3 January 2026 – Kyoto
We were hoping to get out early to make our way up to Fushimi Inari, the famous shrine with thousands of Torii gates stretching up Mt Inari. Everyone was up by 7.30am and when we ventured outside it had definitely snowed overnight as there was snow on the cars and roofs. We’d had some snow the previous afternoon in Nara and it was snowing very lightly back in Kyoto on our return. It was already 2 degrees and a lovely sunny day so the snow was melting fast.
It was still New Year’s holidays and during most of our time in Kyoto there had been plenty of crowds. Fushimi Inari is one of the tourist hotspots in Kyoto so we were expecting fairly big crowds, so were hoping to get out early. It didn’t take us long to get from our local station in Yamashina into Kyoto station, but then we had to go pick up our JR West train passes which we needed for the next few days.
We’d already booked the passes and had reserved several trains on them before leaving Australia. Unfortunately, in the office they decided Soren needed to be an adult rather than a child after checking his passport (contrary to what we’d previously read), so that made for some very tedious cancelling, refunding and rebooking of tickets that took quite awhile. Finally were were on our way but it was now 9am and we were now not all that early and the crowds were already big. There were even police directing everyone straight out of the station.
We decided we needed to refuel before the hike so we stopped at a konbini opposite the shrine for drinks. The kids were keen on trying the gashapon (capsule toy) machines during our trip but we had to talk Zinnia into waiting until later in the trip. Lucky a convenience store drink was a good distraction.
Fushimi Inari
Fushimi Inari Shrine is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of bright orange torii gates, which line the trails into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. There is no exact count of the number of torii gates, but it’s thought to be over 10,000.
The bottom section and first few gates were very crowded, even at 9.30am but off we set.
The gates start out very large and fairly well spaced. This section was very crowded and there were plenty of souvenir shops, food vendors and thousands of tourists.
As we passed the very crowded bottom section the gates started to get a little smaller and the crowds did thin quite a bit.
The walk to the top is around 4km, although varies depending on which path you take. There are a number of different shrines as you pass through different areas.
The black kanji charachters on the orange gates are the name of the individuals or companies that donated the gates. The inscription also includes the date it was donated. It was obvious some gates were much newer than others, both from the dates and the state of disrepair.
The crowds were pretty big at the bottom so it was slow going. The bottom section isn’t too steep and the gates are big., but as you go further up into the mountains, there are many stairs and you can hear the birds in the forest (over the chatter in many languages). As we reached the forested area it was much more peaceful and we could appreciate the surroundings a little more.
We stopped at a most of the shrines on the way up to have a look around.
There are also plenty of shops, and even up towards the top there were small cafes and shops. There appeared to be no roads, so it would have been fun getting stuff up there.
Apparently parts of the trail were a bit dicey at night, due to boars and other wild animals. We were more than happy to be walking in daylight!
Soren was feeling pretty sick today but insisted he wanted to go to the top. It had been about 1 degree when we set out but we all warmed up fast and started unzipping coats. There were a few spots on the way up to stop and look at views over Kyoto.
It was a beautiful sunny day and it was easy to see the mountains surrounding Kyoto.
The crowds thin as you go further up but it was still single file at times and not that fast.
Soren had been feeling particularly unwell all morning but was insisting on keeping walking up to the top and wasn’t keen on stopping part way up.
As we went up and up, at regular intervals, we’d see signs telling us how far to the top and it was always 20 minutes, and no we weren’t walking in circles. Eventually one said 10 minutes!
We did eventually make it to the top at around 11am. The summit or Ichinomine has a small sacred shrine area. The line to make a blessing at this shrine was impressively long. We just decided to take in the views and strip off a couple of layers as it was now rather warm, and then start the trek down.
The trip back down was an awful lot faster, although still single file and slow going at times.
We enjoyed the views again on the way down. The top section is mostly forested so the best views are about 2/3 of the way up. The crowds definitely thin after the lookouts and the top sections are a lot quieter and more peaceful.
We took a different path on the way down and checked out a few different shrines and saw plenty of cats that were well fed and obviously lived there.
As we reached the bottom the crowds were just as insane, you could barely walk through them at times.
The whole round trip was a bit over 4.5km with our wanderings, and 270m of elevation gain with all the steps. It was just over 2 hours end to end as we weren’t moving fast with the crowds and stopping to check out the shrines and views.
