Wash first before you enter the temple!
by joiwatani
It's tradition but a lot of visitors of the temple miss this local custom!
There is a covered fountain fronting the gate of the Ginkakuji Temple. The water fountain has a bamboo scooper where you can scoop the water to drink or to wash hands. Before entering the temple, a visitor should scoop the water and splash it on the ground close to the fountain or wash their hands or drink the water for cleansing.
I can understand why people don't drink the water. They are probably unsure whether the water is safe or clean to drink!
Fish fish fish.. you can't get enough..
by koalaperhe about Supermarkets, Kyoto
There are so many different fishes and fish-made foods available in Kyoto and all of Japan that it's staggering. Do taste the differences while visiting this amazing country! You can easily shop around supermarkets and find fish meals for couple of hundred yens. (approx $4-6) JPY 500 - JPY 1000 for a basic ready meal (in supermarket)
Nouhi Highway bus
by tompt
Our travelagent reserved seats for us on the Nobi Highwaybus to Takayama. We bought the tickets in Osaka at the OCAT busstation, 2nd floor.
Then we had to go to Kyoto Fukakusa busstop. This stop is along the Meishin highway. So we walked from Takeda station, which is 800 meters from the busstop, along the highway to find the busstop. But there were no exits, just a screen against the noise high above our heads. We reached the next station and knew we missed it. So we headed back again and started walking in the other direction from Takeda station. But no busstop at the nearest exit here. So once again we walked along the screen and then we found this door. An escapedoor, it seemed. But if we could have read the japanese it would have been clear, behind this door is the busstop!
Luckely this entire adventure happened the day before we had to catch our 9:00 h bus to Takayama......
The next day we walked the 800 m from Takeda in just under 15 minutes. If you have lots of bagage it might be a good idea to take a taxi.
The Nouhi bus took us to Takayama in 4 hours. We had two stops on the way at servicecentres along the highway. Here you can go to the toilet or buy something to eat and drink. Just be back in the bus by the time indicated by the driver. (It was indicated in japanese only!, So learn times in japanese or ask them to point it out on your watch)
We paid 4650 Yen for a one way ticket.
Fushimi Inri Temple
by crewrower
Located outside of Kyoto but accessible by public bus, the Fushimi Inri Temple is a great Buddhist temple to visit, especially in the Summer. The temple has lots of red torii gates and statutes all around.
My favorite part of this temple is that the corridors and rooms are very very cool inside. Even in the height of Summer these rooms are cool, almost like they are air-conditioned. The engineering design is just genius. You will be impressed.
You need about 90 minutes here.
Yasaka Koshindo Temple
by yukisanto
Hanging outside the small shrine were strings of stuffed balls, and inside the temple were the balls with words written on them. These items were supposed to be monkeys and are intended to help you eliminate your bad desire. In order to have a wish granted by the monkey, you write the desire you wish to eliminate on the monkey ball and hang it in the shrine. Sort of like if I sacrifice something, I get my wish granted.
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Mibu Temple
Higashi Honganji Temple
View over Higashi Hongan-ji
The Las Vegas building in Kyoto
