Blooming sakura trees along Philosopher's path of Kyoto in April

Meditating under a cherry tree along the philosopher’s path , should be an experience of a life time. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to do it as a traveller, who is always on the move.

The philosopher’s path (哲学の道, Tetsugaku no michi) in Kyoto , is a pleasant stone path for pedestrians. It is about two kilometers long, which stretches between Ginkakuji Temple (Silver Pavillion) and Nanzen-ji  Temple .

The stone path follows a canal, which is actually just a deep drain to me. Water level was not that deep during my visit in mid April 2012. Jumping across the canal, or rather the drain is certainly possible if you are a long jump athlete. Should you just miss the jump and fall into the canal, I'm sure you won't be badly injured. But, I can assure you that, other fellow Japanese travellers around , will certainly stop you from jumping, for you will very much disturb the serene environment, which the Japanese and most other travellers enjoy a lot.

Hundred of cherry trees line the canal. We were just lucky enough to have come right on the blooming season.  Walking along the path, under the cherry blossoms is such a wonderful experience. And I was not able to catch, even half of its beauty and serenity   with my amateurish photographic skill.

The path gained its name after a famous Japanese philosopher, Nishida Kitaro, who practised meditation while walking this route to Kyoto University.

To experience the serenity of  the Philosopher’s path, you can either start from  Ginkaku-ji  or from the Nanzen-ji Temple.

As mentioned in my previous post – “ There is no subway service to Ginkaku-ji Temple”  , there are several buses that go to Ginkaku-ji. Please refer to this post for transport details for Ginkaku-ji.

If you will decide to start the philosopher’s path from Nanzen-ji Temple, you may take bus No 5 or take the Tozai line subway to Keaga (T09),and walk to Nanzen-ji temple. However, I find it convenient to visit Ginkaku-ji fisrt and follow by the philosopher’s path.

Couple sharing a romantic moment

Met no philosopher..a cool artist under a cherry blossom tree. Have you ever seen a man in purple trousers ?



Apart from cherry blossom, another type of flower in full bloom. Clusters of attractive yellow trumpets along the philosopher's path



I actually saw the owner feeding his doggie with fallen petals, but he didn't seem to appreciate it and kept turning his head away.



Just stunning , only when there is no rain !!

The philosopher's path in spring is actually a lot more prettier than this photo, my amateurish photographic skill can't even capture 20% of its real beauty

Ripe berries hanging across the clear canal. Kyoto tourism board has done a good job to keep the place and the canal in good shape.

We ended our trip to the philosopher's path in Kyoto here,did not go to the other of the path,Nanzen-ji Temple. And walked a short distance to the main road to catch another bus to Heian Shrine.

When trying to find out the correct bus to Heian Shrine, which is just along the same way , as with Ginkaku-ji Temple and Philosopher's path.

We actually came across a lady from Osaka, who happened to be in Kyoto for business. Obviosly, she had no idea of the city bus system as any other tourist like myself. But, There is one thing good about the Japanese to their tourists....They will very often,  try to find out the answer whenever they is an enquiry.

This kind lady actually checked it out for us, and walked back to inform us, and at the same time made sure that we would not go to the wrong bus stop , at the opposite side of the road.

There is no subway service to Ginkaku-ji Temple, kyoto

There is no subway service to Ginkaku-ji. Taxi service is of course available  in Japan, if money is not an issue.... A short distance of two subway stops, easily cost up to 22 USD.

Several buses go to Ginkaku-ji, like bus no 100 from Kyoto station is convenient.

Bus 5,32,202 also go to Ginkaku-ji . Most of the  city buses are always packed, it may not be easy to find a seat and need to stand to the way ..We were lucky enough to find two seats.

After visiting the Ginkaku-ji, we went  on to the Philosopher's path which is just next to the silver pavilion.

The silver rooster on the roof-top of Kannon-den(Ginkaku)

Ticket to Ginkaku-ji, designed in the form of a fortune telling slip.

Around 50 meter long hedges at Ginkakuji, made of stones,bamboos and camellias bushes, lining on both sides , from main entrance to the courtyard.

Stone garden

Sand Garden

A corner of the garden

From the observatory, the highest point of the temple.

Stone staircase from the observatory

Garden with velvetly soft  grass , one or two workers are always found working quietly in different corner of the garden

Ginkaku-ji or the Silver Pavilion temple is a zen temple in Kyoto. It represents the Higashiyama cultures of  Muromachi period. The pavilion gained its name from its initial plan, to cover the temple's exterior in silver foil.

The temple was originally built to serve as a place of solitude and rest for the shogun. During Ashikaga Yoshimasa reign as shogun, he inspired another culture tradition, which later known as the culture of Eastern Mountain or Higashiyama Bunka.

