Jumping around Japan

We arrived in Kyoto by the famous bullet train. The first thing that we saw while we were at the staion was the Kyoto tower. The Kyoto tower is 131m in height and huge symbol in Kyoto. After we visited the Kyoto Tower we went to the bus ticket center and bought a 1 day pass. The Pass worked out to be 5 hundred yen per person and we could travel to almost every famous place in Kyoto.

The bullet train was really cool!! check it out at http://www.japanrail.com

After we got onto the bus, we went to the Kiyomizu temple. Kiyomizu temple is a Unesco World Heritage site and was built in 1633(1).

While we were here we visted the three small falls. The three small falls stand for; studying, love, and health(2). You are allowed to drink from the falls, so we enjoyed all kinds of water.

After leaving the Kiyomizu temple, we went to the Imperial palace. This building was the palace for the first emperor of Japan. It was built in 1855 and was the first palace in Japan(1) Here are some of the other building we visited while we were here. The Shishinden Hall (for State Ceremonies), Seiryoden (lit. Cool, refreshing hall), Kogosho (Court Room), Ogakumonsho (Imperial Study or Library), and a number of residences for the Empress, high-ranking aristocrats and government officials(2).

The last place that we visited today was the Kinkaku Temple. The Kinkaku was built in 1224(1). This building was a vacation house for shogun(2). The building is made out of gold, so it was very bright and hard to look at.