tofukuji temple

honestly, i didn't know what to see in tofukuji. when i made my itinerary, i only wanted to see fushimi inari and arashiyama since we couldn't see them last time we were in kyoto. but i also wanted to maximize our vacation since we didn't bring our kids along. so when i read that you could visit fushimi inari and tofukuji at the same time since they're very close, i intended to do so without knowing anything about tofukuji. so when we arrived there, i barely knew anything. i didn't know where to go once we were there. there were no english sign whatsoever, so we were walking around the outer ground for some time to figure out where to go next. husband also wanted to rest for a bit and did some work since work was calling from home. hahaha.. so i walked around trying to figure out where to go and what to see. if you wanted to do a bit research, you can go to their website (here) but i think this one gives more thorough explanation (here).

the side of the hondo

the hondo

okay, after reading those two websites, i thought i didn't get in from the front. probably i got in from the side, that's why i had difficulty finding the sanmon gate (you could see in my pictures that i didn't have the sanmon gate's picture). i did see the hondo which was the first big building that i saw when i entered the temple site. then after walking around, there were two admission offices on that area, the one was a bit front of the hondo, and that was the entrance for tsutenkyo bridge and kaisendo hall. while the other was a little bit on the back and that was the entrance of hojo. we didn't enter the hojo because after observing for a bit, the hojo was quite small and the gardens that surround the hojo was only rocks and grass, so husband thought it didn't worth it. but if you wanted to see what zen garden is, you should check it out since the zen garden surrounding the hojo was the famous zen garden. and you had to take off your shoes when entering hojo. both hojo and kaisendo admission fee were 400 yen (adult) and it was one time entry.

the view from tsukenkyo bridge

looking east toward hojo (looks like the one in the website, right?)

kaisendo hall (on the left was the construction)

we decided to see the tsutenkyo and kaisendo hall. it was very quiet when we go there, but during autumn peak, it might be crowded since the leaves will be very red and pretty and lots of people wanted to see that. the best time to visit this temple probably around spring and autumn as it will give you lots of flower (in spring) and red maple leaves (in autumn). we were there early in autumn, so there were some leaves already turning red, but not all of them. mostly they were still green. but anyway, it was a good way of cooling down after that climbing at fushimi inari.

after we paid at the admission office, there was this walk toward tsutenkyo bridge. from the bridge you could see all the trees that will turn red when it's autumn peak. after crossing the bridge, if you turn right, you could see kaisando hall. unfortunately, when we were there, garden in front of kaisando was under construction, but you could still see the other half of the garden. the entire garden was not that big, but there were some stairs, short stairs here and there. i have to say this one suitable for older people since the scenery was very calm and serene, it was really quiet so i guess older people will like that. there were benches all over the park, you could sit down and take some rest and enjoy the scenery, but you couldn't eat while in the park. kids will also like it, since it wasn't tiring, but perhaps make sure your kids didn't make noise while in there. you could bring stroller in here, but if it were crowded, you might want to use baby carrier instead. i didn't go to fushimi inari's toilet, so i couldn't say anything about it, but i went to tofukuji toilet. it was small and old so there were no fancy bidet button and seat heater, but it was clean. it was like regular toilet in any other places (seems like wasn't in japan, since japan is associated with their fancy toilet with that seat heater, sound, bidet and flush button). and there was no changing table or kids seat in the toilet. so if you had baby and you had to change their diaper, you might face some difficulty especially if your baby is really small. okay.. that's from me, definitely a good way to end the morning trip. i would suggest this combo if you wanted to see lots of places in your vacation.