Uji & Fushimi-Inari Taisha, Japan

Phoenix Hall at Byodo-in Temple, Japan

Torri Gates at Fushimi-Inari Shrine - Japan

Japanese Children Walking the Torri Gates
at Fushimi-Inari Shrine - Japan

Japanese Lunch - Uji, Japan

Traditional Japanese Home - Uji, Japan

School Children - Uji, Japan

Uji & Fushimi-Inari Taisha, Japan (10/15/2009) - We took an amazing day trip outside of Kyoto to visit three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

First, we went to the almost unbelievable (certainly mystical) Fushimi-Inari Shrine where there is a 2 ½ mile long path winding through the woods enclosed with over 10,000 large red torii gates each 15 feet tall! (see photos). Repeat: 10,000 - Glorious! Founded 13 centuries ago, the Fushimi-Inari Shinto Shrine is dedicated to success and prosperity and merchants, now companies, have for centuries donated funds to build the 10,000 torri gates. Fushimi-Inari Shrine is the main shrine for some 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan.

Guided by our Goodwill guide, Megimi Satake, we returned to the train to go to Uji, a small older Japanese city famous for the 950-year-old Byodo-in Buddhist Temple. The Japanese revere this temple so much they put its image on the back of the 10-yen coin. Byodo-in Buddhist Temple houses several Japanese national treasures (i.e. famous statue of Amida (Buddha), 52 11th century Bodhisattvas, and one of the 3 most famous bells in Japan).

Great travel tip while visiting Japan... An organization called Goodwill Guides from the Japan National Tourism Organization offers free of charge very good volunteer guides to show assist your visits to many places in Japan. You should check this out.

Also located at the Byodo-in Buddhist Temple is the wonderful Phoenix Hall building - one of the last remaining original examples of the graceful Heina-period architecture and it resembles the phoenix bird (see photos). We also crossed one of the oldest stone bridges in Japan to visit Ujigami-jinga Shrine. Not much to look at but really cool when you learn that it is the oldest still standing shrine in Japan built in 794.

Please also see our 9 other blog posts for wonderful Japan:

Japan (Northern) Hakodate Otaru Aomori

Japan Himeji

Japan Hiroshima

Japan Kyoto Famous Temples Shrines Palaces Castles

Japan Kyoto Gardens

Japan Kyoto Japanese Food

Japan Kyoto Living and Impressions

Japan Nara

Japan Osaka

For free travel tips and cost-saving bargains:
- Like us on our Facebook travel page
- Follow us on Twitter: Follow @wdunlap

Treat yourself and see many more photos (some winners of awards) of our worldwide travel adventures - click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets.

Contact us to Arrange an inspirational and informative Plan Your Escape™ travel seminar for your organization about great travel tips, unique bargain-finding strategies, easy-to-use trip planning tools, and interesting stories.

From a travel TV host (Plan Your Escape™), travel columnist for the Huffington Post, and experienced traveler (100 countries), our popular 5-star customer rated groundbreaking and comprehensive how-to world travel book “Plan Your Escape™, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home” reveals secrets how you can travel and see more for half the cost for all trips from weekend getaways to longer vacations and trips, experience more adventure and romance, safely realize your travel dreams with comprehensive planning tools and checklists, travel the world for less than $100/day for a couple, and much more! – for additional information and sign up for FREE travel tips and bargains, go to www.PlanYourEscapeNow.com

Kyoto, Japan - Temples, Shrines, Palaces, Castles, & Villas

Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion) - Kyoto, Japan

Heian-jingu Shrine - Kyoto, Japan

Yasak-jingu Shrine at Night - Kyoto, Japan

Wayne Cleaning Hands
at Kiyomizu-dera Temple - Kyoto, Japan

Kiyomizu-dera Temple - Kyoto, Japan

Ryoan-ji Temple - Kyoto, Japan

Prayer Wishes - Kyoto, Japan

Love Rock at Jishu Shrine - Kyoto, Japan

Ginkakuji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion) 
- Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto, Japan – Temples, Palaces, Villas, & Castles (10/10-16/2009) - Kyoto is Japan’s treasure!

Avoiding the WWII bombings, Kyoto is now home to 20% of Japan’s national treasures and over 2,000 temples and shrines.

Kyoto was Japan’s capital for over 1,000 years (794-1868) and has qualified for an amazing 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites! It is difficult to see them all - we tried. Here are our impressions of the famous ones we did visit…

Kinkakuji Temple: probably our favorite - absolutely beautiful! Covered in gold leaf and rightfully known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion with beautiful gardens, we visited on a perfect sunny day getting postcard quality photos (see photo). This 14th-century temple was burned by a disgruntled monk in 1950 and then rebuilt.

Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gosho): the palace was nice but the Sento Imperial Palace on the grounds has the most stunningly elegant gardens in Kyoto – don’t miss it (note: you need reservations for both Palaces).

Ryoan-ji Temple: Japan’s famous 500-year-old Zen rock garden of raked white gravel and 15 rocks arranged in three groupings. Now a world famous symbol of Zen wisdom, we did not ‘get it’ - probably too much western ways, but we loved the 1,000 year old pond and gardens around the Ryoan-ji Temple and had a wonderful 7-herb tofu lunch at a traditional Japanese garden teahouse (Ryoanju Yudofuya).

Kiyomizu-dera Temple: this is a beautiful temple with many structures that were started in 798 and rebuilt in 1633 (without a single nail) at a site know for its purity of water. Known as the Pure Water Temple, people come to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple believing in its healing abilities. 

Beautiful views of the city can be seen from the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Also located here is the Jishu Shrine dedicated to the god of love and matchmaking. There is a belief that if you can walk between the two love rocks at the Jishu Shrine with your eyes close, your desires for love will be granted. We tried it and succeeded - will see what happens, so far so good.

