Forecast to be another hot day, and with the promise of some sort of festival, we thought we’d explore one of the suburbs of Kyoto, Arashiyama. It’s popular with tourists, and it being a Sunday, it was a bit crowded, but we set off with Liz and Jonathan on the train to check it out.
It was a beautiful natural setting with several areas to explore. Over the Karsura River is the Togetsu-kyo Bridage, with a history of over 1,000 years. The name means “the bridge that spans the moon”, given because Emperor Kameyama as he observed the moon crossing the sky from east to west. The festival was meant to involve some monks or priests beginning with a ceremony at one of the temples, then they were to cross the bridge and be ferried across the river by specially decorated dragon boats. There were lots of people waiting on shore for something to happen, and the guide book suggested that nothing would really begin until a little later, so we went in search of the Bamboo Forest. Which was easy enough to find. On the way up the hill there was a lovely observation spot with a great view of this lush area.
The bamboo forest road was shady but filled with people taking selfies, and having seen an amazing bamboo grove somewhere else during this trip, this was a bit disappointing. Still amazing — so many very tall trees, and one can imagine with a breeze the woods would positively sing. The path led back into town, and still not much happening festival-wise, so we had some lunch, and then finally noted a few special boats on the river, with performances taking place on the platforms across the boats. It was pretty slow, and the people who had rented row boats really had the better view, so overall a bit of a disappointment.
We skipped the Tenryu-ji Temple — only one star in Michelin guide, and we need to be selective with our temples these days. Just as a note, it dates from the 14thC, and is called the Temple of the Celestial Dragon, belonging to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, and had to be rebuilt in the Meiji period.
(Separately as I was out walking yesterday I happened down a local street that had been closed off for a local event of some kind. Stands selling yakitori and ices and some men about to carry a small shrine somewhere. Like small street fairs anywhere, the kids were loving it).
Not to let anything go un-visited, we climbed to the top of the hill for the Monkey Park before heading back to Kyoto. The monkeys were the same as the ones in the Japan Alps — red-faced macaques — and they were as active as the others. Caught a few “monkeying around” (couldn’t resist), and another mom and baby — too adorable! Then back down the hill and to the train and to Kyoto and some time out of the heat… who knew it could be 90 in May in Kyoto!?
The bamboo forest looks amazing – gorgeous and would be a wicked fun setting for a horror movie.