ONLY in JAPAN Kyoto Kinkakuji vs Ginkakuji Travel Experience
Welcome to Kyoto the cultural heart of Japan
This city is filled with Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and we've come for two of the most visited to debate
Which one is the better experience?
it's a battle of the temples the
Debate will give you some insight into what it's like to be a tourist in Kyoto and what to look for
Kansai resident Kevin Reilly is here with me to debate the highlights
the two zen Buddhist temples were comparing our ginkakuji the silver pavilion and
Kinkakuji, the golden pavilion both have similar styles but offer different experiences
chotto has roughly 2,000 temples and shrines
Kinkakuji to the west and ginkakuji to the east really are on opposite sides of the city
Giotto we're back again. Yes, we are. This is Kevin Riley, hi and
Where are we?
We're sitting on the Como River in Gion
Downtown Kyoto. This is a really nice location
It's very different because my image of Kyoto is temples and shrines. I think that's most people's image yeah
but there's a lot more to Kyoto than that
What makes it stand out to you, nature a lot of nature lots of beauty
I mean where sitting here on a river with trees
and were surrounded by nature all around Kyoto
So to me Kyoto is a place where the natural world is connected with culture the spiritual world
it's a place where man has made a
Beautiful place surrounded by its nature and we see that in the temples and shrines that we visit
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, and they're all, a lot of them are around the outside skirts into the nature itself
Kinkakuji, and ginkaku-ji, and although it's not a very Buddhist thing to do
But we've pitted them against one another the battle to see which one is worth going to
First we went to kinkaku-ji
Always start the day at kinkaku-ji when no one is there because once the gates open at 9:00, it's a totally different situation
Many sources rank this as Kyoto's most visited attraction and you can tell by the crowds of Japanese and international tourists
Entry is ¥400
It doesn't take long to arrive at the most photographed spot in Japan
The top two floors of the three-story golden pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf
Most people start snapping photos right away. It's a stunning sight to behold
Definitely make your way further in for the best spot before the other tourists get there first
After a couple of minutes the area becomes very congested that zen like silence broken by crowds of students and guided tours
It was originally built here in 1397 and over time the goldleaf exterior wasn't cared for
It was hardly visible in the mid 19th century
The building you see today was actually reconstructed in 1955 after burning down in 1950 by arson
The roof ornament is a bronze, Phoenix
The gold pavilion houses Buddhist relics. There is no entry to the building
For the great majority of tourists. There's not much else to this temple
it's crowded from open to closed
And finding that important connection to nature is limited to the first few minutes after those doors open to the public.
I spent 25 minutes here before I felt like I'd seen enough
Kevin and I visited on a rainy day arriving 30 minutes early even in the rain the place was crowded at opening
This is pretty crazy, we're here right when it opens and yet there's already a huge line of people
I thought there where going to be less tourists
School kids here, which ahh... no Sunday
on a sunday
Kids never get a day off
For me I think in Kikuchi is one of those places that you take a picture at right? Yeah, or just go buy a postcard
But it's it's the picture that everybody wants to take that area where we first enter that is the picture and
To me. That's why I give this
Three and a half out of five stars. All right, I'm gonna give it three because it was the
Way it looked on that day. I don't wanna go there on a sunny day
Sunny day. How many stars would you give it on a sunny day?
I probably knock it down to two then two out of five
yeah, I mean still got some beautiful architecture and all that and I like the little trees but
Yeah, too many people, Japan has four seasons winter spring summer fall
Each season makes the city different, makes the attractions seem different, There's also whether
Yesterday's weather when we went to kinkaku-ji it was awful, It was
Well i love the rain, but when you're in the rain walking around in it, it's not as much fun. Our boots are still wet today
Our boots are still wet today, this is just 24 hours ago
the bright side of that ironically was that the rain made the colors pop and
what you're saying what the colors is dead-on
I thought because it was cloudy the lighting was more diffused than if you're taking a picture with you
You might want the blue Sun just like it is on the postcard
But what we saw was I think even better a voice preferred cloudy days for pictures
after that we went to ginkaku-ji which is called the silver pavilion silver tea house the silver temple or just ginkaku-ji as we would say in japanese
A different experience. Oh, yeah, definitely. now that to me satisfies my need for walking sobbing. Okay
It's not gold. It's not silver. Okay, it's all wood
It's old aged wood and it's got those beautiful windows. And yeah, I really like ginkaku-ji
the ginkaku-ji experience
It's located on the east side of the city a 45-minute bus ride from kinkakuji
the surroundings are different a sand garden called sea of silver sand is one of the main elements to the temple grounds
A mound of sand representing Mount Fuji really stands out within the natural setting
This is called the silver pavilion because the original plans were to cover the building with silver foil
The design was inspired by kinkakuji and completed in 1490 by Japan's 8th shogun
But not completed before his death. It was then that the VO turned into a Zen Buddhist temple
The pond is smaller, but the grounds have much more vegetation allowing the visitor to feel closer to nature
The area around ginkakuji has some amazing mosses
It's easy to feel at ease here
On the day that Kevin and I arrived it was not an ideal time to visit, the price of entry is 500 yen
the price of entry is ¥500
All right, so we're here this is the silver shrine your initial thoughts
Very well, but very very wet
But the rain made ginkaku-ji feel more alive running water off the roof movement all around
The greens were even greener
The weather didn't affect the sand garden much
There's a pleasant view of the entire ground from a hill in the forest
Rainy days might not be the best time to visit but it sure makes the colors more vibrant
And the sound of the falling rain is very soothing
Location, location, location. Oh, yeah
Kikuchi is just it's on the east side right? Yep
So on the east side that's where cuemusidere is, that's your hand Gingu, is that's where well actually be on this this area
Is not that far away if you walk along the Philosopher's path. Yeah, which is also
What the end of philosophers path is ginkakuji
it's just so much more convenient than
Kikuchi, isn't it? Are we given a lot of stars over here to ginkaku-ji and
Not to just because if you're on a day trip
And you don't have a lot of time you can hit so many temples and shrines on the east side
You're gonna include ginkaku-ji to it
If you if you don't have a lot of time it takes so much time to get to kinkaku-ji
Especially in the middle of the day when there's a lot of traffic. Yeah, there's no subway to get there
So and there's nothing else to do that. You see a street we went up to go up to ginkaku
Yeah, and you got all these little stores and they're the cool little things
Definitely that I just adds so much more. I hate to somebody's trip when they're coming here. Yes
If we have to compare and you know battling is not a Buddhist thing. However, let's put them head-to-head now. All right
Kinkakuji versus ginkakuji. We've kind of broken it down for you
And I think if you've been listening to us, you also know where we're gonna go with this. Which one do you pick?
ginkaku-ji
Kinkaku-ji, thumbs up Rickie Kiger cheek. We put together our list of the top 5 suggested temples and shrines to visit and kilt
Oh, here's mine. And here's Kevin's
We both agreed on kiyomizu-dera Fushimi naughty and ginkaku-ji. If you'd like a closer. Look at Buscemi and addy
I made a video on it a few years ago and I highly recommend visiting at night because it's open 24 hours a day
There's no end to the debate between Kevin and I on Kyoto
but what did you think, which attractions in Kyoto were your favorites on your list to visit share your stories in the comments below and
Enjoy your time in gildo, Japan
Next time the art of candy-making called amezaiku which has been a part of Japanese festivals for generations, but the craft is fading away
I visit a shop in yanaka in Tokyo that is preserving the traditions
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