Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

7/18/2005, Sara visit day 4: Kyoto, Nijo-jo, Ninna-ji

Sara, Akemi, and I set out to do some exploring in Kyoto.  First, we headed for one of my favorite places in Kyoto, Nijo-jo, a former residence of Shoguns dating back to 1603.  It's technically called a castle, but it's not particularly fortified like a real castle.  It's just a nice place to spend time, whether you're a shogun in the 17th century or a tourist in the 21st.

First, we went through the main building.  Everywhere you look, there are beautiful, colorful paintings.  On the walls, on the ceilings, everywhere.  They are painted right onto the walls and ceilings.  We noted that a certain friend of ours with a background in art history would enjoy this much more than we would.  But we tried hard and did our best to enjoy it all we could.  It's all original and very well preserved.  Unfortunately, they don't allow photos there, so I can't show you.  Here are some pictures from the outside.

Nijo-jo in Kyoto.

Nijo-jo in Kyoto.

After the tour of the residence, we went out for a walk in the gardens that surround it.  That's my favorite part.

Gardens at Nijo-jo in Kyoto.

Akemi and me at Nijo-jo in Kyoto.

Walkway from the Shogun's residence.

An auxiliary building.

A walkway.

An auxiliary building.

I rather like this view of one of the moats, with trees and greenery.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

Akemi in the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

A fancy walkway.

Peering around the residence with the garden to your side.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.  I really like all of the sharp rocks in this part of the garden.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.  More sharp rocks.

In the garden at Nijo-jo.

At one point, we stopped for some refreshments.

This bottle contains a lemon soda.  It has no cap.  Instead, there is a glass ball that is stuck in the top.  You push the glass ball down into the bottle to open it.

Ramune bottle.

And, eventually, we were heading back out the pretty gates of Nijo-jo.

We went back to the station and headed out for a temple called Ninna-ji.  This was something Sara found in the travel guide.  I had never been there.  Unfortunately, it closed earlier than we expected, so we weren't able to get in.  Actually, we arrived only 10 minutes too late for entry.  But, there were some very nice sights to be had just walking around the place.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

At Ninna-ji in Kyoto.

And, finally, we were done with the real sightseeing, so we headed back to the station.

I rather like this photo of Kyoto tower.

Kyoto tower, again.

We ended up taking a train into the thick of downtown Kyoto to get some conveyor belt sushi (kaiten-zushi) at Kappa Sushi.

The train we took.

I took these because I thought the advertising on the train looked neat.

In the heart of downtown Kyoto in the Kawaramachi district.

Kawaramachi district of downtown Kyoto.

Note: Many of these photos were taken by Sara.

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