But Wait There's More Temples!

The temperature dropped 20 degrees today so we were lucky to do what we did. Got into Kyoto

around 10ish and took the JR to Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was good we got there early because it was pretty much tourist free. We walked to the top in about 45 minutes and the crowd thins considerably the higher you get. It was a wonderful experience with stunning views. We were fortunate that the weather was still nice and the sun was shining.

One of Kyoto's oldest (founded in 711 AD) and most revered Shinto shrines, Fushimi Inari serves as the headquarters for all the 40,000 shrines dedicated to Inari across Japan.
Originally the god of rice, Inari now governs the modern equivalent: success and prosperity in business. Fushimi Inari Shrine draws thousands of businessmen and tradespeople seeking blessings for their enterprises, especially at the first prayers of the New Year.Fushimi Inari is noted for its remarkable sight of some 10,000 small torii (shrine gates) that arch over a long path up the hill behind the shrine. It takes about two hours to walk along the whole trail, and there are nice views of Kyoto from the top.
Donated and inscribed by businesses and individuals thankful for their prosperity, the long tunnel of torii is one of the most iconic visions of Kyoto.

Coming down you wind up at the Japanese food court. We tasted the king crab, the rice balls, and the fish-shaped waffles stuffed with red bean. For lunch, we went into the grilled eel restaurant which was to die for! We had been looking some Japanese chopsticks (which are different than Chinese or Thai) and we came across a chopstick store. Picked out a couple of pairs and got a free monogram. Very cool.

It was now time to move on to our last Kyoto attraction on our list, To-ji Temple. Geoff thought we could get off a stop before Kyoto Station and take the bus across to the temple. So we tried that. The train dropped us off in a small town and no one had a clue as to where a bus stop might be. So we walked and walked. I even tried the gps but it led us to another train stop. OK - I cried UNCLE! The sun was gone and the temperature dropped like a bomb. I had on about 4 layers of clothes. We grabbed the first cab we saw and viola, we were at the temple.

Quite honestly, outside of the 5 tier pagoda, the temple site is not as impressive as the others. But it was still nice to walk around - absolutely no tourists at all here. 

Toji Temple (東寺, Tōji), literally "East Temple", was founded at the beginning of the Heian Period just after the capital was moved to Kyoto in the late 700s. The large temple, together with its now defunct sister temple Saiji ("West Temple"), flanked the south entrance to the city and served as the capital's guardian temples. Toji Temple is one of Kyoto's many UNESCO world heritage sites.
About thirty years after the temple's establishment, Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism, was appointed head priest of Toji, and the temple became one of the most important Shingon temples besides the sect's headquarters on Mount Koya. Kobo Daishi also added many of the large wooden buildings that stand on the grounds today.The Kondo Hall, one of Toji's original structures, is the temple's main hall and largest building. Destroyed by a large fire in 1486, the building was reconstructed in the early Edo Period in a contemporary architecture style and houses Toji's main object of worship, a large wooden statue of the Yakushi Buddha, flanked by his two attendants, the Nikko and Gakko Bodhisattvas.
Just next door stands the Kodo Hall, which was added in 825 by Kobo Daishi and served as the temple's lecture hall. It too burned down in the 1486 fire, and was subsequently rebuilt in its original architectural style. 
Across from the Kondo and Kodo stands Toji's five storied pagoda, which was originally erected by Kobo Daishi in 826. It stands 57 meters tall, making it the tGoallest pagoda in Japan, and has become a symbol of both the temple and Kyoto as it can be seen from many places across the city. The ground floor of the pagoda is irregularly opened to the public and houses four smaller Buddha statues.

Walked around and sat with the koi for a bit. Decided to walk back to Kyoto Station and take the train back tot he house to beat the afternoon rush hour. We had asked Jonni earlier if there was a good sushi place around. He suggested just going to the market and picking some up and eating at the house. That idea appealed to us a lot. Got to the station and called Jonni. He came to pick us up and drove us down to the market. This place was huge. Sort of a department store with a super stop and shop inside. Geoff and I loaded up on sushi and I grabbed a bottle of saki as well. We were good to go.

Back at the house, I threw in a load of wash. Jonni left to go to work - should be back about 9, so the house is ours. Feels good to stop moving for a while. We had a great time exploring Kyoto and spending whatever time we could with Jonni and being able to see a bit of life outside of the city. We were also able to discretely leave a bit of our dear friend, Jerry B. at all of the temple sites we visited. 

Tomorrow we are off to Hakone. More trains and timetables. We spend our last two nights there before making the long journey back home. But now it is sushi time!

Next time.... Going to Hakone