It is said that Yoshimasa had been sitting and contemplating the calm and beauty of the garden, after he retired and moved into the villa. The Onin war worsened and Kyoto was burned to the ground ….



Bamboo Forest, must not miss if you will visit Arashiyama in Kyoto



Stretch of cherry blossoms trees along the shopping street in Arashiyama. I even found cherry blossoms pickle here, wanted to buy some to have a taste,but changed my mind on second thought .. how was the collection carried out, from the fallen petals on the ground ?

Arashiyama in Kyoto prefecture, at the outskirt of Kyoto city. it certainly worth the effort to visit, though it may take much longer time to go. Apart from the Arashiyama Garden, bridge, river cruising, bamboo forest and temples. There are also hot springs (onsen) in Arashiyama.

Kyoto may not be a popular spot for hot spring visit, Arashiyama should be a good spot, if you are only visiting Kansai area.

Pre-booking for hot spring visit is highly recommended, or you would not be accepted as a walk-in customer. Most operators offer over night stay, with meals included.



Japanese like to dress up in their traditional costumes for Sakura viewing or for travelling. I saw many locals, they could be from other prefectures, fully dressed at touristic places.



Tenryuji Temple is on the main road, the whole area is huge. We just made a short stop-over here, before proceeding to the  Bamboo forest. Temple's staff ride a bicycle for their round.



Don't  they look like a family of five ? These stone sculptures are found right at the fence area, outside Tenryuji Temple. There is a bus-stop nearby, where bus ride to Daikakuji Temple is available. Daikakuji Temple is far away from the main area... better view of Arashiyama from the temple apparently.



A senior citizen home near to the Tenryuji temple. Arashiyama should be a beautiful and quiet place to retire. But not during peak travelling seasons like spring and autumn. The whole place could be just packed with tourists. Just wonder if there will be any foreigner choose to retire in Japan?



Colourful umbrellas on display, all the umbrellas were collected or all sold out ? For, there were no more on display on our way back to the station. It was raining, not long after we passed by this shop.

Enough of cherry blossoms? Here are the camellia, again in full bloom.

Tea house before reaching the Bamboo Forest. We would have checked it out, if we didn't have some snacks, just a short while ago. The only disadvantage of not having a tour guide, never know what to expect ahead of you!!

Cherry blossoms and Camellia welcome travellers side by side...



Tourists on rickshaw ride, the rickshaw actually completes with a cover, passengers won't get wet in the rain, and a blanket  for their legs, especially for female passengers. The driver automatically become a tourist guide cum photographer. They all know exactly  the best spot for pictures.



Quiet and serene bamboo forest, only if when all the visitors are gone. It was neither too busy nor too noisy during our visit....that could be due to the fact that, Japanese are generally quiet people



Another popular spot for wedding photo. I notice that, most of the photographers like close-up picture



Nonomiya Shrine at the end of bamboo forest. Both the Saya-Arashiyama and Toroko Saga lines stations are just a short distance away.  It started to rain, immediately after visiting the shrine. All travellers, including the two of us ran over to a small house, opposite the shrine, can't remember exactly what was that. And waited patiently for the rain to stop...we suddenly realised that we had no lunch until almost 3pm. lucky enough to find a packet of biscuit in Agnes'bag. The rain lasted for quite sometimes, we could only turn our picnic sheet into a huge umbrella when it was not that heavy. 

Rain washed sakura, delicate petals were found on wet pebbles covered ground, won't be muddy.  It was not easy to walk around. Didn't feel like stepping on the petals at all.

Few pine trees are grown among the cherry blossoms trees. They smelled totally fresh after the rain.

What can you see along the GionShijo area of Kyoto ?

Kenninji Temple is just situated at the end of Hanami Lane, at the Gion-Shijo station area. This temple was never in our itinerary. We didn't check it out, even though it was just close by. There are really too many temples in Japan, if we will try to visit every one of them, I believe, we will need more than one whole year to complete this major task.

We also didn't take the main road , which was just packed with tourist when we were there, to return to Kawaramachi station area, we took a back lane instead. This back lane turned out to be equally interesting, and happened to encounter a lot of mini front porch gardens.


This shop is found near to the Hanami Lane of Kyoto,which claims its business hours lasts till 26:00hrs. I initially thought, this must be the Japanese way to express their working hours, and started to pay close attention to other business hours and found out there are actually no other shops that has the same operation hours as this particular one.



Near the Gion-Shijo station



English road signs are available, all Japanese road signs are in Kanji, which is actually Chinese characters. At times, I even thought that I was in China, if only the Japanese will start to speak more louder.



Young rider enjoying herself on a Sunday evening, along Kamo River...I did not see other riders at this area.





