The Backpack Adventures

Day 8 May 24, 2018 Farewell Kyoto Greetings from Kyoto City! Today is our fifth and final day in Kyoto City. Today is also the only day that I had no itineraries to follow. Well, there is a reason behind it... Last night, my wife and I discussed the possibility of spending half-day touring other parts of Kyoto City but that involves the dilemma of where to leave our belongings. First, we contemplated asking our friend Gil if it's OK to bring our stuff to her house and leave it there for half a day. Our other option was to ask permission from our Air BnB host to leave our stuff in the house for half a day so that we could go around Kyoto one last time.  We decided to push through with the plan to go to Gil's place.  Farewell to our room, it was an awesome 5 days A very memorable place Until next time! Thanks to our kind hosts. Well, there are some plans that are not meant to be. We woke up a little past 9 which meant that we only had three hours to explore no

Japan could probably be the best place to go food tripping. One can have an endless selection of dishes to try out. What's interesting is that each dish has its own unique variation in different prefectures and sometimes even from city to city. Mitarashi Dango During my 2018 Japan trip, I had a chance to try out a handful of different dishes but what "sticks out" among them was a variation of the dango  that really fit my taste. For those who are unfamiliar with what a  dango  is, it is a Japanese dumpling similar to  mochi . However, the  dango  is usually served on a skewer in groups of 3 to 5.  Now going back to what I have written about earlier about variations, I got to try out one variation of the  dango  that I liked. It's called the  Mitarashi Dango . You have to try the Mitarashi Dango . Gotta try this one! The Mitarashi Dango is said to have originated from the Kamo Mitarashi Tea House in the Shimogamo area of the Sakyu-fu in Kyoto City. It was s

Located at 2 Ginkakuji-cho, Sakyu-ku, Kyoto City in Kyoto Prefecture, Ginkakuji  ( 銀閣寺 ) is one of the 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Kyoto City. Ginkakuji  ( 銀閣寺 ) Ginkakuji History Famously called Silver Pavilion , Ginkakuji is a Zen temple located near the eastern mountains of Kyoto. It was built in 1482 originally to serve as the retirement villa of Ashikaga Yoshimasa , the eighth Muromachi Shogunate. It was modeled after Kinkakuji (Temple)   or the Golden Pavilion which was his grandfather's retirement villa. Like Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji was also converted into a Zen temple after the death of Ashikaga Yoshimasa in 1490. Ashikaga Yoshimasa Ashikaga Yoshimasa was known as a lover of art. During his stay in Ginkakuji, he made it the center of the contemporary culture known as Higashiyama Culture . This kind of culture developed and refined how the Japanese do the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, noh theater, poetry, garden design, and architecture.  Ginkakuji - Kyoto

Located in 59 Shimogamo Izumigawa-cho, Sakyu ward, Kyoto City in Kyoto Prefecture, Shimogamo Shrine  ( 下鴨神社 ) is one of the 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Kyoto. Shimogamo Shrine  ( 下鴨神社 ) Shimogamo History Formally called Kamo-mioya-jinja , Shimogamo Shrine is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan. The shrine is traditionally linked to a sister shrine called Kamigamo Shrine and the two are referred to as the Kamo-jinja . However, Shimogamo Shrine is the older of the two and is believed to have been built sometime in the 6th century before Heian-kyo (Kyoto City) became the capital of Japan . Going back, the two shrines were designated as chief Shinto shrine ( inchinomiya ) for the former Yamashiro Province. The shrines function as "protection" of the capital from malign influences. Tadasu no Mori Ichi-no-Torii leading to the shrine Check out the boat-shaped  chozuya Now, focusing on Shimogamo Shrine , it is dedicated to the veneration of Tamayori-hi