Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto, the previous imperial capital of Japan before being moved to Tokyo, is one of the most beutiful and amazing cities we have been to. It is located in the western part of Japan, about 300 miles west of Tokyo. We took the high speed bullet train, or the Shinkansen, which can easily reach speeds at about 180 mph.
Kyoto was the first imperial capital of Japan and remains an important cultural and educational center for Japan. The imperial family of Japan lived in the Kyoto Imperial Palace until 1868, when the capital was moved to Tokyo. The imperial palace is located within Kyoto Gyoen, a park like enclosure.

What we didn't realize is that to visit the Palace grounds itself, you need to "request" permission in advance through the Imperial Agency of Japan with your passport. So we just ended up viewing the Palace from the outside walls.

Whereever you are in Kyoto, you will see the scourched symbols on the mountain sides. These symbols are created at Daimonji, or at the culmination of the O-bon fesitval in the middle of August. The O-bon is a three day festival tied to a Japanese Buddhist custom to celebrate and honor the deceased relatives. It is believed that deceased family members will visit during the time of O-bon and the fires lit at the end of the festivals assists in returning them back to the spirit world.

Kyoto is considered to be one of the best preserved cities in Japan and is home to over 1600 Buddhist temples, 400 Shinto temples, and countless gardens and palaces.

10 minutes south of downtown Kyoto or Kyoto Station, there is a shrine called Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine. This was built around the 8th century in commemoration of the gods for rice and sake. The structures are amazing and the colors are very vibrant, more so than you would typically expect in Japanese architecture. 

There are many images of foxes strewn around the property as it is believed to be the messenger for the god of grain foods.

The property is not that large for the dozen or so buildings located in the area. But once you get to, what I thought was the end of the property, you will come across a map. The map shows that the location of the buildings are only a fraction of the property where the shrine resides. If you are to venture into the "garden" you will come across a multitude of interwoven paths that are laden with over 5,000 Torii, or the red aches shown below.

We ended up getting lost in there for hours and almost ended up missing my ride back to Tokyo. Be warned, you can easily spend well over an entire afternoon wandering and getting lost in the beauty of this garden. By far, the following has to be my favorite location within the shrine area.