Kizomizudera in Kyoto

Kiyomizu is one of THE places to check out if you happen to be in Kyoto. A UNESCO world heritage site, it is known for the wooden stage of their main hall which was constructed without the use of any nails.

You can see Kyoto Tower in the distance:

I've been to Kiyomizudera 2 times in the past 3 years, and it's definitely one of my favorite places to go when I'm in Kyoto. It was one of the few places in Japan that was featured in mangas I've read during my middle school years. When I finally got the chance to visit Kiyomizudera a few years back while studying abroad, it blew me away. Even coming back to visit it for the 2nd time, it still amazes me that the whole structure was built without any nails.

Looking over the rails of the main hall is the Otowa Waterfall. Separated into 3 streams, each stream is supposed to increase your luck in health, success, and school if you drink from it. It was too crowded when I came here back in Spring 2012 (increased crowds due to the cherry blossoms), but I managed to drink from it this time around! Unfortunately, I don’t know which one is for which, so… we’ll see what happens?

What one of my travel mates was surprised at was the sheer size of the temple grounds that we got to see, considering the cheap entry fee. We also stopped by Jishu shrine, the deity of love, for a little while. There were many young couples praying for a successful relationship and the like, but there were also very many tourists who looked like they had no idea what they had stumbled into.

Tourism has really increased since the last time I was here, and many tourists were walking around dressed in yukatas, which had confused our group for a while. We thought there was some sort of festival we didn’t know about. Nope, just tourists being touristy. I wonder how much it costed them to rent one.

We were short on time, so didn't stick around for too long. This was also in May, so it was starting to get a bit humid. If I ever get the chance, I'm definitely going to try to come back during Autumn to try to catch the changing foliage.

Overall, Kiyomizu is definitely a place worth going to (and even more beautiful during cherry blossom season) and definitely a to-go place if one would like to experience what it means to be in the cultural capital of Kyoto. Do try to visit early in the day to avoid crowds (we arrived around noon).

Transportation: We took a bus from Kyoto Station, as our hostel staff suggested. It was around a 15 minute walk from the bus stop.

Price: 400yen

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Kizomizudera in Kyoto