2015 Fall Photo Tour of Japan | Kiyomizu Temple & Shinnyodo Temple

Feb 17 | Evan | No Comments |

At this point in our tour we had learned colder than normal weather, followed by drought, followed by warmer than normal weather, had split the vast majority of maples into three groups, turned color early, dried up and died early, or turning color late.  Our tour of Japan must go on, though it meant now we were hunting for the best trees in each location, sometimes not having so many to choices! Even with the explanation of why the fall leaves weren’t out in full force in Kyoto, we were still able to make some great art and photographs in Kyoto.  In this post I’m combining 2 places that are quite different but both are nice to visit in Kyoto in Autumn.  First is Kiyomizu Temple and second is Shinnyodo Temple.  Kiyomizu Temple is in South Eastern Kyoto in the area called Higashiyama.

Kiyomizu dera is probably one of, if not the most famous temples in Japan.  There are almost always crowds and thus if you are taking photos, I’d highly recommend going early in the morning as it opens at 6am.  Hopefully, you will get a nice sunrise (which we didn’t get so much) or fantastic moon setting over Kyoto (which we did)!

Later in the day we would make our way over to Shinnyodo Temple, a much lessor known temple and often passed over by visiting tourists.  Not because it isn’t great, but because there are so many other wonderful places to visit and experiences to do in Kyoto.  Being slightly overlooked though is part of what makes Shinnyodo Temple great to visit as crowds tend to be much less but there are still some great fall leaves to be found here!

The 2015 Fall Photography Tour of Japan included Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Kyoto!  Interesting in joining your own escorted tour of Japan with Japan Photo Guide?  Contact us to get the planning of your trip to Japan started or join one of the group tours of Japan!