Arashiyama
November 13, 2004
I triumphed! I survived a whole excursion by myself – train ride and all. Here it goes. Again, I’m going to be quite descriptive for other travelers or myself (in case I want to go back). Here goes:
Start
So I started fairly early this morning to beat the crowds. After a nice train ride, I was at Arashiyama with a cool crisp morning at my beckoning. I really hadn’t planned what to do here. There are so many temples and interesting looking things in the area.
The first landmark you’ll see is the Togetsu-kyo bridge. Supposedly this is a nice looking bridge but I found it to be ugly. The Hozu-gawa river on one side is beautiful while the other is blocked and fairly dry – lots of ugly weeds and crap growing there. Before the bridge, there was an interesting looking thing: the Iwatayama Monkey park. I was going to come back here on my way back but I was too tired. I’ll save that for next time.
Heading straight after the bridge, I saw a street filled on both sides with restaurants and stores selling souvenirs and sweets. I think the specialty in the area is matcha – green tea. Green tea tastes like green tea to me but some of the sweets looked really tempting. It was fine in the morning but be careful at around noon till 4pm – it gets really crowded. I’d probably go through the small streets the next time around.
There are literally more than a dozen temples around the area. I’d pick up a map of the area before starting. I grabbed a drawn map from the Hankyu station and it suited me fine but it’s not the best.
I basically did the Tokai Shizen walk (Eastern Ocean Natural walk). It’s the same walking tour described in the Lonely Planet. Before that though, I made a trip straight north and a detour to the east. Here’s what I saw:
Tenryuu-ji
I didn’t pay to get in here but it’s listed as a UN heritage site. 500 yen admission by the way. Tenryuu-ji (Sky Dragon or Heavenly Dragon temple) is apparently some important zen temple or some spiritual stuff.
Seiryou-ji
The big giant gate drew me in. At 400 yen, the main temple building is boring – old paintings, a buddha statue, old people. In the back though, there’s a beautiful garden with a wooden, covered walkway that was quite relaxing.
Daikaku-ji
About a 10 minute walk from Seiryou-ji (head east and follow the turn) resides a former palace turned temple. I don’t know what’s inside because the admission is a whopping 800 yen. Instead, I went to a little lake right beside it called Osawa-no-ike. I had to pay 200 yen for some reason. I’m wondering if those old ladies just set up tables there to collect for their own wicked purposes. Anyway, this lake was supposed to have been used by some emperor for boating. It was a nice stroll. There was also a big bamboo grove that was very beautiful.
After this, I made it back to the bridge and found a place for lunch. Be careful about prices – expect to pay 200-300 yen extra for lunch sets. This is a touristy place. The place I went to had shit service too; a first for me in Japan.
Kameyama-koen
“Turtle Mountain Park” was definitely worth it. It’s tucked away in the corner of the map right beside the river. Along the river, you’ll see people eating bento box lunches, rowing rented boats, and some trying to skip stones. In the park, be sure to get to the lookout towards the western end – it offered a nice view of the river from a high vantage point. Apparently you should be careful of monkeys here, says some signs, but I didn’t see a single one. Too bad! There were some old people painting though. That was quite exciting.
Skipped Temples
After the park, I headed north along some nice streets. A stroll through Ookouchi Sansou offered another bamboo grove. This place was packed with tourists and stupid drivers who wanted to squeeze through the already crowded road. Come here when it’s quiet! After that, the streets offered stores selling more souvenirs, crafts, and food.
I stopped at but did not pay to get into the following places: Joujakkou-ji, Nison-in, Takiguchi-dera, and Giou-ji. My guidebook had little to say about these places except they offered some nice scenery. Each place costed about 400 yen each. Nison-in had this long stone stairway that looked interesting.
One thing that did looked fun was the Sagano-Ningyou-no-Ie (Sagano Dollhouse). It was closed today but from what I can tell, it’s either a place that makes dolls or a museum for dolls. Either way, I’d love to go back to see it.
Adashino-Nembutsu-ji
My last stop of the day. This place is really interesting. From my understanding, my guidebook, and the English sign, a long time ago, a bunch of people without families died. Their bodies were collected and dumped here probably. To commemorate this, they made small stone figures here and each yeah, they light a thousand candles. Well, no candles today but the stone figures were quite interesting. It’s 500 yen to get in and you’re not allowed to take pictures here. (Didn’t stop me).
After seeing this place, some sights I saw today suddenly made sense. I saw these creepy altars with stones wrapped in cloth placed on them. Some even had faces painted on them and names written on the front. It was so creepy. I’m guessing now that people around here use these stones to honor the dead.
After seeing this place, I headed up north slightly and saw a bit torii gate. The signs showed Atago-Torii and Kiyotaki at 2km and 1.3km respectively. At this point, my legs were feeling numb so I turned back.
That’s it! I got on the train, picked up some KFC, and enjoying the evening, triumphant over never traveling alone. See my pictures!
Suggestions:
Don’t make my mistake: don’t visit on weekends. The morning was fine but by afternoon, there were lots of people. Avoid the main street that runs from the Hankyu station to Seiryou-ji temple – it was packed and I couldn’t find a restaurant without a line at noon. The pristine views just weren’t the same with so many tour groups and old people bumping around.
I’d pick and choose which temples you want to pay to get in. If you plan to visit many, you’ll be surprised how fast the cost will mount up. Expect to pay between 300-800 yen for admission for adults.
Renting a bike might make a lot of the traveling easier. I saw prices ranging between 800-1200 yen for the day. Be warned that some of the streets are fairly sloped – those basketed street bikes won’t make it without quads of mega steel.
Directions:
From Umeda, take a limited express train on the Hankyu-Kyoto line (platform 1 / 390 yen) to Katsura. It’ll take about 30 minutes. At Katsura, take a local train on the Hankyu-Arashiyama line, don’t worry about fare adjustment; the 390 covers your way to Arashiyama. This last part will take about 5 minutes.
