Kyoto is surrounded by mountains from three sides, one of them is Mt. Hiei. The mountain top is easily accessible by a combination of train, cable car and ropeway but it is also a popular hiking destination and it is
Hiei Garden Museum
The white castle of Himeji
Himeji Castle is my favorite castle in Japan because it is one of the few original castles that were not lost to war and fire unlike many modern reconstructions.
Maple Zen gardens in the Northwest
After exploring parts of the East (Higashiyama) and the South (Toji, Inari, Uji) of Kyoto, I chose to pay the Northwestern area a visit next.
Two temples in Uji
The city of Uji lies in the South of Kyoto and is famous for its green tea plantations. Over the weekend I visited visited two temples: Byōdō-in and Kōshō-ji.
Takamatsu: Noodles, islands and a sunset
On the last holiday of Golden week I traveled all the way to Shikoku, hopped on a ferry to see the islands of the Setouchi inland sea and watched the sunset from a beautiful viewpoint.
Kinosaki Onsen
Kinosaki is a walkable and well-connected onsen town in the north of Kyoto prefecture. The appeal of Kinosaki is the possibility to enjoy many different baths in a day, even for day visitors. In most onsen towns I visited so far, the onsen are within the ryokan one stays at and there is maybe one public bath for day visitors.
Amanohashidate – stairway to heaven
On Greenery Day or midori no hi I went to the northern part of Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures to see the sea in Amanohashidate.
Okayama and Kurashiki
On May 3rd I visited Kurashiki and Okayama in the West of Kansai, halfway between Osaka and Hiroshima. I believe many have skipped these places during their Japan travels (so have I until now) but it is worth to come, even if it is just for half a day.
To-ji temple at night
To-ji temple lies south of Kyoto station and is not only a well preserved temple from the 8th century, it also harbors the highest wooden pagoda of Japan.
A festival, hiking and Sake in Fushimi
Today, April 17th happened to be the day of the Inari festival (Shinko festival), a festival at the shrine, so I decided to visit Fushimi again after many years. But apart from that I also explored the sake brewing district and the area in general, so keep reading.