Antiques, a Thousand Statues and Tree Top Temples

Today blew our minds. Literally. Right out of our collective left ear. This city is absolutely incredible. We made the tough decision to axe Himeji from our itinerary this morning, figuring there was a ton of things to see in Kyoto and even though Himeji is something we really wanted to see, the trip there and back would eat precious time. It was a very hard thing to decide, but we’re both really glad we stayed here.

We were lucky enough to be in town for the Toji Temple flea market, which happens only once a month, and it was something we were not going to miss. Finding the temple was easy, we took the free hotel shuttle to Kyoto station (thank you free shuttle, you have proven invaluable) and then headed due west. After just a few minutes we were at the gates of the temple grounds and immediately we saw the stalls of vendors lining the walkway. I was most excited at the prospect of finding antiques and within a few feet we found some. Fortunately we held off, as the flea market stretches on for what seems like miles! The most amazing part was that the antiques, for the most part, were unbelievably affordable. We bought a ton of stuff, and would have certainly spent thousands if we had a way to get it all back. The mix of offerings was great, with plants, trees, food, souvenirs, antiques, art, crafts and clothing all sharing space. We actually didn’t even make it through the entire flea market as it seemed to stretch on infinitely in every direction.

In the center of this bustling market is the Toji Temple itself, which features a gorgeous pagoda as its centerpiece, the tallest wooden structure in Japan. The small park surrounding it was gorgeous and impeccably manicured. It was really amazing to be in this historic location totally surrounded by thousands of people buying and selling their wares. 

We decided to head back to Kyoto station for the next leg of our tour and to take advantage of their handy lockers. After packing a locker full of our goods we headed due east this time in search of Sanjusangendo Hall, something I have been very much looking forward to. It didn’t take too terribly long to get there and although a bus would have been faster, I wanted to spend most of the day on foot to maximize our views of Kyoto. The Hall isn’t much to look at from the outside, but it is what is held inside the long building that blew our minds. 1,000 life-sized, hand carved, gold covered statues of the thousand-handed Kannon. It is difficult to explain just how incredible it is walking into the hall and seeing the statues, ten rows deep, floating out into the distance. Although Kannon had 1,000 hands, the artists that made these settled for just 22 a piece, but boy would it have been a lot of work to make them all. In the center of the hall is an enormous seated Kannon with an incredibly detailed back panel. Throw in 30 other statues, all national treasures, and you’ve got one of the highlights of the trip. I’m not sure anything can ever top seeing the terra cotta warriors, but this had the same sort of impact with the sheer number and amount of work that must have gone into them. No pictures were allowed, so you’ll have to settle for a picture of a picture in a book we bought.

From Sanjusangendo it was time to head for the hills and find our way to Kiyomizu temple on Mount Otowa. Thanks to Kyoto’s grid street layout we were able to find our way very easily, with the grade increasing as we got closer to the mountain. After a bit of a hike we were at the first gate, which right away hinted at the beauty of the location. We were completely surrounded by beautiful green trees and turning around at the gate you could see all of Kyoto in one expansive view. Definitely worth the walk! There are a number of temples and shrines on the hill, but the big draw is the main hall which is built over a cliff with two decks that hang out over the trees. It was so surreal being up there, looking down on the modern city of Kyoto surrounded by these ancient buildings and incredible landscape. We spent quite a bit of time just hanging out on the deck and taking it all in, amazed at the fact that our day just seemed to be getting better and better. On the way down the hill we grabbed some quick shaved ice (ichigo flavored), hit some shops and then walked back to Sanjusangendo to catch a bus back to Kyoto station. 

The station itself is pretty unbelievable and is apparently one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city. In fact, it is a bit like a city itself with everything you could possibly need. We did a little shopping, grabbed a delicious lunch and then collected our antiques and headed back to the hotel.

We’ll be heading out again in a bit here to track down Fushimi-Inari with its 10,000 red torii. After seeing Yasaka in the dark last night we definitely want to check out another temple under the moon.

Check out the pictures from today.