Kyoto or the city of temples is Japan’s most important religious city with over 1600 ancient temples and shrines. This picturesque and mesmerizing city is a famous visitor attraction in Japan due to its historical importance. Japanese emperors ruled Japan from Kyoto city for eleven centuries. These astounding temples were constructed during the golden period of ancient architecture. There are 16 UNESCO World Heritage sites and 5 great Zen temples in Kyoto which are highly famous among the visitors.
We were blessed to live in this historical city of temples for two years during our research works at Kyoto University. We enjoyed sightseeing a lot in that period and we could explore many great ancient temples. Best temples in Kyoto part 1, part 2 and part 3 bought wonderful pictures of the lovely temples we visited. This is the final part of our ancient temple tour expedition in Kyoto.
1. Mimurotoji Temple
Mimurotoji Temple is an ancient temple in the northern hills of Uji, founded about 1200 years ago. It is located around 20 km from the main Kyoto city. Although it locates off the beaten path, it is certainly a worthy place to visit. This temple calls as the “Temple of flowers”, due to its spectacular gardens filled with many varieties of beautiful flowers. Its large garden has different varieties of seasonal flowers. These flowers blossom at different times, turning Mimurotoji Temple into a lovely flower paradise.
There is a vermilion entrance gate to enter the temple. The garden of Mimurotoji Temple sprawls towards the main hall with paths meandering through the cedar grove. This garden contains lovely flower beds and spreads in a vast area in the hills of Uji. Mimurotoji Temple is widely famous for the best collection of Hydrangeas in the whole of Japan. As well, this temple has large Lotus and Azalea collections.
Lotus Blooms
Lotus Garden is located closer to the temple’s main hall and there is a huge display of lotus flowers in all shades of pink to white. There are more than 250 pots of Lotus plants, including 100 species of Lotus. This Lotus garden is quite wonderful scenery, which makes visitors amazed by its beauty. We could see all the lotus plants grow very well in pots and they had huge beautiful green leaves. The air was fresh and scented by the sweet fragrance of hundreds of Lotus blooms.
We could capture the magnificent view of Lotus blooms during our visit to the Mimurutoji Temple. The scenery was like a flower paradise. The lovely Lotus flowers were swaying in the wind stealing the heart of visitors. It was the first time we saw such a large Lotus collection anywhere in the world. The scenery of Lotus blooms in the background of Mimurotoji Temple’s main hall was quite fantastic, looking like scenery from a picture postcard.
Cherry Blossom
Cherry blossoming in Mimurotoji Temple starts in early April and lasts around two weeks. The temple becomes heavily crowded with the visitors who come to see the lovely Sakura blooms.
Azalea Blooms
There are large plots of azalea in the foothills of the cedar grove in Mimurotoji Temple. Its large Azalea collection is widely famous throughout Japan. Azalea starts to bloom in May, around the Golden Week every year. At that time, temple grounds becomes lovely scenery, looking like beautiful heaven filled with flowers.
Hydrangea Blooms
Mimurotoji Temple has the best and largest Hydrangea collection anywhere in the world. There are thousands of hydrangeas with lovely shades of pinks and blues. The appearance of 20,000 hydrangeas in wonderfully landscaped cedar groves gives a magnificent view to the visitors. They begin to blossom in June and with the start of Hydrangea blooming, Mimurotoji Temple turns into a major visitor attraction in Japan.
There are Hydrangea plants representing over fifty species of different colors. The view of Hydrangeas is best in June and July, ranging from pink to different shades of blue and vibrant purple.
Tall cedars spaced intermittently through the garden add to the mountainous scenery, and against the neighboring foothills. The whole scenery of the garden covered with flowers is breathtakingly gorgeous. We wandered through the garden and captured many pictures, to memorize the beautiful scenery of colorful Hydrangeas.
Since we have captured many lovely shots of Hydrangea blooms, here we are sharing them in this slideshow. Hope you’ll enjoy the stunning beauty of voluminous bunches of Hydrangeas.
2. Ninnaji Temple
Ninnaji Temple in western Kyoto is a historic monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Due to the many wars and fires, none of the original buildings from the temple’s foundation has survived. Most of the present buildings date back to the 17th century, including the five-story pagoda, main hall, and front gates.
Ninnaji Temple is a famous place for viewing cherry blossoms in Kyoto. It becomes heavily crowded with visitors with the start of Sakura season.
