Our Arashiyama Bamboo Grove tour in Kyoto, Japan was a wonderful experience just outside the center of Japan’s once capital and is definitely on of the top things to do in Kyoto. Located about 30 minutes from the center of Kyoto by car, Arashiyama is an area of peace and tranquility – it’s the quintessential Zen escape from the hustle and bustle of Japanese city life. A lot of people also call it the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (嵐山, 京都市).
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove forms part of the 3 pillars of must sees and dos when in Kyoto: the Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine, the Kinkaku-hi (golden) temple and Arashiyama. It’s quite simply a must, and a must that you will undoubtedly enjoy. Located in the mountains surrounding Japan’s ancient capital, there is something cool and mystical about the place. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s because Zen buddhism has a history here, but there’s just simply a feeling about the place. Then again, this was one of our earliest encounters with Japanese culture and history and as such probably left a deep impression on all of us.
After that we visited the Tenryu-ji (天龍寺, Tenryūji) temple. PLEASE NOTE, there is a mistake in the video and the place after Arashiyama is in fact Tenryu-ji. This Zen buddhist temple was built in 1339 by Shogun Ashikaga Takauji. Not unlike other Japanese landmarks, the temple was damaged by fire multiple time since then. Most of today’s structure dates back to the Meiji Era (1868-1912).
Adjacent the Tenryu-ji temple is the Tenryu-ji garden. Created by This is a marvel of Japanese gardens. Created by Muso Soseki, this is a marvel and hallmark of Japanese gardens. The beauty, the simplicity, the way nature is perfected by the hand of Man is an awe-inspiring experience, even if an introspective one. I realized after walking through this garden that Japanese gardens are not just gardens, they are a philosophy of life.
After visiting Arashiyama, we ate at an AMAZING sushi restaurant, whose name I unfortunately forget! If you’ve never had sushi in Japan, it’s really different! And Kyoto is also known as the birthplace of sushi, although back in the day the fish was fermented or marinated.
Music in this video:
Song: Traditional Japanese Music – EricErica
Music promoted by Vlog Music No Copyright.
Video Link:
Kam Michael – Force Of Nature (Prod. by Opium Lights)
www.twitter.com/kammichael_
www.youtube.com/channel/UCf69XIrEYLrqnHr8keB7bRw
www.instagram.com/imkammichael
About us: We are Daniel, Robyn, Ava, Rose and Ella, and together we are The Go To Family. We love to travel! We also love food, exploring historical sites and, of course, doing loads of fun things together as a family. In my videos, you will see me and Robyn tackle every obstacle that traveling with kids throws at us. We do traveling almost exactly the same way as we did before having kids, it just takes a little bit more planning. But it’s even more fun and rewarding to be able to show them new cultures and live new experiences with them at the same time! Our mission is to inspire other Millennials to travel with kids.
Our 7-year-old daughter, Ava, also has her own YouTube channel. Feel free to check it out right here:
We also really enjoy posting to Instagram, you can check out our channels here:
Robyn:
Ava:
Rose and Ella:
Daniel:
We hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day!
TheGoToFamily
AloJapan.com