Kyoto is one of those towns – Berlin is another, as are San Francisco and London, at least at the margins, a third – where nature is a part of the mix. It’s what makes them livable.
Staying this visit on the northern edge of Kyoto, up against the hills that surround the city on three sides, I am enjoying an access to nature that is almost immediate.
Since my first time in Kyoto nearly ten years ago, I have developed the habit of walking out of town and up into the hills. Sometimes, I find myself in little suburban cul de sacs, but more often, I end up in forests, sometimes slightly-developed, often almost unspoiled.
Nearly always, there is at least one (Buddhist) temple or (Shinto) shrine, because both of these incorporate nature into their very designs. Shinto shrines in particular are all about nature, since Shinto itself is nature-centered. In both cases, the contrast to a Catholic church or cathedral, or to a Muslim mosque, couldn’t be starker.
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