Autumn at Tofuku-ji Temple
In November, millions of tourists come to Japan to admire the magnificent Japanese maples, flaring with red flame in gardens and parks. This extraordinary beauty can be seen literally on every street, in every courtyard. But there are some places where gathered a lot of maples, and this is where the main tourist stream flows.One of the popular place of red maples is the famous Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto. In addition to the stunning gardens, created by ingenious Mirei Shigemori, there is also a special path for those who come for the flaming maples.
Of course, we are most interested in gardens, and we usually try to avoid overcrowded places, but this time we decided not to miss the opportunity and to walk along the path with the people.
At the very beginning, we saw a bridge that overlooks the sengyokukan Ravine. From here tourists take such photos:
There aren't as many people on the bridge as where we are going to.
After the bridge there is a picturesque road to the temple. And here, too, a lot of red maples.
Having reached the temple, we bought tickets, which cost 400 yen per person.
And then we sailed with the crowd.
On the adjacent tracks there were not so much people as on the main road.
But nevertheless, it was more pleasant to take pictures where people are not allowed to walk.
Soon the road went up, and we have to go through another bridge.
The road led us to the temple. Reaching it, people put some small money there, apparently asking for some things, turned around and went back.
There was a small garden that reminded me of the garden of the Chishaku-in Temple. You can look at the photo and compare.
Unfortunately, the second part of the garden, to the left of the path, was under reconstruction at that moment.
On the way back, we stopped on Tsutenkyo Bridge (Bridge to the sky) to take photos from top. From here we can hardly see the first bridge.
This bridge is more overcrowded, especially the central part.
So is it worth going to the bridge in the fall season? Of course, if your goal is beautiful photos with maples, it’s worth it. But, in my opinion, there are many places in Kyoto where maples are no less spectacular, but with less people. So I'd rather go to Tofuku-ji at another time when I can wander around these beautiful places almost alone.
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