This was our last day of sightseeing. We’d missed Fukakusa Inari because of the rain on our big day, so we decided to give it another go and fit in a few other places nearby to the south.
The alternative was the Philosopher’s Path, but Jane wasn’t having that. She was exhausted from the holiday, and there was no way she was doing another 30,000 steps in a day! So we went with option two: catch up on what we’d missed and see how far we got before she ran out of steam.
First stop was Fushimi Momoyama Castle. We took the train, then had a good 20-minute uphill hike from the station to reach it.
When we arrived, we found an empty car park, rundown gardens and a castle that looked as though it needed some care and attention. It didn’t seem to be getting many tourist dollars to help with the upkeep.
The place was closed, so we took a few pictures and headed back to the train. Probably one of the only real disappointments of the whole trip.
Back on the train, we headed to Fukakusa Inari. When we arrived, there were crowds—and plenty of them! It certainly felt like everyone visiting Kyoto had decided to come here.
We followed the flow of tourists around the shrine and past the shops until we reached the torii gates. There were two routes, with people heading up the right-hand side, walking four abreast. Busy was an understatement.
At the end of the first stretch, the next section climbed steeply uphill. Jane wasn’t in the mood for that, so we turned back down the other side.
About halfway down, the tour group behind us stopped for a group photo. Jane walked ahead while I hung back, and suddenly I had a rare chance to photograph the path through the torii gates with nobody in it. Just a little gap in the crowd, but perfect timing! Jane thought it was wonderful, especially when everyone else’s photos would be full of people.
From there, we took a slow stroll along the paths towards the nearby temples. There were plenty along the way, so we took our time, had some street food and picked up drinks from 7-Eleven.
We wandered through the back streets, passing different temples and some very expensive-looking houses. Eventually, we reached Tofuku-ji Temple.
There was a beautiful temple and lovely gardens, with a bridge overlooking lots of maples that were just starting to show their autumn colours. A really nice spot tucked away.
The next recommended stop was Shinzenkō-ji Temple. This one was a bit disappointing. It had some very nice small gardens, but there was a private function in the main temple selling sake to tourists, which wasn’t something we wanted to join.
By the time we came out, it was 2:00 and Jane had had enough. She was tired, so we decided to head back to the apartment for a few hours’ rest before meeting Etsuko for dinner again that evening.
In the meantime, I went to explore Kyoto Station. It’s a magnificent, enormous building with so many floors. Once I got above the train levels, I discovered restaurants and food places everywhere.
Little did I know we could have been eating there throughout the trip! Still, we’d enjoyed the food we’d found, and I was looking forward to another evening with Etsuko and Jeremy at a local restaurant.
Dinner turned out to be delicious too. A great way to finish the holiday.
