TokyoTomo Travel Guide

NHK period drama on Sundays is on air throughout the year, and naturally, the regions highlighted in the drama has high chance to gain nationwide attention. Last year, Niigata and Yamagata came under the spotlight as the leading role of the drama was Kanetsugu Naoe, the warlord who showed presence in the area. Ryoma Sakamoto is featured for this year; his birthplace Kochi Prefecture, and the associated places such as Edo (Tokyo), Kyoto, and Nagasaki, will be the center of attraction. Many historical incidents took place in Kyoto during the transition from Edo to Meiji period, and it is interesting to walk around the town taking a glance at the history of the last days of Tokugawa Shogunate. Kyoto has been an inevitable place for Japan’s history since the transfer of the capital to Kyoto 1200 years ago, with many architectural and cultural heritage from those days, but thanks to Ryoma Sakamoto, this year people are giving more than a passing thought to the history merely 150 years ago.

This winter, Kyoto holds special exhibition of unpublicized cultural properties for a limited time until the end of March around the spring holidays, with array of cultural assets from the late Edo period. This time, I visited Sokushuin and Taikoan in Tofuku-ji Temple where it is famous for its autumn foliage. Sokushuin was established about 620 years ago as a temple for Satsuma clan (current Kagoshima Prefecture), and it is said that Atsuhime, a princess featured in the period drama two years ago, had stopped by on the way to Edo before she got married to the shogun in the late Edo period. It was also a place where Takamori Saigo, the clan member of Satsuma, and Gessho, a monk in Kiyomizu-dera Temple, discussed the plan to overthrow Tokugawa Shogunate. After that, during his six-month stay in Sokushuin, Takamori Saigo built a monument to commemorate the souls of 524 clan members killed in the battle of Toba-Fushimi. The monument faces westward to the far land of Satsuma, but just as if it represents the Satsumas losing power in the central government after Seinan War, the gravestone is ruined as if it is showing how mortified they have been. This area is usually not opened to public, and this was my first time I noticed a contrasting spot in the colorful Kyoto; this may be one of the place where the history of modern Japan really started.

Taikouan is another cultural asset seen in Tofuku-ji. There is a rock garden covered with hair moss, and tea house where Juji (leader monk of the temple) Ankokuiji Eikei and Mitsunari Ishida conspired to defeat Tokugawa before the battle of Sekigahara. During the battle of Toba-Fushimi, this area was the headquarters of Choshu clan, another leading party of Satsuma-Choshu alliance. Tofuku-ji was a site where the drama took place at that time by becoming the temple supporting the clan members. Though it looks as if it completely has nothing to do with the conspiracy and conflicts, the rock garden is actually the witness of the history. Ostensibly, the garden silently express the world of zen with wabi-sabi; the seriousness of the history can be sought deep inside the tranquility of the garden.

Less than five minutes by car from Tofuku-ji is Sennyu-ji, a temple where Emperor Komei rests in peace. He was the 121st emperor who was tossed about in the turbulent days of the end of Edo period when the anti-foreigner movement was on the rise. The temple is famous for being the family temple for the imperial family, entombing emperors of Edo period from Gomizunoo to Komei. Even nowadays the temple is visited by the imperial family, and the rooms are decorated with screen paintings that reminds us of the court life back then. The temple edifice impresses the visitors with its magnificence being the royal temple. Not many people visit the temple as it is located southeast away from the center of Kyoto. I also wouldn’t drop by unless there is a chance like this, but Kyoto has witnesses of history here and there around the town.

After being exposed to the upheaval of the late Edo period, for a change I took a stroll to view plum blossoms. End of February is the season of plums, indicating the coming of early spring in the ancient capital. Kitano-Tenmangu Shrine is the very spot to view Kyoto’s plum blossoms, about 30 minutes northwest by car from Sennyu-ji. Enshrining Michizane Sugawara, the god of academic achievements, many young students visit the shrine around this time of the year during the entrance exam season, but on the other hand, the precinct is filled with beautiful plum blossoms of white and red. I feel plum blossom is a suitable forerunner before the time of cherry blossoms when Kyoto bear a resplendent atmosphere. Plum blossoms is a perfect flower to enjoy in early spring, signifying the coming of spring to the old capital.

In night like this in early springtime, I would recommend a restaurant that serves exquisite Italian food in a Japanese atmosphere. “Higashiyama Sodo,” a private residence of a renowned Japanese-style painter Seiho Takeuchi, was built in early Showa period near Kodai-ji temple in Higashiyama at the east of the Tower of Yasaka. Keeping its original condition, the personal residence has now become the restaurant with a splendid Japanese atmosphere called “The Garden Oriental Kyoto.” After spending a day learning about the twilight years of Edo period, it would be a chic way of enjoying the night in the air of pre-war Japan. Drinking wine touching the aesthetic feeling of Japanese-style artist.

