Short Trip from Arashiyama, to Kiyotaki

Kiyotaki is in Mt.Atago and the popular destination for children to swim in the river. The place is also popular among people hiking and trecking by the Kiyotaki River.
We got on the 92 Kyoto bus at Nonomiya bus stop at 8:03.
It takes around 20minutes to get to Kiyotaki Bus Stop from Nonomiya  by bus.
We started walking from the Toen Bridge.
Toen means crossing monkeys.

Then we walked into the village and went down to the path along the river.

By the river, we found the stone monument scribed with the famous poem made by Matsuo Basho;“Kiyotaki ya Nami ni chirikomu Ao-matsuba”, said to be his last poem.

We went along the river for about 40 minutes. It’s very cool and we had very refreshing time walking there.

We met only a few people there, and the path ended at Ochiai.

From Ochiai, we walked to Tori-i-moto(the place where is the first gate of Atago Shrine) on the paved road.
We got to Okusaga around 9:30.
It was very short trip from a city area, but we enjoyed wonderful nature a lot.
We had green tea and Sakura-mochi at Tsutaya, an  inn and restaurant with long history, and went home.

Graminka and Himeji Castle

We stayed in Graminka, a kind of inn, in Kamikawa cho, Hyogo.
The owner of the inn bought an old country house and renovated it.
We enjoyed meal at the fire base, and silent country night, there.

On the way home, we visited Himeji Castle.It was very beautiful.

Yonezawa Beef Dinner

We went to Yonezawa, Yamagata prefecture, in the North East area of Japan.
We stayed at a fabulous inn, Toki-no-yado Sumire, and enjoyed Yonezawa beef dinner.

Rose Glass Beads

Recently I have been making rose parts and several kunds of rose glass beads with them.

Lotus Flowers in Hokongo-ji Temple

Hokongo-ji Temple is located near JR Hanazono Station. The temple is famous for its garden with flowers.
At the beginning of early in July, the lotus flowers on the pond and in many flowerpots in the garden begin to bloom.
I took some pictures of the temple and the garden.

There also some stone jizo statues in the garden.

The tomb of Akechi Mitsuhide by the Shirakawa River

After having lunch at Moriko, the Chinese restaurant, we visited the tsuka, the small tomb, of Akechi Mitsuhide, who killed Oda Nobunaga, the famous samurai warrior leader.
Akechi Mitsuhide has been thought to be a betrayer, because he killed his master, but he has been reevaluated recently among historians. The tomb is located by the Shirakawa river.

Ken-nin-ji Temple and Flower Gardens

Ken-nin-ji Temple is located at the end of Hanami-koji Street in Gion area.
Ken-nin-ji is the oldest zen temple in Kyoto.
It is also famous for the picture of Fujin Raijin(the gods of wind and thunder) drawn by Tawaraya Sotatsu, the famous painter in Edo period.

We can see nice zen gardens and pictures on the paper slides.

We can also see the picture of twin dragons on the ceiling of the major building.

There are independent temples in Kenchuji like Ryosoku-in and Rei-gen-in, each temples are famous for Amacha flower gsrden and han-ge-sho flower garden.

In Ryosoku-in, from May 29 to June 7 we can see han-ge-sho  garden. The edge of the Han-ge-sho leaves  turn white in esrly summer and look like flowers. We can enjoy the very  serene garden there.

There also are two famous tea ceremony room.

In Rei-gen-in Temple, we can enjoy beautiful Amacha flowers in early summer.

Amacha flowers look like hydrangea flowers.

We can enjoy Amacha(sweet tea made from Amacha lesves) and sweets there.

There are very peculiar Koma-inu(the gsrdian animal made of stone) in Ken-nin-ji.

One is the shape of a wild boar and the other is a tiger.