Offer Kyoto universal sightseeing info
京都ユニバーサル観光ナビ

【Round in the Raku-bus with foreign languages】
Enjoy the scenic beauty of the tour Kyoto

Distance Approx. 28km Time Approx. 6.5hr 

Kyoto Station

Nijo Castle

Kinkaku-ji Temple

Ginkaku-ji Temple

Sanjusangen-do Temple

Yasaka Hall/Gion

Kyoto Station

Start!

Bus stops in front of Kyoto Station

Moto-Rikyu Nijo Castle

This castle was built by Ieyasu Tokugawa in 1603. The third shogun Iemitsu moved the remnants of Fushimi Castle here and extended the castle to its present size. It runs approximately 500 meters east-west and 400 meters north-south, and is surrounded by a moat. Toward the end of the shogunate, the castle was used as barracks for troops loyal to the shogun. And, it was here that Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last shogun, announced the restoration of imperial rule. The Ninomaru palace complex (national treasure) is a representative example of samurai shoin-zukuri, or traditional style of Japanese residential architecture. The painting of pine tree and hawks by Tanyu Kano in the Yonnoma room is famous. The cherry blossoms too are famous and are illuminated at night each year. The castle was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1994. If requests are made at the entrance, wheelchair users can enter the Ninomaru palace complex (see the item on Ninomaru for details).


 Toilet near Nishibashi bridge in Nijo Castle
 Toilet near Seiryu-en Garden in Nijo Castle
 Toilet near Midori-no-sono in Nijo Castle

Kinkaku-ji Temple


This temple's formal name is Rokuon-ji, and it was built as a mountain retreat temple for Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, the third shogun to control the Muromachi Shogunate (1336-1573). The golden pavilion (Kinkaku) is a three-tiered structure representative of the Kitayama Culture that combined the cultures of samurais and nobles. The roof is topped with a Chinese firebird. The pavilion burned down in 1950 but was rebuilt in 1955. The garden also is famed as an excellent example of Muromachi design. The temple was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1994.

Public toilet in grounds of Kinkaku-ji Temple

Ginkaku-ji Temple

This was the country retreat of Yoshimasa Ashikaga the 8th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate and it was later converted into a temple, formally known as Jisho-ji Temple. The two-storey ]is representative of architecture from the Higashiyama culture. However, the building is not coated in silver leaf but in urushi, or lacquer. Meanwhile, the Togudo building is said to be the forerunner of the teahouse used in tea ceremonies. Some say that the landscape gardener Zenami created the garden, with the miniature moon-viewing mountain "Kogetsudai" and the two sand piles "Ginshaden", and famed for its use of the nature of Higashiyama as a backdrop. This temple was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1994. Nearly all the grounds are packed s andy soil that easy to move across but some of the paths are narrow so caution is required.

Toilet in garden of Ginkaku-ji Temple▶See details

Sanjusangendo Temple

The formal name of this temple is Rengeoin Temple. Shogun Kiyomori b uilt i t in the H eian pe riod, and gifted i t to Goshirakawahouou (ex-emperor and later a monk). The main hall is a long narrow building, some 120 meters in length. And, as there are 33 spaces between the pillars on the front side, the temple became known as "Sanjusangendo", or "hall with thirty three spaces". The main hall houses the main tourist attractions, starting with the "chuzon" (main image) of a seated statue of the Thousand-armed Kannon, which is flanked on either side by 500 other such statues, making a grand total of 1001 statues comprised as the main image of this temple. Yet, all the statues are arranged in way that the features and varying countenances of the faces of each can be seen clearly. In front of the massive array of the main image stand the Nijuhachibushu (28 attendants of Senju Kannon) as well as the wind god Fushin and the thunder god Raijin. All of which are National Treasures.
 Toilet in grounds of Sanjusangen-do Temple
 Public toilet at Sanjusangendo bus pool
 In front of entrance to Kyoto National Museum
 Public toilet on northeast corner of
 Yamatooji-dori and Shichijo-dori

Yasaka Hall: Gion Corner

The formal name of this temple is Rengeoin Temple. Shogun Kiyomori b uilt i t in the H eian pe riod, and gifted i t to Goshirakawahouou (ex-emperor and later a monk). The main hall is a long narrow building, some 120 meters in length. And, as there are 33 spaces between the pillars on the front side, the temple became known as "Sanjusangendo", or "hall with thirty three spaces". The main hall houses the main tourist attractions, starting with the "chuzon" (main image) of a seated statue of the Thousand-armed Kannon, which is flanked on either side by 500 other such statues, making a grand total of 1001 statues comprised as the main image of this temple. Yet, all the statues are arranged in way that the features and varying countenances of the faces of each can be seen clearly. In front of the massive array of the main image stand the Nijuhachibushu (28 attendants of Senju Kannon) as well as the wind god Fushin and the thunder god Raijin. All of which are National Treasures.

 Carpark toilet at Yasaka Hall, Gion Corner
 Toilet in Yasaka Hall, Gion Corner

Kyoto Station

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