Featured

Kinkakuji

Tourists warned about fake volunteer guide near Kinkakuji in Kyoto

“Guide” continues to pester travellers despite the city’s requests for him to stop. 

Read More

How crowded is Kyoto now without international tourists?【Photos】

We visit the top tourist sites, and are surprised at what we discover.

Read More

Kyoto’s Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion finishes restoration, looks more beautiful than ever【Photos】

It’s not just gold that’s shining right now at one of Japan’s most beautiful historical sites.

Read More

Kyoto’s Kinkakuji creates unusual photo opportunity for visitors

World Heritage-listed Golden Pavilion is currently covered up for repairs, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to see the building. 

Read More

We eat gold-leaf “Kinkaku Soft Ice Cream” near Kinkakuji Golden Pavillion temple in Kyoto

After looking at the brilliant gold leaf covering the World Heritage-listed temple, you can now eat it too, in a beautifully presented ice cream cone.

Read More

Add some Japanese architecture to your dinner table with beautiful pagoda dinnerware sets

One of Kyoto’s most famous landmarks has been recreated in Hasami-yaki porcelain.

Read More

Beautiful Kinkakuji temple even cooler under blanket of snow

Over the past few days Japan has been battered by nonstop snowstorms. Parts of Niigata have gotten over two meters (6.5ft) of snowfall, with surrounding prefectures getting nearly just as much, extending as far north as Hokkaido and south as Kyoto. This has unfortunately already resulted in eleven deaths and hundreds of canceled flights, and even more snow is expected over the next several days.

But always one to look on the bright side, Japan has recently been reveling in just how darn pretty the famous Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto looks with freshly fallen snow.

Read More

Minecraft User Decides to Make Kinkakuji, Eventually Creates the Entire City of Kyoto

Oh, Minecraft.  You masterful time-suck!  How is it that I can spend thirty hours of my life playing you, but only land up with a shanty of a shack and a tunnel that continues into the ground because I got bored and decided to pickax it up (at least I found diamonds!).

For those of you unfamiliar with the game, Minecraft is basically the game that never ends (yes it goes on and on, my friend).  It’s an open world game with no specific goals and players are free to build and create anything they want by breaking and replacing blocks of different materials (dirt, stone, wood, etc) that can be found all over the virtually endless map.  It’s surprisingly addicting.

You do not “win” Minecraft. You either 1) play until you’ve exhausted all of your creativity and fall on the floor in a crumbled heap after realizing how much time you’ve wasted (like me) or 2) build an incredibly elaborate, visually stunning block world that is the envy of the poor suckers who landed in category 1.

A user who goes by the name, Gawara, has earned his rightful spot amongst the envied Minecrafters in category 2 by recreating the entire city of Kyoto out of Minecraft blocks.

Read More