Back at the hotel, I started to figure out what to do next, when I was reminded of this event: Higashiyama Hanatouro. Along a 4.6 km walking path towards the foothills of the Higashiyama Mountains, the path and the various temples along the route light up with lanterns. Additionally, temples which are usually closed at sundown are opened for a brief period with special lighting set up as well.
Thus, instead of a much longer break, I rushed right back out to maximize the number of temples I could visit. The Kyoto train system made it easy enough to get to the northern end of the path, so I could work my way southward.
First stop, Shoren-in Temple.
This temple actually does a nice gradual blue illumination in their courtyard, going from completely dark to an increasing number of point blue lights, and a soft blue glow. I didn't have a great grasp of my camera, so I couldn't quite capture the effect well to share.
On the path, and in the park there a lot of Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangements) around.
Also, sakura at night!
And lit up temples from far away:
And a lot of people were out and about enjoying the pleasant weather and the soft nighttime illumination:
After some more walking (and some skipped temples along the way), I got to the outskirts of Kiyomizu Temple.
The orange hues look great in the day, but are really nice at night.
Kyoto lightly sparkling in the distance:
Here's a view of the famous "stage", though a bit hard to see in the dark:
Temples usually have prayer/wish boards, where you buy a blank one. Write up your prayer/wish, and hang it up. Sometimes, it's all text, but some people will illustrate theirs.
Here's a cute example:
Finally, Kiyomizu is known for a spring that is supposed to have cleansing properties when you drink its waters.
Since all of these water scoops are shared with a large number of people, and people drink directly from them...how do ensure things are sanitary? Install a UV sanitizer at your temple of course!
All that walking was making me hungry, and with the temple viewings officially done, I was safe to go snack hunting. First off, a sakura cream-shu!
Which looks like this on the inside:
Followed by a meat bun. (am I eating my snacks out of order?)
A lot of parts of Kyoto still retain their original look and feel, so enjoy a couple more photos:
Here's the full set:
-- day 3 end --
