Kyoto Kimonos

Walking down from the Kiyomizu-dera Temple through the cobbled streets of the Ninenzaka preservation district I saw a wonderful trio of kimonos. These colourful costumes are still worn quite frequently by the ladies in Kyoto and certainly add to the authenticity of your visit through these stone-paved streets. 

The Ninenzaka district, like Gion to the west, is an architecturally protected 'preservation area,' with many historic structures, such as the historic house of painter Yumeji Takehisa (1884 to 1934). The area is also known as "Nene-no-saka" after Kita-no-Mandokoro, the wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who walked this route to visit the Kodaiji Temple. The narrow winding streets of Nene-no-saka are predominantly for foot traffic, and the streets are lined with arts-and-crafts shops, cafes, and food concession stalls.

Along the narrow lanes of the Sannenzaka Slope, there are many shops that sell an indigenous 'Kyo-yaki-style' ceramic pottery from this area, called kiyomizu-yaki

Red Temple

Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan is a wonderful visit offering panoramic views over the city of Kyoto. I have visited Kyoto twice now and would welcome the opportunity to visit again, particularly around the time of cherry blossom in Spring. 

This single RAW image was produced using the new release of Nik's Software HDR EfexPro package which I have been testing in comparison to my existing HDR software, PhotoMatixPro. Although it appears slower in performance than PhotoMatixPro and has a somewhat different workflow it does have some unique qualities in terms of being able to define specific areas of the image you apply both the HDR effect and other image attributes to. I will be continuing to test this new software and hopefully have a more comprehensive report soon.

Kiyomizu Temple

Kiyomizu-dera, known more fully as Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera is an independent Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) UNESCO World Heritage site. Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period. The temple dates back to 798, and its present buildings were constructed in 1633, during a restoration ordered by the Tokugawa Iemitsu. Not one nail is used in the whole temple. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu means clear water, or pure water. It was originally affiliated with the old and influential Hossō sect dating from Nara times. However, in 1965 it severed that affiliation, and its present custodians call themselves members of the "Kitahossō" sect.

Higashiyama District of Kyoto

For most of Kyoto's history, the area of Higashiyama (Eastern Mountains) lay outside of the official city boundary and as a result it was always more rustic and secluded. Furthermore, being separated from the main city by the  Kamo River, it was spared the fires that often ravaged Kyoto. Consequently, Higashiyama  remains one of the city's most charming and unspoiled districts. The small area lying east of Gion has some delightful stone-paved roads leading up to the Kiyomizu Temple.
Two flagstone-paved streets called Ninezaka (two-year slope) and Sannenzaka (three-year slope) are a preservation district and display some wonderful examples of architecture as well as some lovely shops and restaurants. Take care on these steps - local lore says that if you slip on these streets brings you two or three years' bad luck.
You can usually spot a number of trishaw riders in this area as well as the occasional maiko dashing along the narrow alleys.