Kyoto Downtown + Peaceful Pictures

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In a city known for its temples and other ancient relics, this observation point catches the eye as an example of 20th-century innovation.

With picturesque blossom gardens and a golden hall considered a national treasure, this temple is a historic monument devoted to bliss and tranquility.

Take a stroll or a bicycle ride through this sublime forest to experience the otherworldly tranquility created by filtered sunlight and rustling bamboo leaves.

Take a stroll or a bicycle ride through this sublime forest to experience the otherworldly tranquility created by filtered sunlight and rustling bamboo leaves.

Take a stroll or a bicycle ride through this sublime forest to experience the otherworldly tranquility created by filtered sunlight and rustling bamboo leaves.

Watch as park staff feed about 130 wild snow monkeys on Arashiyama Mountain, or climb inside a cage and feed them yourself.


Explore this hillside temple which features a statue with an unusual history, connected wooden walkways, a bathhouse and a steam house.  

Take a stroll or a bicycle ride through this sublime forest to experience the otherworldly tranquility created by filtered sunlight and rustling bamboo leaves.


Explore this hillside temple which features a statue with an unusual history, connected wooden walkways, a bathhouse and a steam house.  

Charming craft shops, ceremonious teahouses and tiny cafés spill out from the traditional wooden façades of this historic pair of lanes below Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

Art, elaborate gardens and a giant gate await at this temple that stands tall as one of the most important of its kind in the country.

This temple borrows its graceful quality from the imperial family. It is home to traditional art, spiritual statues and a bamboo orchard.

In a city known for its temples and other ancient relics, this observation point catches the eye as an example of 20th-century innovation.

A widow built this temple in 1606 to pay homage to her late warrior husband. Today, it survives as an eye-catching site of tranquility with postcard-pretty gardens.

In a city known for its temples and other ancient relics, this observation point catches the eye as an example of 20th-century innovation.

In a city known for its temples and other ancient relics, this observation point catches the eye as an example of 20th-century innovation.

More than any other site, this shrine is celebrated for the unrivaled autumnal colors of the trees surrounding the spiritual Zen haven.

Visitors come to this ancient site for its pleasant temple but stay to relish the nature and tranquility of its serene Zen garden.

Take a stroll or a bicycle ride through this sublime forest to experience the otherworldly tranquility created by filtered sunlight and rustling bamboo leaves.