Heian-jingu Shrine: an interesting Shinto shrine of peace and tranquility built in 1895 in the exact architectural style of the original Imperial Palace of 794. It’s fun to see how Kyoto looked over 12 centuries ago.

Nijo Castle (Nijojo): Completed in 1626, Shoguns ruled from Nijo Castle for over 250 years. Fearful of enemies, there are secret rooms and the floors were designed to make a unique noise when walked on sounding quite a bit like nightingale birds singing. Pretty cool! Worth a visit.

Ninnaji Temple: Built as a retirement villa for an emperor. The gardens are simple but beautiful.

Sanjusangedo Hall: Stunning sight of 1,001 carved wooden statues of the standing Bodhisattva Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, in the longest wooden building in Japan (400 feet). Each statue has 40 arms. Very interesting to visit.

Yasaka-jinia Shrine: in the old Gion District where we wandered at night – magical (Pat says romantic).

Ginkakuji Temple: The Temple of the Silver Pavilion built in the 1470's was never covered in silver as planned. It does have a pretty garden worth visiting. The mile-long Philosopher's Path outside its gate follows a narrow canal that is particularly beautiful when the cherry trees are in full bloom.

We also visited other famous temples and shrines such as the Kodai-ji Temple and Kennin-ji Temple (the oldest Zen Temple in Kyoto) as well as many other smaller temples and shrines that you cannot help but stubble upon.

For more about wonderful Kyoto, please see our other 3 blog posts: 

Japan Kyoto Gardens
Japan Kyoto Japanese Food
Japan Kyoto Living and Impressions

Please also see our 6 other blog posts for wonderful Japan:

Japan (Northern) Hakodate Otaru Aomori

Japan Himeji

Japan Hiroshima

Japan Nara

Japan Osaka

Japan Uji Fushimi-Inari Taisha Torii Gates

For free travel tips and cost-saving bargains:
- Like us on our Facebook travel page
- Follow us on Twitter: Follow @wdunlap

Treat yourself and see many more photos (some winners of awards) of our worldwide travel adventures - click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/set.

Contact us to Arrange an inspirational and informative Plan Your Escape™ travel seminar for your organization about great travel tips, unique bargain-finding strategies, easy-to-sue trip planning tools, and interesting stories.

From a travel TV host (Plan Your Escape™), travel columnist for the Huffington Post, and experienced traveler (100 countries), our popular 5-star customer rated groundbreaking and comprehensive how-to world travel book “Plan Your Escape™, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home” reveals secrets how you can travel and see more for half the cost for all trips from weekend getaways to longer vacations and trips, experience more adventure and romance, safely realize your travel dreams with comprehensive planning tools an checklists, travel the world for less than $100/day for a couple, and much more! – for additional information and sign up for free travel tips and bargains, go to www.PlanYourEscapeNow.com

Himeji, Japan

Himeji Castle - Japan

Koko-en Gardens - Himeji, Japan

Japanese Food - Himeji, Japan

Koko-en Gardens - Himeji, Japan

Koi at Koko-en Gardens - Himeji, Japan

White Heron at Koko-en Gardens 
- Himeji, Japan

Pat Ringing Bell - Himeji Castle, Japan

School Children - Himeji, Japan

Himeji, Japan (10/9/09) - Himeji is a wonderful historic Japanese city to visit.

Typhoon Melro swept across Japan and changed the course of our Japanese cruise. Instead of visiting Tokyo, we diverted south to Kobe where we took a day trip to Himeji, home of Japan’s most beautiful castle.

In Himeji, Japan's oldest UNESCO World Heritage Site the 16th-century Himeji Castle (White Heron Castle) was built in 1580 and is called “shirasagi’ because its graceful arced roofs and white plaster walls resembles a white heron taking flight. We did get a photo of a white heron and with a little imagination, you can see the birds in flight in the castle design (see photos). With extensive gates, moats, turrets, and a maze of passageways, Himeji Castle has survived since the feudal times of the samuari.

Even more fun for us was our visit to the beautiful Koko-en gardens (see photos) next to Himeji Castle showing Edo Period (1603-1867) style Japanese gardens - very lovely. 

On the way to Himeji, we saw the newly constructed Akashi Kaikyo Suspension Bride - the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Please also see our 9 other blog posts for wonderful Japan:

Japan (Northern) Hakodate Otaru Aomori

Japan Hiroshima

Japan Kyoto Famous Temples Shrines Palaces Castles

Japan Kyoto Gardens

Japan Kyoto Japanese Food

Japan Kyoto Living and Impressions

Japan Nara

Japan Osaka

Japan Uji Fushimi-Inari Taisha Torii Gates

For free travel tips and cost-saving bargains:
- Like us on our Facebook travel page
- Follow us on Twitter: Follow @wdunlap

Treat yourself and see many more photos (some winners of awards) of our worldwide travel adventures - click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets.

Contact us to Arrange an inspirational and informative Plan Your Escape™ travel seminar for your organization about great travel tips, unique bargain-finding strategies, easy-to-use trip planning tools, and interesting stories.

From a travel TV host (Plan Your Escape™), travel columnist for the Huffington Post, and experienced travelers (100 countries), our popular 5-star customer rated groundbreaking and comprehensive how-to world travel book “Plan Your Escape™, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home” reveals secrets how you can travel and see more for half the cost for all trips from weekend getaways to longer vacations and trips, experience more adventure and romance, safely realize your travel dreams with comprehensive planning tools and checklists, travel the world for less than $100/day for a couple, and much more! – for additional information and sign up for free travel tips and bargains, go to www.PlanYourEscapeNow.com