Kyoto in December

We spent our holiday time traveling around Japan. We decided to ride the JR trains - they have a special 5 day pass deal over certain holiday periods. While hotels and such are fairly expensive here, we discovered that off-season travel is much more reasonable.
Kyoto is quite amazing. It’s a large city with a jumbled mixture of buildings and streets – modern skyscrapers, huge department stores, four lane streets, mixed with temples, shrines, fabled gardens and streets no wider than an alleyway. Fortunately, Kyoto has a great system of buses with routes designed to take the tourist to many of the historic sites.
Kinkakuji was our first stop. It is probably Kyoto's most famous temple and garden. The building is three-stories with the traditional oriental style curving roofs. The walls and eaves of the second and third stories are covered with a very fine gold leaf. We didn't make it on a bright sunny day so the reflection on the water isn't quite as spectacular as some of the pictures you see of it. It is, however, awesome. The lower story has an altar that is open for viewing sometimes but unfortunately, we didn't get to see it. The garden winds around the temple and up the hill. While there is a beauty in the stark landscape of winter, we plan to go back in other seasons to see the garden in full bloom.
Next stop, Ryoanji temple, just down the street. This is known as the “Temple of the Sleeping Dragon” and was once a retirement home for one of the emperors. It is also famous for its rock garden, one that is held in the highest esteem as being the quintessential rock garden. People enter (changing shoes for slippers, of course) and sit on a ledge, contemplating the garden. It is a very serene, peaceful scene.
Next stop…the Kyoto Imperial Palace. At one time Kyoto was the capital of Japan and the emperor took up residence in the Imperial Palace. The palace is still used for some of the enthronement ceremonies for the emperor. It is found in the center of the huge Imperial Gardens. There’s a large earthen wall around the outside with six gates for different people seeking admittance, Daimyo (nobles), the Emperor, the Emperess, lesser nobles, and finally the tradesmen, laborers and servants necessary to maintain the smooth running of the place. The main hall is huge and currently contains the thrones for both the emperor and the empress, used during the enthronement ceremony. Although the current Imperial Palace is in Tokyo, most of the emperors are enthroned here in Kyoto. When it occurs in Tokyo, the chairs are packed and shipped to Tokyo and then returned here. The palace grounds also include buildings that sometimes house the 3 treasures of Japan; the sacred mirror, sword and jade.
The small garden outside one of the emperors living quarters is the most spectacular. The water wends its way through carefully cultivated rocks and plants, absolutely gorgeous! It’s another place I would like to return to in the spring.
Stay tuned…Kurashiki coming up!