Just immediately further down, I came across this sign on the river bank, it clearly states that bicycle riding is prohibited. And Japanese are highly law-abiding people , can't explain why did I still see rider,  She is not  a Japanese, any possibility ?




At the river banks of Kamo river, young couples are often seen around here..both local residents and tourists  like to take a walk along the river banks in the evenings. The yellow building in the backdrop is a century-old Chinese restaurant. We chose to have Japanese food anyhow,.



It was getting dark. So, we didn't try to go over to the other side of the river. It would definitely be mush colder if we would to go very near to the water. I was feeling a bit chilly ,even though I was having my pull-over on.

There are plenty of restaurants on Kawaramachi station area of the Kamo river. We actually had our dinner at the nearby kiyamachi street.

A tired traveller or just another homeless local.  Read an article sometimes ago, which reported that homeless people in Japan are increasing in number in the last few years, due to economy downturn.

Arashiyama in Kyoto. How to go ?

There are at least  four ways,which a tourist can go to Arashiyama.
First of all, the city bus from Kyoto ...If possible, I prefer not to take a bus, it could be caught in a traffic jam. And taking a train will normally miss out all these troubles.
Hop on an Umeda bound Hankyu Kyoto line train from Kyoto, change train at Katsura, for Hankyu-Arashiyama line
Check out the Randen-Arashiyama line, this train starts from the Salin station of Kyoto.
Or, board a Saga-Arashiyama train from Kyoto station..
I can't speak for other route, I took the Hankyu line, which I found it OK


Katsura train station of the Hankyu line,  transit station for Arashiyama. Station was romatically lighted in the late evening.



Arashiyama Garden and Togetsukyo Bridge

Arashiyama area is huge,one can easily spend one or two days here. Apart from the many temples, there were garden, bamboo forest and one long stretch of shopping street and the onsen . Agnes wanted to try out the hot spring (onsen).
All the onsens at Arashiyama, will mostly accept customers with reservation. We started to look for one at around 4pm, all the onsens at that time , were already started to clean up for the day.
I never wanted to try the Japanese onsen, for I know very well that, Japanese hot spring users enjoy themselves fully naked.
Not having a chance to try out the Japanese onsen, Agnes was pretty disappointed. I suggested to just experience the hotel's in-house onsen. But, when she found out that she had to go naked to join in the other ladies, she chickened out !!

Arashiyama garden in spring is always busy with tourists, even on a Monday morning. Most of the tourists on that day was either locals or from nearby Asian countries.

All cherry blossoms were in full bloom. But surprisingly, there was no bees, no butterflies and not fragrant as well. No bees, does that mean there won't be any pollination ? And no cherry !!

Young bride having her wedding photos in a stunning Arashiyama garden in spring. It was pretty chilly on that day, she would just quickly put on her jacket whenever she grasped a chance.

Doves are commonly seen around cherry blossoms trees. Don't think that the tourists are feeding them, they appear well-fed anyhow. Most gardens in Kansai area are covered with pebbles and not lawn. 

Public toilet under a  full bloom cherry blossoms tree..Majority of the public toilets that I have visited in Japan, have been well kept, except just a few of them, which can be found at older subway stations. But, this particular toilet at the entrance of Arashiyama garden was filled with amonia gas when I visited it at the end of my Arashiyama trip in the afternoon. Was a bit disappointed !!

Another full bloom ,willow-shape cherry bloosom overlooking the Oi River at Arashiyama Garden. We planned to have a pinic under this tree before leaving this garden. However, was forced to cancel this wonderful plan, was raining in the afternoon. The well-prepared plastic sheet was used as a huge umbralla instead. And we became the most prepared tourists in Arashiyama that afternoon and attacted quite a bit of attention.

Togetsukyo Bridge , constructed above the famous Hozu River.Cruising up stream along the Hozu River should be a beautiful experience during spring and autumn . River cruising is highly recmmendated by most guide books. But, we opted it out... The bridge connects Arashiyama Garden and the shopping streets at the area.

A monk expecting his alms at the Arahiyama Garden end of Togetsukyo Bridge, he left in the late afternoon. We didn't see him around on our return trip. Another monk that I came across , was near Kamo River in Kyoto, where there were plenty of tourists around.

If you are too tired to walk around the area, just hop on a rickshaw , could be just another option. The driver will serve as a tour guide as well, provided that you do understand Japanese. Fees for richshaw ride is vey much dependant on the distance, that a tourist will prefer, if you are not too big-size, two persons should be able to share one.

All richshaw drivers at Arashiyama, are young and fit, or they won't be able to take up this job at all. We were at one time, not very sure of our direction, and seek direction from one of the drivers. He just showed us the way happily, eventhough we declined his richshaw ride offer. They wear shoses made from cloth, which have the big toe and other toes separated. Could this design is for better grip, specially made for their profession.