The distinct feature in Ninnaji Temple is the garden of late-blooming dwarf cherry trees call the Omuro cherry trees. They grow to around 2-3 meters (10 feet) in height. It becomes a wonderful attraction during the spring. Cherry blossom season is the busiest season in Ninnaji Temple, with many people who want to see the famous late-blooming Omuro Sakura.
3. Kenninji Temple
Kenninji Temple is a historic Zen Buddhist temple in Higashiyama, Gion district. It is the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto founded in 1202. Kenninji Temple included one of the Kyoto Gozan or “five most important Zen temples of Kyoto”. If you are visiting the Gion area, don’t forget to visit this ancient temple.
Kenninji Temple consists of several large halls and gates with many other smaller buildings arranged around them. There is a vast area that belongs to the temple, where visitors can explore a variety of gravel and moss gardens.
Artworks in Kenninji Temple
The interior of the main buildings of Kenninji Temple is highly famous for artistic paintings. The “Twin Dragons” is a famous painting drawn for the commemoration of the 800-year anniversary of Kenninji Temple’s founding.
Visitors can also admire images of Japanese gods painted on the interior sliding doors. Kenninji Temple contains notable paintings of the god of thunder and the god of the wind. He is portrayed as a terrifying wizard-like demon, resembling a green-skinned humanoid wearing leopard skin, carrying a large bag of winds on his shoulders.
4. Okazaki Shrine
Okazaki Shrine is located in the Okazaki area of Kyoto city. Built in 794, it has been a place of worship for more than 1,200 years. The area of Okazaki is famous for shrines such as the popular Heian Jingu Shrine. If you are visiting Heian Jingu Shrine, don’t forget to visit this nearby Rabbit Temple during your journey.
Okazaki shrine dedicates to Rabbits, which are the messengers of the deities of this shrine and it calls as Usagi Jinja or Rabbit Temple. There are many sculptures and statues of rabbits around the shrine. This is a famous place to pray for fertility and childbirth, as well as a happy married life.
Despite being located in the bustling Okazaki area, the temple ground has a peaceful, serene environment. The air is very fresh and clean because the shrine is surrounded by a lot of trees. The temple is guarded by two Koma Usagi or 2 statues of rabbits sitting adorably in front of the main hall.
Inside the main hall, there is a statue of a black rabbit looking up at the moon. This black rabbit calls Kosazuke Usagi, and it is custom to splash water on the statue by the visitors. It says this custom is beneficial for fertility and the safe delivery of children.
We visited the Okazaki shrine during the Japanese rabbit new year and the temple was heavily crowded on that day. There were several rabbit statues, lanterns, and a pair of Maneki Usagi or rabbits inviting good luck. We could meet the famous black rabbit and splash some holy water on him. We believe our journey to this lovely Rabbit Temple is a blessing and it is still a precious and sweet memory in our hearts.
5. Nijo Castle
Nijo Castle is a lovely ancient castle and a former imperial palace in Kyoto, built-in 1626. This spectacular castle is more than 400 years old. It was lucky to survive over the centuries, through earthquakes and wars. Nijo Castle is one of the very few remaining castles from the golden ages of Japanese history. This historic monument is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site and a widely famous visitor attraction in Kyoto city.
Unlike most other Japanese castles, Nijo Castle is not built in a rising high land or it hasn’t a tower-like tall appearance. It has built-in a flatland and consists mostly of low-rise buildings. But other safety precautions were used to protect the castle. It consists of two concentric rings of fortifications, each consisting of a wall and a wide moat.
There are several large gates to protect the main palace and other buildings. The grand and impressive Karamon Gate is the entrance to Nijo Castle.
Gardens of Nijo Castle
It has several beautifully landscaped gardens including groves of cherry and Japanese plum trees. The garden has a large pond with carefully placed stones and topiary pine trees. Nijo Castle has beautiful scenery in each season while it is especially famous for fall colors.
We visited Nijo Castle in late November to see the autumn leaves. The journey was truly memorable and the view of epic fall colors among the ancient castle buildings gave us a golden memory. The lovely autumn colors in Nijo Castle are one of the finest views we enjoyed in Kyoto.
Here we have brought up the final part of the most beautiful temples we visited in Kyoto. If you are going to visit Japan someday, make sure to visit these lovely ancient temples. Since our stay in Kyoto was limited to 2 years, with a heavy heart we are going to put the end to the best temples in Kyoto article series. But, we have visited many other wonderful places in Japan and already have a big collection of lovely pictures. We will bring details and share the pictures with you in future posts.
