Hanami by night at Kyomizu dera

On that Thursday evening we used our invitation ticket to see flower blossoms by night at Kyomizu dera temple. I didn't know it was a thing and I loved that it was unexpected. In any case, otera (お寺) is a name for a buddhist temple, while jinja 神社 (as in Kinkakuji) is a shinto shine. So the kanji name of this temple indicated it was a budhist temple. I have never paid attention to which is which, but there are some noticeable differences in architecture features as well. I knew the area from 8 years back as a hilly place with lots of kiln and ceramics shop.

We found the way to the entrance and I knew how jewelers and those who love jewels would feel in front of a well done shiny piece. The temple red crimson buildings were bathed in light, revealing the intricacies of the woodwork, along with blooming trees, appearing in the dark skies like otherworldly apparitions and beauties. You could not pinch it or cuddle it to express enthusiasm and elation, we could only take pictures and deeply engrave the sights numerous times in our memories.

 

 

 As we reached the main gate, the drizzling rain did not deter our conviction that this would be a fantastic memorable visit.

 

 

 

The terrace veranda or wooden terraces used to move from one building to another gave a view of Kyoto down the hill, the top of the trees, and the lit up building next to it.

There was a rest area, but noone was in the mood on such a pretty chilly drizzling evening. 

Once leaving the temple buildings, we sometimes found ourselves part of the scenery, surrounded by scattered pools of lights and flowers.

We completed the loop among the temple buildings in awe, very sad that we were back at the main entrance again and that the fairytale was over. And because we could not bring any piece of it with us, we all craved something tangible to encapsulate our memories and direct our feelings to. Fortunately some shops along the street coming down from  the temple were still open, though there were no longer any food stall for those craving a bite. 

We were at a loss at first in the shop, as we were in hoarding mode. But eventually we each picked something to remember the evening. I picked up some small dishes each depicting the one item of the 4 seasons.

With our loot, we went happily back to our Kyoto palace, to fit all the items in our luggage and try to close them. For my part I had decided to buy a cabin luggage suitcase as the fabric bag I was using was no longer practical.