Kyoto: Things to Do

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Kyoto is popular for its temples, shrines, cultural heritage sites, and grand festivals and traditional events. Kyoto also offers stunning scenery throughout the year, may it be spring, summer, autumn, or winter.

 

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Kyoto StationKyoto Station

A major railway station and transportation hub in Kyoto, Japan and the station building with a futuristic design is the second-largest station building (after Nagoya Station).

 

Nijo Castle (www.japan-guide.com)二条城, Nijo Castle

Built in 1603, this castle served as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period. It is one of the seventeen assets of Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Its palace buildings are one of the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan’s feudal era.

 

Kinkakuji金閣寺, Kinkakuji

Also known as the ‘Golden Pavilion’, it is a Zen temple in northern Kyoto whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. It has an impressive structure built overlooking a large pond. It is designated as a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape, and it is one of 17 locations comprising the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site.

 

Fushimi Inari Shrine伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Shrine

This shrine which is also known as Fushimi Inari Taisha is located in Southern Kyoto and famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates. It is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice.

 

Bamboo Grove嵐山, Arashiyama

One of Kyoto’s top sights with walking paths cutting through the soaring stalks of bamboo. The grove has natural beauty and strolling through the bamboo is a particularly enchanting experience.