Kyoto One day Trip - Visiting Arashiyama and Kinkakuji Tea ceremony (option)

Kyoto One day Trip - Visiting Arashiyama and Kinkakuji Tea ceremony (option)

1200 years ago, Kyoto became the capital of Japan and the Heian period is started where the aristocratic culture was bloomed.

Since then, Arashiyama was started to be developped as the village of elegance because the aristocracy has chosen to build their villa and for strolling in this place.

It has been only a suburb of the capital, but by the murmur of the stream of Katsuragawa river from the Hozukyo vally, and riches of the nature of all land, the aristocracy were fascinated and they have chosen this place as the most favorable place for building the temples to be concentrated in the stillness.

Today, it is one of the best place of Kyoto loved by tourists, where you find today many souvenir shops and cafés, and it is a wonderful place for having many activities which allow the interesting experiences of the culture, and also for finding the beautiful nature of each season and off course, it is a good place for visiting the temples.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Nonomiya Shrine, Sagano Miyamachi 1, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto 616-8393 Kyoto Prefecture

Nonomiya shrine is a small shrine of Shinto, but it is a historic sanctuary where the daughters of the noble family purifed herselves for being the Shinto maiden of Ise grand shrine.

In the entrance of the shrine, there is a black torii gate in the very ancient style and a beautiful mossy garden and the Kameishi (turtle shaped rock) which realizes your wish in the centre of the garden.

In the Tale of Genji, there is a discription on this shrine which made this place to be known as match-making point.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Sagatenryuji Susukinobabacho, Ukyo, Kyoto 616-8385 Kyoto Prefecture

The Path of bamboo is a famous touristic place ans often mentioned in the television, in many magazines and guidebooks.

It is a small charming path of 200m.

The bamboos are very high and they even cover the sky. The sunlights through the bamboos are very beautiful whether if it is fine or cloudy day.

In each December, the bamboo forest is put in illumination and you can see the fantastic and mysterious beauty in the night time.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Tenryuji Temple, 68 Saga Tenryuji Susukinobabacho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto 616-8385 Kyoto Prefecture

Among the 5 grand temples of Kyoto, the Tenryuji is classified in the highest temple of Zen.

The time when the shogun and the emperor fighted and split Japan in two, the shogun built this temple for appeasing the spirit of the emperor when he would win. 

By consecutive fires, almost all buildings were disappeared today, but by the historic valeur and by its importance, it is classified in the World Heritage. 

Especially, the garden of Soseki Muso, the first chief priest and the famous architect of the garden and also the Sogenchi pound where you find the beautiful nature on the reflection are the must-see-spots for your Arashiyama visit.

Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Togetsukyo Bridge, Sagatenryuji Susukinobabacho, Ukyo, Kyoto 616-8385 Kyoto Prefecture

In the west side of Kyoto, on the Katsuragawa river, the Togetsukyo bridge is often mentioned in the guidebook, and it is a symbole of Arashiyama.

In Japanese, it is written as "Moon crossing bridge", and when the emperor enjoyed boating, it is seen as if goes the full moon crossing the bridge over the starry sky.

This bridge has been built for the first time in 1200 years ago, and it was collapsed every time under flood, and restored many times.

The bridge today is the one which restored in 1934, and it makes beautiful view with the landscape of Arashiyama, and often took photos by tourists.

When you cross over the Togetsukyo bridge, there is a shrine and also the entrance of the park. After the ticket counter, going up the stairs and mountain path for 15-20 minutes, you will find the Arashiyama monkey park (additional charges: 550yens) on the top of the mountain.

There are around 120 wild monkeys are fed and you can see them free in the nature. They are tame and do not attack you. 

In the resting place, you can buy their food by 100yen, and you can geed them over the net.

As this park is located in the top of the mountain, so that you can enjoy also the amasing panoramic view of Kyoto.

As it is the place very appreciated by tourists, there are many restaurants of Japanese authentic local cuisine, but also there are several Yoshoku (occidental cuisine in Japanese style) restaurants.

There are often long queues in front of the restaurants during week-end and in the high season. If you prefer going for a walk instead of making a queue, you can buy some snacks as Dango (Japanese sweets) or croquettes in front of shops of the streets.

We can arrange also booking restaurant for you. Please feel free to contact us for this option.

The choice of the menu, the type of the restaurant and the prices are depending on the season and dates. We can advise you the details. (self-pay lunch)

Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes

Stop At: Ryoanji Temple, 13 Ryoanji Goryonoshitacho, Ukyo, Kyoto 616-8001 Kyoto Prefecture

The rock garden of Ryoanji temple of which the dry landscape is appreciated by Elisabeth II very much and since then, this temple drew the focus of public attention from all over the world. It is now very reknown and it is one of the World Heritage of Kyoto city.

In the rock garden, there are 15 stones are placed, but the entire composition cannot be seen at once from any angle.

There are no documents about the history and the architect of the garden exist today, and we do not find exactly when it is constucted either.

There is a mystery behind the positions of the stones. There are a lot of people who tried to find out the mystery of the stones, but nobody succeeded.

We ofthen talk only about the garden, but there are also beautiful Fusuma-e (decorative picutre on the surface of fusuma which is a kind of Japanese door inside of the house) and another beautiful gardens, too.

Duration: 40 minutes

Stop At: Kinkakuji Temple, 1 Kinkakujicho, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8361 Kyoto Prefecture

The Kinkakuji temple is the most famous temple in Kyoto, and as it is written in Japanese, it is a gold shining pavillion.

This is a very rare temple of 3 stories high, and the official name of this temple is Rokuonji, but as inside and exterior of the building is doubly or triply coated with gold foil,  so that it is called by the name of Kinkakuji (Kin is gold, the gold pavillion.)

It was built in the end of 14th century, and restored many times, but it has been completely destroyed by arson in 1950. The one of today is reconstructed as it has been before originally.

The Japanese famous novelist of modern Japanese literature, Yukio Mishima wrote a novel titled "Kinkakuji" which made the temple more well-known, and it shines more with its legend. 

After the visit of Kinkakuji temple, you can also the possibility to participate in a tea ceremony as option (additional charges:4000yens, duration:45min.).

If you prefer not to take this option, your one day trip is finished, and we wish you a bon voyage and a safety trip to your country.

From Kinkakuji bus station, you can go to the Kyoto station and to the commecial district (Shijyo kawaramachi) without any transit.

(The tour leader will show you which bus station would be suitable for your destination.)

If you participate in the tea ceremony, we will accompany with you to the bus station.

Duration: 55 minutes