Travel Note of Kyoto for Cherry Blossoms Part 1: Heian Jingu Shrine and Okazaki Canal (Jikkokubune Boat Ride)

[Introduction]

I traveled to Kyoto to view cherry blossoms for three days and two nights. Although the weather was not always good, cherry blossoms in Kyoto were marvelous. In this article, I will write about Heian Jingu Shrine and Okazaki Canal (Jikkokubune Boat Ride) as part of Day 1.

[Series of articles]
* Day 1 (1) Heian Jingu Shrine and Okazaki Canal (Jikkokubune Boat Ride) [This article]
* Day 1 (2) Keage Incline and Nanzenji Temple
* Day 1 (3) Philosopher’s Path
* Day 1 (4) Takenaka Inari Shrine, Munetada Shrine, Shinnyodo Temple and Konkai Komyoji Temple
* Day 1 (5) Maruyama Park, Nene Road, Yasaka Pagoda and Kiyomizu-dera Temple (evening illuminations)
* Day 2 (1) Kyoto Gyoen and Kyoto Gosho
* Day 2 (2) Honmanji Temple, Nijo Castle, Shinsen-en and Kiyomizu-dera Temple
* Day 2 (3) To-ji Temple (including evening illuminations) and Rikuson-no Shrine
* Day 3 (1) Arashiyama (Bamboo Grove), Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Gion Shirakawa and Kenninji Temple

[Travel Date]
2016.04.05-07

[Main Part]

Heian Jingu Shrine

After I moved from Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen (bullet train), I visited Heian Jingu Shrine first. This was my second visit since November 2014.

Otorii (Great torii gate).

The weather forecast predicted sunny on that day, but it was actually cloudy 🙁

Anyway, I will go into the shrine.

There is a Japanese garden (“Shin-en”) in Heian Jingu Shrine and most of the major cherry blossoms spots in the shrine were located there.

Cherry blossoms with buildings etc.

Zoom-up of cherry blossoms.

This is one of the view spots in the garden.

And this should be the best view spot in Heian Jingu Shrine.

Other snaps in Heian Jingu Shrine.

Unfortunately, cherry trees in Heian Jingu Shrine were not in full bloom 🙁

Okazaki Park

There was Okazaki Park near Heian Jingu Shrine. Here are some photos taken there.

Okazaki Canal (Jikkokubune Boat Ride)

There is also Okazaki Canal near Heian Jingu Shrine and Jikkokubune boat ride was available. Since this is one of the famous view spots regarding cherry blossoms in Kyoto, I revisited it when it was sunny.

With Otorii.

Near evening.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Heian Jingu Shrine and Okazaki Canal (Jikkokubune Boat Ride) as part of Day 1. Although cherry trees in Heian Jingu Shrine were not in full bloom, those around the shrine were almost at their best. In particular, Okazaki Canal was impressive, since I was able to see cherry trees, Jikkokubune Boat Ride and Otorii at the same time 🙂

In the next article, I will write about cherry blossoms in Keage Incline and Nanzenji Temple.

［Related Link］
Kyoto Travel Guide (English)