Ultimate Guide to Famous Temples in Kyoto and Spiritual Sites in Japan

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Buddhism is deeply woven into Kyoto’s culture, visible through its temples, practices, and everyday life. Many temples in Kyoto, like Kinkakuji and Kiyomizu-dera, embody Buddhist teachings, with each structure designed for tranquility and contemplation. Exploring these temples provides a glimpse into the traditions of mindfulness, meditation, and respect for nature central to Buddhism. The serene atmosphere, combined with the scent of incense and chanting, offers a reflective experience, reminding visitors of Buddhism’s influence on Japanese spirituality and daily life.

Table of Contents

• Land of a Thousand Temples in Kyoto
• Gion District
• The City of Kyoto
• Tourist Center
• Where We Stayed
• Nijo Castle
• Kinkakuji Temple
• Touring Gion Corner
• Gion Corner & Geisha
• Tea Ceremony
• Maiko Dance
• Puppet Theater
• Zen Meal
• Looking Back
• Kiyomizu-dera Temple
• Fushima Inari-taisha Shrine
• Mos Burger

Land of a Thousand Temples in Kyoto

Gion District

Everybody, and I mean everybody, who’d visited both, including my realtor and a young girl I met in a Daegu cafe a few months ago, said you have to see the temples in Kyoto if you go to Japan.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want to go to Kyoto; it’s always been high on my bucket list for its adherence to tradition and connection with the Geisha (or Geiko in Kyoto). The temples in Kyoto were a huge draw for me, so I didn’t want to shortchange myself. I combined it with the week we had already scheduled and booked a non-refundable hotel room. But then my hubby, always the money-conscious one, suggested we’d have a better chance at accomplishing our “other” travel goals by not going to the same places more than once.

Where we stayed: Karasuma Kyoto Hotel On the third day of our trip to Tokyo, we packed an overnight bag and hopped on the Shinkansen to Kyoto. I’m so glad we did.

The City of Kyoto

At first glance, the city of Kyoto doesn’t appear to be traditional. Kyoto Station is modern and surrounded by other modern buildings… just like any other city. It has modern conveniences, just like any other city. It has been built around the more conventional area called Gion and all those temples and traditions Kyoto is famous for.

Tourist Center

We stopped by the tourist center and learned our best transportation options: buses first, then the metro, with taxis as a distant third, since most sites, including temples in Kyoto, were reachable by one or two bus stops.

We bought four-day bus passes, which, though not my favorite, were the most practical choice in Kyoto, given the city’s limited subway lines. Luckily, we later discovered a subway station near our hotel that we could also use.

Bus 26 took about 20 minutes to arrive. In Kyoto, it’s customary to enter the bus from the rear and exit from the front. Day passes are validated next to the driver, who just checks the date after the initial validation. All the drivers appeared to be male, which, we were told, is typical, though there are a few female drivers in some cities.

Where We Stayed

Our hotel for the night was the Karasuma Hotel, a comfortable place on one of Kyoto’s well-known streets. We actually walked right past it the first time. Once we located it, the staff let us know that check-in wasn’t until noon. It was only a quarter to 10, so we dropped off our bags, got directions to a nearby restaurant, and relaxed there until we could return.

With just a day and a half to explore, I kept my list short for the must-see temples in Kyoto and other highlights I wanted to experience.

1. Kinkakuji Temple

2. Gion Corner & Geishas

3. Kiyomizu-dera Temple

4. Nijo Castle  Tea Ceremony

5. Kyoto Imperial Palace (closed, under construction)

6. Fushima Inari-taisha Shinto Shrine

Nijo Castle

We stopped in front of the Nijo Castle on the bus ride to the hotel. It was undergoing major renovations, so we removed it from the list. The following day, we would do the exact same thing with the Imperial Palace.

Kinkakuji Temple

Since I had booked a tour of Gion that included the 6 performing arts of the Japanese, a zen dinner, and participation in a traditional tea ceremony, our first order of business to visit the Kinkakuji Temple

The temple is also known as the Golden Pavilion– an amazing structure that a monk accidentally burned to the ground in 1950. It was rebuilt a few years later and eventually covered in the gold plate a few years later. It sits on the edge of a pond where its reflection mesmerizes you like the fish in the pond make little waves in the water. It’s stunning.

 

Touring Gion Corner

After the temple, we headed to our tour meeting place, a fancy smancy hotel. The Kyoto Okura is nice and a beehive of activity. I counted no less than 25 people whirring cute little uniforms in the lobby. They were opening doors, answering questions at the tourist or reception desk. Some were just walking around doing nothing at all.

We plopped down in two over-sized, over-stuffed library chairs to wait for our guide. And this is where the tour that I had been so hopeful, so excited for, so in debt for… went bad.

The tour guide, I don’t even know her name, stormed in 10 minutes past the meeting time, holding up a paper sign that said tour. We walked up to her where she “said” she was late because she went to another hotel to get “us.”

