Thousands of Tori and the Elusive Bamboo Forest

By Quentin: There are a couple of major attractions we hadn't seen in our last trip to Kyoto and so we decided to check them out this time. They are in the South and West of city and so we needed to get to grips with the subway and train system. That turned out to be a good way to use up a lot of the loose change we'd accumulated in this cash-heavy economy.

Our first stop was a walk through the historic neighborhood of Gion. We knew this a little from our last visit as we'd stayed nearby. Its narrow streets are popular for young Japanese couples who come to reconnect with their culture by dressing in traditional kimono and either walking or riding around in rickshaws. Generally the women look pretty happy and guys kind of miserable - "I wanted to go to Hawaii instead!





The main feature of the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine, which dates from 711 (!),  is a path to the top of Mount Inara through a path which is decorated with thousands of shinto gates or tori.

The image of the fox is an important one at Fushimi Inari-taisha and there are many fox statues, generally in pairs with one fox featuring the key to the grainery in its mouth. We stopped at a shrine and purchased a wishing board in the shape of a fox. One could decorate it as one wanted and then write your name and address as well as a wish on the back. It gets hung up on a shrine with hundreds of others and eventually burned by Shinto priests to deliver the message.






It was a long way to the top but the view was great, if a little hazy. This was the only day we had drizzle and then a little rain.







Second stop, after a diversion to the main Kyoto station and the large department store attached for a watch battery and afternoon tea, was to the "Bamboo Forest" in the western district of Arashiyama. In December the forest, and much of the surrounding area is illuminated in the evening.  Google Maps provided on Quentin's phone provided much valuable train information and we soon found our way to the correct station. There were plenty of people discharging and heading in the "right" direction including thousands of Argentine "River Plate" football fans whose team was playing in the FIFA Club World Cub in nearby Osaka the next day.

We soon found the crowded riverside of Arashiyama, with many lights and illuminations. The Google Maps lead us across an illuminated bridge and along the far river bank. It seemed a little odd that the crowds had thinned out but... well hey, maybe they'd all seen it already? We walked about a km along the river bank path, into the growing darkness as the illumination from across the river petered out. Eventually the phone declared we were at our destination! There was no sign of bamboo and little light at all. We headed back and found another party of tourists, phone in hand, about to make the same mistake.

Fortunately there was a display of illuminated lanterns and large Ikebana displays in a park nearby for us to admire. It wasn't quite what we expected however.



Fortunately for tired feet and hungry tummies there were a lot of restaurants in the area and we soon found something to eat. As we were leaving a chance question asked of a traffic policeman revealed that in fact we'd missed the turnoff to the "Bamboo Forest" when we had first come into that area. It seems in this case the "Wisdom of Crowds" could beat out the usefulness of technology - if we'd stuck with the masses we would have been OK.

Luckily the forest was not too far away and it was magical - towering bamboo on both sides illuminated in the darkness. Also we found there was a station nearby so we didn't have to walk far to catch the two trains we needed to get home. It was a great way to finish our last full day in Kyoto.