TL;DR – I take a walk through Kyoto. There were many, many steps.

Disclosure – I paid for my flights, accommodation, entry, and everything you see purchased in this article.

Exploring Japan –

I had always planned to go back to Japan one day, and had started making plans to go back in 2020, and then 2020 happened. But late last year, I finally had the chance to put those plans back in motion as I flew out of Melbourne for Osaka, and thus my time in Japan began.  

Having been slightly ambitious with the many steps I was taking, and still feeling a bit rough from the travel, I almost stayed close to home on my 4^th day in Japan; however, it was the only day I could get out to Kyoto, so after getting quite lost in Shin-Osaka station, I eventually made my way to the old capital.  

The weather was also quite inclement, with a big storm coming through in the afternoon, so I knew I had to be selective in where I visited, and perhaps it was a touch of hubris, but I chose to go back to Kiyomizu-dera. I had visited the temple once before; however, it was being renovated and under a shell. This time I wanted to see it in all its glory.

Knowing what a hike it can be to get to the temple, I thought I would pay for the bus this time to get closer to the summit. I may have misjudged that, because goodness, it was still a long walk up Mount Otowa in the humidity. I also thought picking a weekday out of season would lower the number of people there, but I was wrong on that front too.  

When I finally got to the top, the heavens opened, and I became glad for my umbrella. Whilst I was waiting for the rain to clear, I took some time to look at the stones being used to make the foundations. You can see the centuries etched onto their surfaces.

Of course, all the walking, all the queueing, and all the people were worth it once you get there, because goodness, this is one of the best views in Japan, and that is saying something, given that Japan has a lot of good views. The temple stands majestically on the mountainside, the foliage with just a hint of turning red for winter, with Kyoto sitting proud below. It was absolutely worth the climb to see it in all its glory because it has this pull back through time and space that is almost intoxicating.  

After being mesmerised by the view for quite a while, I took a walk in the gardens, which were a touch slippery from the weather, but worth it for moments like this where you see pagodas peek out from the canopies.

These forests both remind me of some of the rainforests at home but also feel quite different from the gum tree canopies that I am used to. The sound of swaying bamboo in the background probably helped articulate those differences. Also, yes, I absolutely took the opportunity to have a tea at the snack house after my walk, because of course you do.

After walking down the mountain, and stopping for a few well-earned yakitori skewers at the bottom, the bus stop I needed to go to just so happened to be across the road from the local fire station, where we got to watch the firefighters go through several training exercises. This was fascinating to watch until a call rang out and everyone dropped what they were doing and hopped into the trucks, as a fire had broken out around the corner.  

While the mind wanted to spend more time in the city, the body and the weather disagreed, so I went back on the train to Osaka. When I explored around my hotel on the first night, I found an Italian restaurant that looked interesting, and I knew that tonight was the best time to try it out. Their pizza was delicious, their drinks were cold, and I think I crashed in my bed the second I got back to the hotel.   

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images and content have been created by the author unless stated otherwise