Let’s stop right there. The tour information said you could meet at one of two locations but did not specify a preference or need to specify which one.

Okay… so after we told her who we were, we were shuffled, quite hurriedly, out the door to awaiting taxis. Two guys from Australia were sitting in the taxi we were told to take. We rode over to Gion, chatting away, but none had the faintest idea of the itinerary or where to meet again.

Gion Corner & Geisha

The Gion district was built to accommodate travelers and visitors to the shrine. Today it has evolved into one the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan where they and the traditional arts are practiced and performed.

Once at Gion Corner, the nameless tour guide showed up 15 minutes later, handed us a ticket and rushed into the theatre. The last two rows of the theatre where I would learn 1. I couldn’t get a good picture from, 2. had bad lighting and 3. was the result of her being so late to pick us up in the first place… which she blamed us for.

I was there, so I made the best of the situation by leaving my seat and taking up some real estate on the wall closest the stage. And that’s where I enjoyed the entire 2-hour performance.

Tea Ceremony

After the tea ceremony, we were entertained with more lovely ladies playing the Koto (Japanese Harp) and Kado (flower arranging) and Gagaku (court music). All the above are skills the Geiko (or Maiko apprentice) must learn in order to work in Kyoto.

The Kyogen is the art of comic play. They performed a story where the master was fed up with his servant’s drunkenness and bound one’s hands behind his back and the other to a long pole. However, the thrifty servants figured out a way that both could continue to drink their masters’ sake.

Maiko Dance

Then came the part I had been waiting for: the Maiko dance or Kyomai. Two very young girls appeared on the stage, both between 15 and 20, the age of apprenticeship. At age 20, if they master the skills of the profession, they are made Geiko and join their sisters.

They are required to be an apprentice in makeup as well as a TON of chores around their ryokan. They all live and work in Gion and they are very dedicated to their traditional ways and their profession.

Puppet Theater

The last performance was eerie and worthy of a good nightmare or two. The Bunraku is puppeteering a life-size puppet, where the main performer is out in the open but supporting operations to wear hoods and dress in all black to not become a “visible” character in the play. It was weird, and I got a kick watching my husband, who seemed perplexed during the whole thing.

We met up in front of the theatre and walked the 10 minutes to the ryokan we would eat out a zen meal. I know zen doesn’t include meat and most likely we’d see a lot of tofu which I hate. And still, I was surprised by the menu.

Once the curtains went down, I asked why. He said that that would give most kids nightmares and wondered why that was considered a kid puppet show. I’m not sure it was. I mean in the end I think the puppet was executed.

Zen Meal

The meal was as follows:
Protein out of soybeans: Tofu (curdled soybean milk) Yuba (membraneous layer of protein and fat skimming the top from boiling milk of soybeans) Deep fried soybean paste Protein out of wheat: Fu (steamed raw wheat protein from kneading flour de-starched) Seasonal vegetables: Mushrooms, Ginger, Sweet potato, Lotus Root, Egg Plant, Shiso Leaf (yup a leaf), Green Pepper, Pumpkin and Kelp. Miso Soup (soybean soup with tofu) Steamed rice topped with dried shiso (MY favorite thing besides the LEAF) Tea Sounds delicious, right? Guess what my favorite things were? I like the steamed rice, the deep soybean paste, which I have NOT liked since moving to Asia, and the tempura leaf. The sweet potato wasn’t bad, but everything else was.

My hubby leaned over and reminded me of the Irish pub on the corner near our hotel. We fist-bumped over our fried roots and leaves.

Looking Back

The tea ceremony was the saving grace and the highlight of the tour. The ambiance was just as expected, the skill level was high, the explanation of the tradition was easy to understand and the was delicious. It was a green frothy tea, a little bitter, but tasty.

We were ushered back into a taxi and returned to our hotel. Then we crossed the street and enjoyed a quick dinner that did not include leaves or tofu and an alcoholic beverage. Here’s the link to my review on Viator.

The next morning, we left our bags with the concierge and caught the bus to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It’s a steep walk up the narrow street that gets even more narrow with the many shops selling souvenirs, and a lot of candy is crowded by school children, apparently on school field trips, unless they play hooky and go to the temple instead of the mall. It’s a pretty temple, but a temple all the same. So we walked around a bit, took pictures, and people-watched.

Fushima Inari-taisha Shrine

To save time, we walked to the nearest train station and caught the train to our final destination– the Fushima Inari-taisha Shrine. We strolled to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the view. We passed by the castle on the way back to pick up our bags, but the temptation to stop in wasn’t great enough to ignore all the tarp and wooden scaffolding.

Mos Burger

We stopped at a local fast-food chain and grabbed a snack… a Mos burger. From now on, we will refer to it as a Mos Def burger. I think they stole the concept from White Castle. We ate it in two or three bites before returning to the train station and our trip to Japan.

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