Kyoto 8

November 19, 2025

Kyoto 8

Leaving Teshima for Kyoto involved a bus, to the museum, back from the museum, then a ferry, then another bus, and a train. The bullet train or Shinkansen (as they are called here), took an hour and 3 minutes. I check into the hotel APA, which is like a chain for tourists and business men. My luggage has now joined me here, which is great, because laundry will have to be done. The washing machines at this location, wash and dry in one go. Once everything is settled, it's time to wander the streets of Kyoto in the dark. The hotel is close to the train station so it's a bit chaotic, but once you wander away, it gets a bit more manageable and there are fewer people on the street.

The first Temple is Higashi Hongan-Ji Temple.

You can read about it here.

https://kyoto.travel/en/destinations/higashihonganji-temple/

Then more wandering, and wait is that a kimono?

I've been resisting anything fabric related, good thing the store is closed.

This is the Hokan-ji Temple or Yasaka Pagoda. It's tough to take a bad photo of it.

Hokan-ji Temple is known colloquially as Yasaka-no-to (Yasaka Pagoda). It is a 46-meter tall pagoda with graceful, sloping roofs on each tier, which lies in the middle of an old Kyoto neighborhood, between Kiyomizu-dera Temple and Yasaka-jinja Shrine. It is one of the unexpected treasures that reward the person on a casual stroll through the Higashiyama District.

Visitors are allowed inside to marvel at the tower’s architecture, statues and fading paintings. Originally built by the Imperial Prince Shotoku in 589, the pagoda is said to have been inspired by a dream.

More wandering... is that a fabric store? No it's a paper store, darn.