Kyoto

Sorry for my brief sabbatical from blogland. My parents came to visit me for the last ten days, so they have been keeping me busy when I am not at work.

After a day of recovery from their transpacific flight, the three of us headed down to Kyoto, the ancient capitol of Japan. Although it was chilly there, that didn't effect our sightseeing too much. Here are some photos from our weekend.

This is Mt. Fuji from the shinkansen (high-speed, bullet train) that we took from Tokyo to Kyoto. Luckily, it is spring now, so the view of Mt. Fuji was perfect. This is honestly the first time I have seen Mt. Fuji since moving to Japan seven months ago. Whenever I think to look for it in the Tokyo area, it usually ends up being overcast, cloudy, or hazy.

There was a lantern walk during our first night in Kyoto. It was near the Gion area of Kyoto, and they had lanterns and illuminated flower arrangements along a temple/shrine-lined street. This is a picture of the illuminated entrance gate to Chion-in Temple. It is the largest temple gate in Japan.

Kikaku-ji Temple. There's not much more to be said about this temple. It is covered in gold-leafing and is absolutely beautiful. It was originally built as a retirement villa in 1739 by a former shogun and later converted into a Zen temple. It was burned down by a mentally-disturbed monk in 1950 and rebuilt after that. It houses Buddhist religious artifacts (we weren't able to go in though).