The Yasaka Shrine | Kyoto | Japan Travels

Not a lot of people would share my sentiment but I found Yasaka Shrine to be really gorgeous and romantic. I have a knack for liking smaller and simpler things which I guess influenced how I felt while visiting this so called ‘only-average’ shrine.

My friends and I were quite lucky for consulting the locals before hand. They were really helpful in giving us the down low on the shrine and giving us advice on when to visit. Perhaps having just that little bit more information over others made our visit more memorable. The locals advised us to visit at night, which we did. 

There are two reasons for this. First is to see the lanterns lit and the other is to avoid the crowd. They were right about avoiding the crowd alright. It was dead like the night in there that we almost didn’t go inside but that was only until we spotted a couple and a shrine sweeper walking by (I'm still hoping they were real). The best thing about it not being so crowded is that it felt more personal and authentic, and maybe even ghostly at times. Check out those looming silhouette of the trees below! Pretty. And Scary.

Shrines are meant to be enjoyed in the peace and quiet anyway, so by not having other tourists invading my personal space, my experience felt very authentic. My friends and I got to spend as much time in each feature, and our Japanese friend even got a kick out of trying to scare us with her horror stories. Those damn Japanese horror stories - if you've heard one, you'd know what I mean.

Apart from doing immature things and enjoying time with friends, walking beneath the eaves of the dimly lit lanterns and listening to the sound of the night just absolutely made everything feel so celestial.

Having our Japanese friend around also made a huge difference between an average sight-seeing and a memorable evening. Without her we only would have admired the beauty of each shrine, but having her meant we knew exactly what each shrine represented and therefore felt more meaning in our presence there.

We knew that the water from the fountain by the entrance was clean enough to drink (and actually meant to be drank, so we drank), which shrine represented the goddess of beauty, and how to properly use the suzu bells beneath the Shinto shrine. Yes, there’s a proper procedure and unfortunately the Japanese woman before us didn’t do it properly, tsk tsk.

Overall, I adored my visit to the Yasaka Shrine. It was romantic and peaceful (and sometimes eerily ghostly – but all part of the experience, right?). Being situated near Gion makes it even easier to add in your itinerary. Why not stop by and visit after the end of a great day in Gion?

Peaces x :)