Kyoto always surprises me with its deep insight.
Winter in Kyoto chills me up to the bone, but gives us a luxury to indulge in a historical walk like this.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

The ancient capital, Kyoto shows various aspects in each season, but above all, the beauty of the red and yellow leaves in the city and the surrounding mountains attracts and allures us for one month from November to December. Autumnal tints of leaves in Japan starts from Daisetsu Mountains in Hokkaido from September, and starts moving down south along the Japanese archipelago. We call this “Momiji (autumn foliage) Front,” looking forward for its arrival. Momiji front reaches Kyoto in the end of October, and starts to color the leaves red and yellow from the suburbs, Ohara, Takeo, and Hiei-zan Mountain. After mid November, the temples and shrines in the main part of Kyoto are also covered in crimson veils.

To get beautiful leaves in autumn, the prerequisite is to have large temperature difference during daytime and night, and hot summer with long hours of sunlight and a lot of rain. Surrounded by mountains all around, Kyoto meets all these conditions. By the end of autumn, the lowest temperature in Kyoto will drop below 5 degrees, turning the leaves red and yellow in its best colors. This year, the weather suddenly became chilly in November, and the autumn tint started slightly earlier than usual, but due to the temperature rise the middle of the month, the peak season consequently started from 20 November as it has been in the past years.

On 27 November, when the leaves were in its best color in a wonderful weather,I went to see the autumn leaves in “Tofuku-ji Temple,” the No. 1 scenic spot of Rakunan Area, and “Eikan-do Temple(Zenrin-ji)” near the end of “Tetsugaku-no-michi Street (Philosopher’s Path),” a path along the canal starting from Ginkaku in Higashi-yama. This year, among many scenic spots of the scarlet leaves, I would like to report on this live information through this article on Inbound Tourism.

“Tofuku-ji Temple” is a large Zen temple leading the Kyoto Gozan Culture. By its long prestigious history, its large temple edifice is magnificent, but the foliage of the valley “Sengyokukan” observed from “Tsuten-kyo Bridge” also makes the visitors speechless from its spectacular view. During the peak season, there are thousands of visitors on weekends that makes me worry that the bridge might even break apart. Considering the location being slightly off the center of the city, this is undoubtedly one of the most popular autumn leaf viewing spot in Kyoto. On this day, I arrived in Tofuku-ji Temple at 3pm, but the temple was crowded with endless flow of visitors coming out of the train station and group tourists arriving by coach. The approach to the precinct of the temple was packed with people, just like being caught up in a melee during the new year’s visit to a shrine. As the day was in a bluebird weather, the temple was heated up that it almost made me perspire. Though the tinted leaves in “Sengyokukan” were in its best, the view from “Tsuten-kyo Bridge” was just against the sunlight around this time of the day. From my experience, I would recommend you to visit Tofuku-ji Temple before noon, also to avoid the crowd.

From “Tofuku-ji Temple,” “Tetsugaku-no-michi Street (Philosopher’s Path)” is about 40 minutes by train and bus. The 1.6 km walking path, loved by the citizen of Kyoto as “Tetsugaku-no-michi Street” starts from Ginkaku-ji Bridge over the temple’s approach, following south along the canal of Lake Biwa’s branch. It is named after Ikutaro Nishida, a philosopher in Meiji era, walking about this path being lost in meditation. At first, the path was called “Shisaku no Komichi (Trail of Thought)” but started to be referred as “Tetsugaku-no-michi,” which was officially designated as such in 1972. This is a walking path selected as one of the 100 Best Road in Japan, colored with sakura in spring, and tinted foliage in autumn along the canal.

Walking few steps further from the end of “Tetsugaku-no-michi” there is “Eikan-do Temple(Zenrin-ji),” one of the scenic autumn foliage spot in Higashi-yama Area, and also one of the oldest temple in Kyoto known nationwide as “Momiji no Eikan-do (Eikan-do with Scarlet Maple).” Statue of Amitabha Tathagata, the principal Buddhist image, is in a posture facing diagonally backward, known as “Mikaeri Amida Nyorai (Amitabha looking back).”

Just as being named “Momiji no Eikan-do,” the foliage tints the precinct in red and yellow, in a vivid color as if it is trying to squeeze its color out before it falls off. The daytime entrance ends at 4 pm, but resumes at 5:30 pm for the night visit. The autumn leaves at daytime is great, but here, the lighted up leaves look more fabulous. The pretty crimson maple leaf that appears from the dark allures the visitors with bewitching beauty.

Perhaps it was because I visited Eikan-do on a Friday early in the evening, but there were more than 300 visitors lining up in front of the gate at 5:30 when the gate opened. But I was not bothered about the crowd as darkness hid other people and the light-up only showed the maple leaves; this is also the merit of leaf-viewing at night time. The foliage coloring the ancient capital Kyoto this year will fall of quite soon, and bitterly cold winter will come giving the city an atmosphere of the subtleness and quietness of Zen.

During the chilly night, Kyoto Cuisine and hot sake from the local region, Fushimi, warmed my cold body. There are many sophisticated restaurants around Gion Area that renovated old Kyoto-style townhouse.

Unlike ochaya (a restaurant entertaining guests with geisha) turning away first comers, these townhouse restaurants welcomes tourists with a sense of Kyoto offering original Kyoto Cuisine in a reasonable price, including Gion Rumble, the restaurant I visited that very night. As the restaurant makes use of the first floor of an active ochaya, you will get to enjoy the feeling it dining in the restaurant. One of the joy of traveling is bumping into your kind of shops while strolling out in Kyoto at night.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.