The Path of Philosophy

For a self confessed lover of wandering and discovering a stroll along Kyoto’s Path of Philosophy is one of life’s great pleasures. People watching, stopping to admire all the beautifully-designed stationary and trinkets in the carefully curated shops, peering inside the windows of stylish restaurants and laughing at the quirky little discoveries, such as a trio of teddies sitting on a toy-sized park bench enjoying the view, this was one of my favourite ways to spend a day in Japan!

The path begins near the Eikan-do Temple and finishes near the Ginkaku-ji Temple (or can of course be walked in the opposite direction, as we did). We were lucky enough to be visiting in October and enjoyed the prettily coloured autumnal hues along the path. Having a toddler in tow (which always makes travelling slower) we decided to take our time, and visit just a few selected temples to make sure she didn’t get too bored, overwhelmed or crazy. I have never seen a security guard look so nervous as the one in Japan who witnessed Layla careering towards the pristinely raked Zen garden at the first temple we visited! I am glad to say that a catastrophe was averted on that occasion.

Ginkaku-ji Temple

The first temple we started at was Ginkaku-ji, also known as the Temple of the Silver Pavilion. We arrived early and were the first visitors which was a real treat. The temple is set in beautiful gardens and has great views out over Kyoto. Funnily enough, there is no silver on the silver temple. It was built as a retirement home for the current shogun in 1480 but as the story goes he ran out of money before he could cover the temple in silver.

A few times per year Ginkaku-ji Temple is illuminated in the evening, and all of its elements take on an added, surreal beauty. It must be seen to be believed.

Honen-in Temple

Our next stop, a little off the path, was the enchanting Honen-in Temple. The approach is through a wooded little walk way before you arrive at the atmospheric gate. This temple feels like a hidden secret, especially as once again there were only a few other people there during our visit. This is a great temple to visit with children as the gardens are very pretty and not too manicured. There is a little bridge, a pond with fish and a tiny fountain for washing tiny hands. When we visited there was a nice little art exhibition in one of the onsite buildings.

Nanzen-ji Temple

The last temple we visited was one of my favourite in all of Kyoto (the extremely photogenic Roman-style aqueduct could have something to do with that!) and is definitely worth saving time for. There is so much to explore. Along with the main temple there are nearly a dozen smaller temples dotted around the grounds plus all the lovely green spaces to explore. I also loved a conducting our own little photo shoot and people watching all the other photography fans getting creative under the aqueduct.