Trains, stamps and konbini lunch….
When we made it to the bottom Soren was feeling pretty rubbish but was insisting he wanted to do some more activities, and not head back to the apartment for a rest. So we caught the train back to Kyoto station to find a chemist for some extra meds for Soren, and a quick stop past a konbini for lunch food, as we’d worked off all our snacks and breakfast.
Kyoto Station is such a pretty station that we admired the views every time we passed through.
It was then a train out to Arashiyama for our next activities. The kids had started collecting train station stamps (there is one at every metro, subway and JR station in Japan and they are all unique). They each bought notebooks and insisted on collecting them at every station. Astrid spent most of her public transport time researching which stamps were available at which station and where they were located.
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
After getting the stamp and eating our lunch snacks at the Arashiyama station, on the Western edge of Kyoto. We walked to the nearby Arashiyama bamboo forest. Apparently bears and wild boar were also here at night, again we were glad it was daytime!
It was tourist central, full of people instagramming and rickshaws taking people for rides, but the bamboo was pretty. We watched the trains coming through and found a couple of spots we could see the bamboo through the crowds.
The bamboo forest is quite small (about 500m) so it didn’t take too long for us to walk through and then back again.
Mountain views and icy winds…
We then walked back into town and through the shopping strip where there were plenty of food and souvenir options.
It has started raining and it was back to being rather cold. We’d planned to go visit the monkeys at the Iwatayama Monkey Park so head over the Togetsu-kyo bridge where there were people out in rental boats. It was freezing with an icy wind so we vetoed that activity!
The snow on the nearby mountains that surround the area were very pretty and it was a very scenic spot, even if it did look about as cold as it felt!
We enjoyed looking at the ducks in the water, who were also seeming rather cold and watching the people in the boats pretending to have a good time while they were actually freezing!
The kids were definitely cold, the wind was rather icy!
Soren was continuing to not feel well so we decided to skip the monkeys as it was relatively expensive, and we were going to see snow monkeys in Nagano later in the trip.
Instead we walked back over the bridge to check out the shops and a wander past a few temples. I would have gone to check out the beautiful gardens in one of the temples but there was an admission fee and Soren was not feeling great so I didn’t want him sitting around in the cold. I decided to make do with a quick look through the free sections.
Back on the shopping strip it was warmer and we could wander in and out of shops. We had been checking out personalised chopsticks, and after having them all picked it turned the line for the on the spot engraving was an hour and Soren was not looking up to that, depsite his protests. We assured the kids we’d find something similar later in the trip (which we did).
Zinnia had become Miffy obsessed and found plenty of Miffy things she definitely absolutely needed, but we had to talk her out of expensive Miffy icecreams.
On the walk back to the station, we did get some hot dango (rice dumplings with different toppings to try) which made the kids happy, and distracted them from the chopstick disappointment.
Much to Soren’s horror there was a Hello Kitty train at the station. We’ve had no trouble torturing him with Hello Kitty for most of the trip as it’s everywhere!
We’d planned to go to the Kyoto Railway Museum but Soren needed to go back for a rest and it was only a few degrees and everyone was cold, so back to our place in Yamashina it was. It had been a big day so a couple of hours in the warm was in order. My cold I’d had since Christmas day had gotten worse again, and now I had an ear infection, and it appeared Soren had the same thing so we were both feeling a bit worse for wear. We’d had managed to tick off many of the Kyoto must-see highlights, despite the crowds, jet-lag and illness so hadn’t done too badly during our few days here.
A Japanese Indian feast…
It was our last night in Kyoto, but none of us were up to going far for dinner. Despite the kids wanting Japanese food, an Indian restaurant about 100m away smelt delicious and had veggie options for me. They did hilariously have a vending machine out the front that dispensed hot meals. Only in Japan!
Despite the kids initial reluctance to give up a Japanese meal, the Inidan turned out to be amazing, with fresh tandoor and naan’s as big as your head.
Weirdly, it wasn’t very spicy to cater for the locals we guessed. They also did naan with red bean paste inside- not something you get at home!
Up next…
Off to Osaka and the Kuromon market, takoyaki (octopus balls), Tennoji Park and Isshin-Ji Temple.
