji. Kinkakuji (literally "Temple of the Golden Pavilion"), officially named Rokuon-ji (literally "Deer Garden Temple"), is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the most popular buildings in Japan, attracting a large number of visitors annually. It is designated as a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape, and it is one of 17 locations making up the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which are World Heritage Sites.
The Golden Pavilion itself.
It seemed like every other scene in this park was more beautiful than the first. It was packed with visitors, including many young Japanese girls and women dressed in kimonos.
We than left the Golden Pavilion and set off by foot for Ryoanji Temple. Ryōanji is the site of Japan's most famous rock garden, which attracts hundreds of visitors every day. Originally an aristocrat's villa during the Heian Period, the site was converted into a Zen temple in 1450 and belongs to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, whose head temple stands just a kilometer to the south.
The
Japan gives the color "green" a new name.
Following these two beautiful tours, we returned to the train station to retrieve our luggage and take the subway to our AirB&B to crash for the evening.
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