Kiotaki River Walk, Jingoji Temple, and the Arashiyama Monkey Park

 

Monkey sitting on a post overlooking Kyoto, at the Monkey Park in Arashiyama.

Wednesday, November 19th

Today, the three of us had so much fun! It was a barely 60-degree day, but not windy like yesterday. We came prepared with enough clothing and gloves. Our goal was to do a section of the Kiotaki River Trail from Takao to Kiotaki, about 3.2 km. There was one temple for us to stop and see on the way. 

Our first bridge crossing the river. 

We started our journey by catching a JR bus at a stop around the corner from the Nijo station. We barely fit onto the bus, with the three of us crammed into the stairwell next to the mid-section door. If we waited for the next bus, we would’ve had to wait for another two hours. It was an hour-long ride north, making lots of stops on the way. One seat opened up for me, but Alan and Deidre stood the complete ride. 

Jingoji Buddhist Temple that held their many treasures.

Not far along the river trail was a path and stairs that led up the mountain to Jingoji Temple. It was a beautiful compound with not very many visitors. We were not able to photograph inside the temple, but we removed our shoes and went inside anyways. 

Jingoji Temple holds 17 national treasures.

This temple was begun in the late 8th century by Wake-no Kiyomaro, the founder of the new capital at Heiankyo (Kyoto) and played a key role in the Heian school of Buddhism. Despite two major fires during the Heian period which destroyed most of the temple, many treasures and Heian cultural artifacts have been preserved. Some were on display for our viewing. The temple was rebuilt over several years before and after 1200. It is still a very old and beautiful building inside with many vermillion pillars and beams, painted walls, and carved ceilings.

The Kiotaki River Valley down below the Jingoji Temple, where we threw the discs.

Deidre holding a clay “kawarake” disc.

One of the activities that Deidre wanted to participate in at the temple was throwing a kawarake disc off the side of the mountain into the valley below. At the furthest end of the temple grounds is the valley overlook, with a booth that sells the discs, 3 for 100 yen. The ritual is meant to dispel bad karma. 

Alan throws a disc into the valley below. 

We each threw 2 discs, and Alan was the winner, throwing his the furthest out from the hillside. Mine kind of wobbled over the edge!

The many steps down the mountainside, this was where my left knee started to complain!

Another river crossing.

We walked back down the steps and trail to the river valley again and resumed our hike along the river. There are too many beautiful pictures for me to attach, but I’ll try to do it justice. 

The straightest, thinnest pines I’ve ever seen. 

We kept trying to see the Japanese salamanders in the deepest part of the river, but never found one!

Little waterfalls.

We came to the end of our hike, and climbed up out of the valley at a small town called Kiyotaki, and found the bus stop for Arashiyama. We were heading into a very popular tourist destination, the Togetsu-Kyo Bridge, a 400-year old, long, wooden bridge over the Katsura River. 

The Togetsu-Kyo Bridge in Arashiyama.

Tour boats powered by a pole.

We had to walk down the Main Street of town with bustling restaurants and stores, and tourists dressed up in kimono and sandals. In this area, tourists love to rent boats and paddle around in the river, or hire a pole boat to take them up and down along the river to admire the fall foliage. We crossed over the bridge and to the trailhead for the Arashiyama Monkey Park.  

This way to the Monkey Park!

It was a 20-minute, moderate climb up the hill with an elevation gain of 160 meters.

Heading to Monkey Park.

The monkeys are Japanese Macques only native to Japan. They don’t have long tails.

“The Japanese Macaques, or Snow Monkeys do not have long tails because they have evolved a vestigial tail, a short, stumpy tail that is a remnant of their longer-tailed ancestors. This tail loss is an adaptation to their cold environment, where a shorter tail is more beneficial for conserving heat, and it may also relate to the development of a stockier body build to handle colder temperatures.”

The monkeys roamed freely all over the level viewing area and around the feeding hut.

Deidre feeding a Macque.

The monkeys are trained to feed from the hut where a wire mesh keeps visitors and monkeys safe. You can buy bags of 10 peanuts or 10 apple chunks for 100 yen in the hut. There was a baby monkey that preferred the apple chunks and when Deidre tried to feed him a peanut, he looked at it and tossed it away!

Monkeys sitting on top of the feeding hut.

The views over Kyoto were beautiful!

There were a three rules we had to abide by. (1) Do not look a monkey in the eyes. They take staring at them as a form of aggression. (2) Absolutely no food or drink visible to them. (3) Stay at least two meters away from them. 

Monkey in a tree overlooking Kyoto.

The park attendants were very good about keeping the monkeys behaving around the visitors. One monkey jumped up onto the bench back where Alan was sitting, and an attendant quickly came over and shooed him away. The brochure said that the park attendants know each monkey by name and each one’s personality. Which explains why one monkey had an attendant constantly following him or her around, a feisty little one that kept bothering the other monkeys!

Well, our day was very full, but so very much fun! We headed back down the mountain to Arashiyama, and found the train station and headed back to Nijo.