Kyoto trip

For the past week, i was in Kyoto Japan for conference. Kyoto was the imperial capitial of Japan, and is now the only few Japanese cities that still has an abundance of prewar buildings, castles, shrines, temples, etc. I reckon it really depends on what you like, you may not enjoy being in Kyoto. If you are more into shopping and fancy stuff, Tokyo is more a place for you to visit.

First two days I was at Kyoto University, a national university in Kyoto. It is one of the top two universities in Japan. Pretty cool place for studying, i like the environment very much.


The following four days it was held in an international conference center, a really huge and beautiful place as well. Take a look....

Me, Yow and Cipolla (the program chair) in the conference.

I went touring around after. One of the very famous places to visit is the Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion). It was constucted in the 13 century as a new residence for the retired shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. It was converted into a Zen temple after his death.


Some well-wishes on the entry ticket.

Lotsa coins were thrown by the vistors trying to get into the hole, for good luck or something I guess.

Popular ice-cream there...

This is the Kyoto tower, its standing 130+ meters tall just across Kyoto station.

One of the many temples in Kyoto. This is the Higashi Honganji, Its main hall is Kyoto's largest wooden structure.

Next is the Nijo castle (Nijojo). It was built by Tokugawa leyasu, founder of Edo Shogunate. It's still surviving in its original form and even sunlight or camera is not allowed in the room, to preserve all the paintings.

For shopping, you can try some of the shopping streets around Sanjo-dori and Shijo-dori. There are enormous number of stores and specialty shops to keep any avid consumer busy.

And lastly i wanna share with you this signboard outside one of the hair salons... its hilarious isn't it? =)