CXXXIX - Kyoto

A dragon at Heian Jingu.

CXXXVIII - Kyoto

A pretty white chochin (提灯).

CXXXVII - Kyoto

Can you tell I like photographing details?

Shimenawa (注連縄) is a special plaited rope made of rice straw which is used to mark the presence of holy places in Shinto faith and to ward off evil.

I love how the golden colour of the straw contrasts with the bright red of the shrine in sunny days.

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This is my entry for the10th edition of Show Me Japan. Please check it out!

CXXXVI - Kyoto

A detail of one of the ladles from Heian Jingu's temizu fountain.

CXXXV - Kyoto

The elaborate roof of one of the buildings in the Heian Jingu complex.

CXXXIV - Kyoto

In front of Heian Jingu.

(What does the sign say? My kanji aren't good enough yet!)

CXXXIII - Kyoto

A pretty red jinrikisha (人力車, "rickshaw") outside Kyoto's famous , Heian jingū (平安神宮, "Heian shrine").

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This is my entry for the 9th edition of Show Me Japan. Please check it out!

CXXXII - Kyoto

A small Buddhist cemetery.

CXXXI - Kyoto

So simple yet so beautiful.

CXXX - Kyoto

How can Japanese moss be so cute?

CXXIX - Kyoto

This building is named Togu-do (東求堂) , and it is the oldest building in Japan built in the Shoin-zukuri (書院造) style, dating back from 1487. It is one of the two remaining structures of the original villa (the other one is the Silver Pavilion).

Inside the Togu-do there is a wooden statue of Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利 義政; 1435 – 1490), the shogun who built this property as a retirement villa, and arranged for it to become a Zen temple after his death. According to legend, the shogun carved the statue himself.

This building also contains a small room known as the Dojin-sai, which is a tea room believed to be the reference for all future tea room designs, personally designed by the shogun's tea master, Murata Shuko (村田珠光; 1423 – 1502).