Kyoto was a delight to visit especially in the new year when the temples and shrines are in full swing. Many locals were in formalwear for the shrine visits and we were lucky capture a few photos.
The culture is more traditional and presented with great finesse. The food is more towards Buddhist cuisine with tofu and vegetables. The sweets are decadent with using matcha as main ingriedient.
The journey to Kyoto is about 2 hours on the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo and must see if looking for the “zen” side of Japan.
Temple sans cherry blossom. Our winter pics of branches waiting for spring.
Kamo River in heart of Kyoto. Many traditional Kaiseki (set menu) restaurants overlook this river.
New Year’s celebration
New Year’s lucky bamboo for the merchants in town.
Kyoto’s famous Nishiki market, 5 blocks in length.
Blessing for merchants at Nishiki Market
Merchant selling pickles – our favourite we discovered in Kyoto is pickled eggplant.
Fresh mochi (rice) ball being made. They are pounding the dough.
More mochi balls. Can’t get enough of all the different flavours
Map of Fushimi Inari shrine and their red Tori gates. It’s a nice hike up to top and get to walk through the Tori gates.
Kyoto tower
Kyoto main train station. Many great eateries amongst the different floors. Definitely more modern than rest of city.
One of the few main shopping streets.
Local rickshaw
Locals use bicycles to navigate city and often with children in front and back. Kimonos out in full swing.
Kinkaku-ji Temple known as the Golden Temple.
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove with a happy kimono lady.
We helped them take a photo, therefore they allowed us to take one of them for our souvenir!
Kimono Forest display brightens the train station. Yes, it’s a train station decor.
Walkway leading to train station.
Gion district is known for Geisha spotting. It’s a street lined with traditional restaurants and sometimes we can be lucky to catch them going between the buildings. We went there a few times and got lucky this one picture.
