Byodoin Temple was built in the 11th century and its main buddha is Amitabha. This buddha lives in the West Pure Land and he comes to us with other buddhas when we die to take our soul to his pure land. This temple was built to express the West Pure Land to pray for it. You will be able to see how the buddhas come to us here.

Fushimi Inari is a Shinto Shrine which is older than the capital Kyoto. The main deities here are in charge of business and agriculture. A lot of people come here to pray for success. This shrine is famous for Torii gates and foxes. Torii is an entrance gate to the sacred site of Shinto, there are 10,000 of them here. Foxes are thought to be messengers from the deity. There are many statues of fox here.

JPY700 per person for Byodoin

Fushimi Inari is free

Sanjusangendo Temple was built in the 12th century to enshrine the Buddha of Mercy (Kannon). The Buddha of Mercy here has 11 faces on her head and 40 arms to save people.

There are 1,000 manifestations of her around her. It is said that you will be able to find a statue of buddha which looks like a dead person you are missing. In front of them are 28 guardian buddhas, and the God of Wind and a God of thunder. They are all former Hindu Gods. You can see how Buddhism and Hindu are related here.

JPY600 per person

Kiyomizu Temple was established in the 8th century before Kyoto became the capital. It was expanded by the 1st Shogun in Japanese history. This temple is famous for its pure water, the Buddha of Mercy (Kannon) and stage.

Small water falls here are the origin of the faith of this temple. People pray for success, love and longevity at the waterfalls. The main Buddha is the Buddha of mercy which has 11 faces and 40 arms to save people. She is with the guardians and there are other buddhas in the other halls of this temple. The stage is a place to pray for Buddha. The stage here is 13m high. A lot of people jumped off the stage to show determination.

From this temple, we will walk on Sannenzaka to Yasaka Shrine. On our way, there are the Pagoda of Yasaka, Kodaiji Temple and other cultural properties.

JPY400 per person for Kiyomizudera

Yasaka Shrine is a Shinto shrine. It enshrines Susano who is one of the most famous Shinto Deities, and others. This is a big shrine compound so to speak, there are 22 shrines in the same compound. It is the headquarters of the 2,300 Yasaka shrines throughout of Japan.

Free.

Gion was developed as a place to serve the pilgrims to Yasaka Shrine. It is the home of Maiko and Geiko. Today they entertain business people in Gion which is called flower town. There are 5 flower town in Kyoto and Gion is the biggest and the most famous one.

This tour finishes at Gion if it is okay with you. You will be able to explore more in Gion and Nishiki Market nearby.

Free.