In the north west of Kyoto you find the area of Arashiyama. We went there to visit two sightseeing highlights, one is the Tenryu-ji temple, which is world cultural heritage, the second the impressive bamboo grove which surrounds the temple.

Welcome Welcome

The temple is normally pretty crowded, but we were lucky and despite arriving in the afternoon there weren’t too many visitors. The name Tenryu-ji means temple of the divine dragon, which reflects in some of the paintings in the temple.

The divine Dragon The divine Dragon

The temple contains one of the most beautyful gardens of Japan, which fits perfectly in the surrounding landscape and includes the mointains of the hinterland into it’s composition.

The garden The garden
The garden The garden
The garden The garden
The garden The garden

In the garden you’ll meet a lot of japanese women wearing classical kimonos, which they rented in the surroundings of the temple to be dressed correctly for the visit. The young ladies on the picture below were a bit confused when I asked them if I can take a picture of them (seems people usually do not ask…) but they were extremely polite and very nice.

Kimonos Kimonos
Kimonos Kimonos
Kimonos Kimonos
Kimonos Kimonos

Around the temple there is a bamboo grove which is very fotogenic. As it is really crowded you need a long time exposure so that it appears empty…

Bamboo Forest Bamboo Forest
Bamboo Forest Bamboo Forest