A G: Japan Day 2 - Kyoto Day 2 by Gordon, Kinkaku, Ginkaku, Nijo Castle, Kiyomizu-dera Temple 京都金阁寺，银阁寺，二条城，清水寺

Kyoto City Tour

-by Gordon

Japan Day 2, Kyoto Day 2:

hotel 三条城, Kinkaku 金阁寺， Ginkaku 银阁寺，

Nijo Castle 二条城， Kiyomizu-dera Temple 清水寺

Kyoto is full of temples. I was amazed by the history and stories about them. There are also forts. This is our second day In Kyoto. We chose to buy a one-day bus pass to tour around. Seeing all the attractions above on the ground is a wonderful thing. We took the underground subway on the first day to avoid traffic. Kyoto covered with rain a whole day, light or thunder. To tell you the truth, it was very fun to walk in the rain. My feet didn't get dirty at all! That is how clean Japan is.

The first gate 总门
Entrance to Kinkakuji 金阁寺

The beautiful Kinkaku and the Mirror Lake

Temples in Kinkakuji

Different angle to view Kinkaku 舍利殿

Left: garden,
Right: The Sekka-tei Teahouse 夕佳亭, door opened to the public

鲤鱼石

白蛇塚

Made our wish

Closer look of Kinkaku

Kinkaku & the Mirror Lake

Our first stop was Kinkakuji, the temple of the Golden Pavilion. Everybody that goes there is fascinated by its golden top two floors. It was built on the deer garden so its nickname is Deer Garden Temple 又名鹿苑寺. Sadly, in 1950, a monk burnt the original Golden Pavilion down. The government made a new one exactly like the original. The Golden Pavilion sits at the corner of the Mirror Lake. In the olden days, people allowed to go fishing at the back of it. But fishing is prohibited now.

The Sand garden in the front
and the Ginkaku 银阁 in the back

View of Ginkakuji after a bit of hiking

The Sand Garden
Silver colored sand symbolizes Mount Fuji and ocean waves

The garden of Ginkakuji

Left: A bit of hiking, Right 洗月泉

The trees of
Ginkakuji

Ginkaku and its pond

The Silver Pavilion 银阁寺 (Temple of Shining Mercy) is not like what you thought， covered with silver walls, even though that was the original plan. Instead, the temple has silver colored sand! The sand garden is well known for a pile of sand 观月台 which is said to symbolize Mount Fuji 富士山, and silver colored sand wave 银沙滩 which is said to symbolize the ocean. It was built by the order of Ashikaga Yoshimasa 足利义政将军, the grandson of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利义满将军， who built the Temple of Golden Pavilion. Their temple structure are similar, as a Zen Temple. The Zen Temples are well known for its beautiful gardens. It represents the Higashiyama culture 东山文化.

Nijo Castle 二条城

The Karamon Gate 唐门
The Nijo Castle 二条城

Entrance to Ninomaru Palace
The Nijo Castle 二条城

A temple of Nijo Castle
二条城

A gate of Nijo Castle 二条城

Deep moat of Nijo Castle 二条城护城河

The garden of Nijo Castle 二条城

View the whole Nijo Castle

from the tower of Nijo Castle

二条城天守阁

The pillars and roofs in detail

Nijojo castle 二条城 was built in 1603. It is one of the 17 ancient Kyoto monuments. The Nijojo castle was owned by a shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu 德川家康. The castle consists of two concentric rings of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The Castle was huge up to 275,000 sq. meters. When you go into the castle, you go bare foot. The floors are creaky like birds chirping “鹂鸣地板”. Don't think it was broken. The floor sound was there on purpose! That's because the owner always feared of getting killed. The creaking noise would alert him.

The Kiyomizu-dera Temple 清水寺 sitting on the mountain

and surrounds by a beautiful forest

The Kiyomizu-dera Temple 清水寺 sitting on the mountain

and surrounds by a beautiful forest

The enormous Main Hall didn't use any nail, great structure

The temples in Kiyomizu-dera Temple 清水寺

The trail of the Kiyomizu-dera Temple 清水寺

The dragon statue of

the Kiyomizu-dera

Temple

Inside the Kiyomizu-dera Temple
清水寺

It was getting dark when we arrived at Kiyomizu dera Temple. It required a bit of hiking to get to the temple. The temple is sitting on the cliff side of a hill. It is well known for its enormous main hall buildings that was built without any nails! Follow the path hiking toward the mountain, we reached the most interesting place, the Otowa Waterfall. It contains 3 fountains. 3 fountains grant 3 different wishes. One is for better career, another for better marriage, the last one for study improvement. You had to wash your hands, catch the water, and drink it. Then wish granted.