Two-days cultural trip to Kyoto

Overview

Kinkaku-Ji is probably THE symbolic location of Kyoto and on top of every must-see list. During summer, the shiny golden temple is embedded in a lush green background. Walking through the surrounding Japanese-style garden, the temple appears in different views - each of them is unique and each of them is worth being on a postcard.

Fushimi Inari is famous for its more than 10,000 closely-spaced orange torii gates that wind over the hills of Inariyama beyond the entrance to the shrine. Inari is the patron deity of agriculture and business. The individual torii are donated by merchants hoping to get ahead in business and get replaced every 10 years. The black kanji lettering on each torii indicates the name of the donating company.

Gion is a lively district that preserves tradition, while incorporating new trends and fashions. Wooden lattice windows are in perfect harmony with the elegant maiko (apprentice geisha) dancers, who can often be seen taking a stroll through the area. The streets boast of stores selling local products including sweets, pickles and traditional Kyoto crafts.

Kiyomizudera Temple is just about everything a temple shouldn’t be: it’s noisy, crowded, crassly commercial, and as gaudy as an attention-starved peacock, but it somehow manages to transcend all of this to become one of Kyoto’s most worthwhile temples to visit. Presiding over the Southern Higashiyama Sightseeing district, it also offers a brilliant view across the entire city.

Jakkoji Temple does not appear on any mainstream tourist routes. However, for Go lovers it is perhaps the most sacred place in Kyoto: Honinbo, the strongest of the four major Go schools in Japan, originates from this temple. Honinbo Sansa, founder of Honinbo house, was the head monk of Jakkoji Temple during the Edo period. Among his students were Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Program and schedule

Sun, July 9th
- morning: Departure from the U-Community Hotel
- morning: Visit Fushimi Inari
- lunch: nice place, TBA
- afternoon: Friendship tournament with Kyoto Go players
- 18:00: Lodging in Kyoto, Hotel TBA

Mon, July 10th
- morning: Departure from the hotel reception
- morning: Jakkoji (Honinbo Temple) and Kinkaku-Ji (Golden Pavilion)
- afternoon: Gion and Kiyomizudera Temple
- evening: Return to Osaka

Note: This is a preliminary program, therefore the schedule are not accurate. The schedule might also change slightly.

Price and payment

- 19.000 JPY per person in a twin bed room
- 20.000 JPY per person in a single room

Note: Camp participants staying at the U-Community Hotel have the option to check out for one night and get a refund of 6.500 JPY (single room) or 5.200 JPY (twin room).
No refund is possible for TTS though since the TTS only offers a flat rate.

The price includes:
- Transportation via bus
- Hotel accommodation
- All entrance fees

Not included:
- Meals

Payment:
You can either pay it together with the remaining amount for the camp via bank transfer or Paypal latest by June 11 (two weeks before the camp).