Jim Chen's Reviews

Kodai-ji Temple

A Zen temple of the Kennin-ji school of Rinzai Buddhism, located at the foot of Kyoto’s Higashiyama mountains northeast of Hokan-ji Temple, known for the Yasaka Pagoda. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s death, his wife Nene (Kita no Mandokoro) moved from Osaka to Kyoto and became a Buddhist nun. In 1606 (Keicho 11), she founded Kodai-ji Temple (formally known as Kodai-ji Jusho Zen Temple), one of the most renowned temples in the Higashiyama area, to pray for Hideyoshi’s soul and serve as her own burial place.

• Gion, Higashiyama, Yamashina
• Shrines & Temples

Yojiya Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Store

Step into Yojiya, a cosmetics store famous for selling the quintessential Kyoto souvenir "aburatorigami" (oil blotting paper), that founded in 1904. Initially, the store sold stage makeup items such as lipstick and face powder, as well as toothbrushes. Today, Yojiya has evolved into a skincare brand offering a full range to shop.

• Gion, Higashiyama, Yamashina
• Miscellaneous Goods

Kotohiragu Shrine

The head shrine of Kotohira Shrine stands on Mt. Zozu. It is visited by about 4 million worshippers a year. The main deity, Oomononushinokami, has been known since before the Middle Ages as a guardian deity of maritime traffic and a deity that brings a bountiful harvest and prosperity of industry and culture.

• Kagawa
• Shrines & Temples

Tono Furusato Village

This tourist facility recreates a traditional mountain village in Tono. Thatched-roof magariya houses built between the mid-Edo and mid-Meiji periods have been relocated here and preserved in their original form. These distinctive L-shaped homes combine the main living quarters and stable under one roof. With streams, fields, and a charcoal-making hut, the village offers a glimpse of Tono in days gone by.

• Iwate
• Tourist Attractions

Heisogen Park

Located on a hill where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Shirahama. This is a large park with a panoramic view of Kii Suido in the west, Yoshino Kumano National Park in the south, and the mountain ridges of Kumano 3,600 peaks in the east. There are about 2000 cherry trees of 9 kinds, including Yoshino cherry, Wild cherry, Oshima cherry and Double-flowered cherry. In the season from the end of March to the beginning of April, it is usually crowded with people enjoying the blossoms.

• Wakayama
• Parks & Gardens

Kifune Shrine

Located along the Kibune River at the foot of Mt. Kibune in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, the shrine is the head shrine of about 2,000 water god shrines in Japan, and enshrines the deity Taka-okamino-kami, who controls water. The exact date of establishment is unknown, but there is a record of the rebuilding of the shrine in the 6th year of Hakuho (677), during the reign of Emperor Temmu, making it one of the oldest shrines in Japan with a history of over 1,300 years.

• Okazaki, Ginkakuji, Ohara
• Shrines & Temples