Sunday, March 15, 2026

Momodani station & Kiyomizudera

Our family was split 50/50 Sunday morning whether to wake up on time or to sleep in. While we waited for the others to arise, Locke and I decided we would go explore around the station.

Without a particular destination in mind, we simply wandered the area in a rough circle sphere square rhomboid lopsided dodecahedron. The area is substantially residential and the most notable feature was probably the schools. Each school is three stories tall, and it's built on an elevated grade roughly a floor above street level, so they tend to tower over everything else in the area. 

We did, however, come across the occasional shrine or park as we traversed. The weather was gorgeous and clear, but a little cool. 



Once we finished our walk, we reunited with our wayward layabouts, and set off for Kyoto, specifically Kiyomizudera. 

We took the Keihan line to near our destination, then walked along the canal to the street. It is still early in cherry blossom season, so the canal was a little bare. Still we found one or two brave trees starting to bloom. 


We had visited Kiyomizudera on every trip to Japan. Many of you have used chopsticks sourced from these very stores! It's chaotic, colorful, and a definite tourist trap. As in, it has every possible knick knack a person could possibly want, and at price points intended to shake every final coin from your wallet. Rowan and I picked up our Goshuincho from a little shop, Locke browsed the ties, and everyone bought chopsticks as we made our way up the street. 

Arriving at the top is the namesake temple. I've posted about it before, so I'll spare the details. But today we were here for Seiryu-e! An ancient festival (started in 2000) featuring an 18 meter dragon paraded from the temple and through the streets. The dragon is purported to be one of the four guardians of Kyoto. And it happens to bring in the tourists, too! 


Alas! We only took video and Blogger doesn't support our video format! But here is a screenshot of the dragon being paraded from the temple to the main square. They also played actual conches to announce the parade! How cool is that?





Ice cream tally: 2 





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