Kyoto scenes

We spent two days visiting temple sites in Kyoto. Here are a few highlights.

Tōfukuji 東福寺

Yasaka Jinja 八坂神社

This is a shinto shrine, not a Buddhist temple.  This particular bright orange color struck me as very unusual, quite different from anything I've seen in China or Korea.  But we ended up seeing it in quite a few shrines over the next few days.

Kinkakuji 金閣寺

Ninnaji 仁和寺

This temple complex is not a very popular destination, and the day we were there it was nearly deserted. It was quite lovely, though.

We had omacha tea in a somewhat barebones ceremony.

During the time we were in Kyoto preparations were under way for the big Gion Festival (祇園祭) to be held in a few days. On the streets workers were assembling large floats for the parade.

Here's a little video showing workers adjusting the lanterns in the photo above, and another group moving a large heavy post down the street.

It's hard to avoid posing with Totoro when you see him in a shop window.