Day 5 - Monday April 24, 2017 - Kyoto
The website Inside Kyoto provides a wealth of information and today we followed the suggested Southern Higashiyama Off-The-Beaten Track route.
Shoren-in Temple: Take the Tozai Subway Line to Higashiyama Station and exit to Sanjo-dori. Walk east (toward the mountains) on Sanjo. When you come to Jingu-Michi, turn right and walk up the hill (heading south). After a small rise, you’ll see a temple with some enormous camphor trees out front. This is Shoren-in Temple. Enter the temple and enjoy the garden (after viewing it from inside, don your shoes and explore via the footpaths).
Entoku-in Temple: Exit Shoren-in and turn left on Jingu-Michi (heading south). You’ll pass the enormous San-Mon Gate of Chion-in Temple on your left and then come to the gate to Maruyama-koen Park in front of you. Cut south across the park, walk up the hill, go straight for a bit and take your second right and then a quick left into Nene-no-Michi. After about 150 meters, you’ll see the steps leading up to Kodai-ji Temple. Ignore these and look to your right, where you’ll see the entrance to smaller and quieter Entoku-in Temple, which you should enter and enjoy.
Ishibei-Koji: Exit Entoku-in and walk another 50 meters or so south on Nene-no-Michi and you’ll come to the entrance to a narrow pedestrian-only lane. This is Ishibei-Koji, the loveliest little lane in the whole city. Follow this. After you pass Uemura Ryokan, take a left and follow the lane out to the larger auto road. Take a left on this. It climbs a hill and then intersects with a road where you turn right (down the hill heading west). You’ll soon come to the very large Higashioji-dori. When you reach Higashioji, look across the street and just slightly to your right and you’ll see a large stone Shinto shrine gate (tori). This is the entrance to Yasui-Konpira-gu Shrine. Enter this.
Yasui-Konpira-gu Shrine: Follow the flagstone approach to Yasui-Konpira-gu and you’ll soon find yourself in front of the main hall, where you’ll see a huge rock covered with pieces of paper. This is the en-musubi/en-kiri stone, which is believed to have the power to bind lovers together or break them apart, depending upon the way they pass through the hole in the stone. Try it, if you dare. Then, walk north out of the north entrance to the shrine (not the way you came). And take a left on the road you reach after about 100 meters. Follow this east. At the corner, you’ll see the entrance to Kennin-ji Temple.
Kennin-ji Temple: Enter Kennin-ji and be sure to pay the admission fee to see the superb and simple Zen garden here. After enjoying the temple, exit the way you came in. When you get to the main road, turn left and walk north. This is Hanami-koji, which runs right through the heart of the Gion geisha district. When you reach Shijo-dori, turn left and a few minutes of walking will bring you to Gion-Shijo Station.
From Gion-Shijo station, we made our way back to Kyoto station and headed up to the 10th floor, to go to one of the Kyoto Station ramen noodle restaurants for lunch.
After lunch, we went back downstairs and took the subway to Nijojo-mae station, to visit Nijo Castle