Arashiyama may not ring a bell for you; but if I say Kyoto and bamboo, you should have this image in your head of this beautiful alley surrounded by bamboo reaching up to the sky. An image as iconic of Kyoto as that of the aligned torii of Fushimi Inari.
So be careful, because summarizing Arashiyama as a bamboo grove would be completely misleading, because there is much more to see than a bamboo forest! And so much the better, because otherwise, I'm not sure the trip would be worth it.
Arashiyama: nature and walking area
The area is not limited to bamboo and has plenty to spend a good half-day or even a whole day there. Which is something we unfortunately did not have... It is a popular nature area that served as a walking area for the imperial court, no less.
That's why you can visit the Daikaku-ji imperial complex in this area, which you won't see. A Japanese star also found happiness there in Arashiyama and today you can visit his villa and gardens, Okochi Sanso (just at the end on the right of the bamboo forest). On the other hand, if it is relatively preserved from tourism, it is because its entrance is more expensive than the usual rates (count 1000 ¥, including a small tea and a small cake).
If you feel like it, there are boat trips possible on the Hazu River, the river upstream of the Katsura, which changes its name at the Togetsu-kyo Bridge, the bridge that joins the northern and southern parts of Arashiyama.
This trip is between the town of Kameoka and Arashiyama. The river then crosses between the 2 mountains via rapids (nothing dangerous), on a boat handled by 3 seasoned boatmen. A moment that we had planned, but quickly dropped, due to lack of time (2 hours to complete the trip, not to mention getting to the starting point, and it was better for our budget too, because 4 ¥ per adult, ouch).
Temples and gardens
We arrived straight from our trip to the mountains north of Kyoto and parked at the Tenryu-ji temple car park. However, we didn't start with this visit, because we were mostly hungry...
So we headed towards the river since we had just passed by it and we had seen that this is where the shops and restaurants are concentrated. We had a simple meal in a restaurant right next to the bridge.
Once my belly was full, I was now thinking about looking for the famous bamboos. Because the stupid thing is that I didn't know exactly where they were on site... At the time, I stupidly followed the crowd across the Togetsu-kyo bridge.
We landed on the other side at the foot of the stairs leading to Iwatayama, a small mountain sheltering monkeys, with a viewpoint over Kyoto and Arashiyama. Being used to rubbing shoulders with monkeys in Thailand, and having to pay 550 ¥ unexpected to access it, we decided to give it a miss (it was more a question of time and desire than budget to be honest).
So, we're no further ahead on what to do... We had passed from the parking lot in front of the Hogon-in temple gardens, but we wanted to target as best we could, because after Arashiyama, we were still thinking of visiting the Kiyomizu-dera temple at the end of the afternoon (which we ultimately didn't have time to do).
So, we said to ourselves that we would go back to the parking lot and see the other side this time. Starting with the temple next door, the Tenryu-ji. By looking on Google Maps for a moment, I had finally spotted where this famous bamboo forest was. Realizing that it was next to this temple, I told myself that I had to access it via the temple gardens or through it…
Tenryu-ji Temple
As we weren't sure how to proceed, we decided to take the temple + garden combo at 800 ¥, otherwise, it's 500 ¥ for the gardens alone, which, between us, is more than enough, because we don't see much in addition to the temple that we don't already see from the gardens...
We took off our shoes and entered the temple. True to the refined style, mainly empty with tatami mats on the floor, I will not hide a certain weariness as I say to myself "yes, well, another temple..."
We can already see the Sogenchi garden clearly. A wooden corridor leads us to the back where there is another hall of the temple. This one seems to serve as a study area for the monks. There were also panels decorated with patterns on the sides giving a certain charm to the building, nothing transcendent either.
We turn back, put our shoes back on and this time head towards the garden, showing our already purchased ticket. The setting with the garden is pleasant, that's undeniable. The advantage, given the time, is that there wasn't a huge crowd.
However, the desire to see the bamboos was growing, we stayed just 10 minutes to go around them (compared to 20 minutes in the temple). And it was when we reached the back part of the garden, after the secondary hall of the temple that we came across our first bamboos. We were getting close to our goal.
Sagano Bamboo Forest
Technically, the bamboo forest itself is located in a different area of Arashiyama, in this case, as you can see from the title, it is in Sagano. Due to the popularity of its neighbor, the term Arashiyama, which originally refers to Mount Arashi, the mountain located south of the Katsura River, ultimately refers to the entire area including the one north of the river.
Contrary to what I had believed, access is free (its opening, however, seems to be limited to the opening hours of nearby temples, roughly 8:30 a.m. to 16:30 p.m., but I cannot find confirmation of this information).
Also note that it is not necessary to go through the Tenryu-ji temple to see the bamboo forest, it is freely accessible from the main shopping street.
So we finished with the Tenryu-ji garden which, indeed, joins the path towards the passage in the bamboo forest, and that's it, we arrived there. It was late afternoon around 16pm and what I hoped turned out to be rather true, there were not that many people (let's say it could have been worse).
On the other hand, I had to forget the notion of a "perfect" photo with this empty alley, seeming so peaceful and subject to deep reflection. I could only console myself in the contemplation of the place, with the few girls in kimonos adding a little touch to the place.
First disappointment, it's really not big, just 200 m. I was hoping to walk a little to find a quieter corner, but we actually arrive at a crossroads, leading on one side to the right to the Okochi Sanso villa and the Torokko Arashiyama station and on the other, it goes up to an observation post, which has a viewpoint on the river winding between the mountains, I tell you that, I just saw it while writing the article, it's stupid there were only 250 m to do...
What disappointed me the most somewhere, it's not the people, the fact that it's small no. But since the train passes nearby, you can hear it pass at regular intervals. It completely ruins the thing, which, in the photo, looks really mysterious, soothing, even with other people, but there, the train passing, it brings you straight back to reality, well yeah, you're just in a little green area at the end of the city...
We took the time to look at the shops a bit and have a bite to eat before continuing our next visit, failing Kiyomizu-dera, to have a glimpse of the Higashiyama district. The shopping street is still in full swing at this time.
We come across shops renting kimonos in particular, I can't help but think of Thailand, which came up with (or copied?) the same idea of costume rentals in Ayutthaya.
How to get to Arashiyama
There are 2 stations near Arashiyama. One on the northern part of the river, Arashiyama station, terminus of the Keifuku Dentetsu-Arashiyama line, it takes you directly to shops and the Tenryu-ji temple for example.
The other one, on the right bank is the station also called Arashiyama, but of the Hankyu-Arashiyama line and it is also its terminus. It requires about 10 minutes of walking to reach the main area.
If you want to go directly to the bamboo, you can take the Sagano Line which passes through Torokko Arashiyama Station, at the foot of the forest. From the station before, Torokko Saga, small tourist trains depart, which follow the railway line along the hillside and the river to the valley on the other side (Fumeoka). Allow 1 yen and 200 hour for the round trip.
You could do just the one way trip for half the price (¥600) over 20 minutes and return by boat via the Hazu Gawa as mentioned above.
Did you like the article? share on Pinterest!
