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Kodaiji Light-up and Yasaka Shrine
Jan. 18th, 2012 11:00 pmThe second day of December was mostly spent indoors, as the weather wasn't too great. Towards the evening, however, the rain abated and I had a chance to go down the road from Kiyomizu-dera which I had visited the previous night, and visit the Kodaiji complex, which also had a well-publicized light-up going on.
The entrance stairs were lit to a rather nice tunnel effect, and set the atmosphere for the rest of the experience.
Once past the ticket booth, the route through the grounds started with a view of the most iconic of all the buildings in Kodaiji, the small cottage, with its huge traditional round window.
An added bonus was the woodprint exhibit in one of the buildings. That aside, the Kodaiji lighting was a bit more melodramatic than Kiyomizu-dera's, going way overboard in a zen garden complete with a timed light show of two battling dragons... ending in a spotlight illuminating their grand sponsor, American Express. The rest of the grounds, though, were well worth the entry fee and effort to get there. Once past the main buildings, the lighting got a lot more subtle and subdued.
Especially the hill with a few of the older structures was so dimly lit that I had to think that this, again, could never fly in the states. Someone'd trip and sue. Instead, being in Japan, I just took care to go slow, and cheated occasionally with my flashlight. Eventually, having wound through a small bamboo forest and back through the side of the garden, the route ended, as usual, at a shop where you could get souvenirs, religious items or most importantly, some hot green tea.
One of the nice walking tours suggests heading down from Kiyomizudera to the quaint (and souvenir shop and restaurant lined) Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, notable as one of the areas with a well preserved collection of historic buildings and traditional streetscape. Through there, you can get to the Yasaka shrine and Gion with a short walk, and since I was already halfway down that area, I decided to finish the route and get some shots of Yasaka at night. On the way, I snapped a snap or two of the quieter, but nicer, areas of town.
Near Yasaka there was a restaurant that caught my eye due to its architectural features. The structure was modern, but incorporated a lot of traditional design elements. I wish there was more new construction like this in Japanese cities, rather than the concrete squares that unfortunately seem to be taking over.
Yasaka shrine is centrally located; at the end of Shijo-dori, a major road, and right by Gion, the famous entertainment/Geisha district. This helps to explain why at virtually any time of the day you can find at least some people passing by, many stopping to ring the bells and say their prayers. I had last visited it during cherry blossom season, and it was mobbed due to the adjacent cherry-tree rich Maruyama park. It isn't known as a fall color spot, though, and so it was just a matter of a little patience to get a few shots of the shrine grounds without crowds.
You can find the slideshow of all the pictures in this gallery here.
The entrance stairs were lit to a rather nice tunnel effect, and set the atmosphere for the rest of the experience.
Once past the ticket booth, the route through the grounds started with a view of the most iconic of all the buildings in Kodaiji, the small cottage, with its huge traditional round window.
An added bonus was the woodprint exhibit in one of the buildings. That aside, the Kodaiji lighting was a bit more melodramatic than Kiyomizu-dera's, going way overboard in a zen garden complete with a timed light show of two battling dragons... ending in a spotlight illuminating their grand sponsor, American Express. The rest of the grounds, though, were well worth the entry fee and effort to get there. Once past the main buildings, the lighting got a lot more subtle and subdued.
Especially the hill with a few of the older structures was so dimly lit that I had to think that this, again, could never fly in the states. Someone'd trip and sue. Instead, being in Japan, I just took care to go slow, and cheated occasionally with my flashlight. Eventually, having wound through a small bamboo forest and back through the side of the garden, the route ended, as usual, at a shop where you could get souvenirs, religious items or most importantly, some hot green tea.
One of the nice walking tours suggests heading down from Kiyomizudera to the quaint (and souvenir shop and restaurant lined) Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, notable as one of the areas with a well preserved collection of historic buildings and traditional streetscape. Through there, you can get to the Yasaka shrine and Gion with a short walk, and since I was already halfway down that area, I decided to finish the route and get some shots of Yasaka at night. On the way, I snapped a snap or two of the quieter, but nicer, areas of town.
Near Yasaka there was a restaurant that caught my eye due to its architectural features. The structure was modern, but incorporated a lot of traditional design elements. I wish there was more new construction like this in Japanese cities, rather than the concrete squares that unfortunately seem to be taking over.
Yasaka shrine is centrally located; at the end of Shijo-dori, a major road, and right by Gion, the famous entertainment/Geisha district. This helps to explain why at virtually any time of the day you can find at least some people passing by, many stopping to ring the bells and say their prayers. I had last visited it during cherry blossom season, and it was mobbed due to the adjacent cherry-tree rich Maruyama park. It isn't known as a fall color spot, though, and so it was just a matter of a little patience to get a few shots of the shrine grounds without crowds.
You can find the slideshow of all the pictures in this gallery here.
