I like to visit Ohara as regularly as I can. It’s just north of Kyoto city – about an hour in the bus from Kyoto station but feels so much further away. I love the local farming atmosphere and the greenery but the main reason I venture to Ohara is to visit Sanzen in (temple) or one of the other smaller temples in the area.
It is a really charming day trip – I usually head up in the morning around 8am and have a wander around one or more temples – then I stop in somewhere for lunch, do a little shopping and then bus it back to town.
Take the number 17 Bus from Kyoto station – if you take it from here you are more likely to get a seat! If you get on further up town you may well have to stand for 45 minutes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The bus stops at a little depot which has a small stall selling locally grown fruit vegetables, pickles and rice. If you are staying in an apartment it is worth picking up some of these wonderful items and cooking them when you get home – you might like to wait until you are leaving though as carrying a pumpkin up and down the hill can take its toll.
Umeboshi pickled plums on the left, figs, baby eggplants and cucumbers – all typical of end summer/beginning of autumn bounty. Below are green togarashi peppers on the right, some okra at the back and Myoga – ginger buds on the left. God that is making me homesick for Kyoto.
Hikari rice and pumpkin below
When you walk by the stalls toward the road you will see a set of traffic lights and a crossing – you will need to cross over here to the eastern side of the road to get to Sanzen-in (if you were going to Jakkoin you would head down to your left (west). Do wait for the lights to turn as cars and trucks tend to whizz around the corner from your left – you can’t see them so take extra care. In just a moment you will see this restaurant ahead
It is actually worth checking out for lunch when it gets to be that time -they do pretty decent tempura, yudofu (simmered tofu and accompaniments) and various other comforting dishes including soba noodles in a hot broth or with cool dipping sauce for summer.
To get to the temple you need to follow the road that runs past the restaurant and up behind it – so you need to turn left just after the restaurant. As you walk a few metres you may note that on the second floor of the same building is a rustic looking cafe – their coffee and homemade simple cake is not bad and they also have a little ceramics/souvenir shop attached.
Below is a sign that reads SAN ZEN IN – so you know you are heading in the correct direction!
You will walk to the right side of this field which in season is filled with bright yellow canola flowers. The rows look too perfect!
Directly opposite the field is a set of shops selling a variety of souvenirs, clothes, handbags, hats, brollies, Japanese paper, glassware, ceramics etc and a few food items.
Keep walking up the hill as the path veers around and you will see quite a few more restaurants , shops and stalls – again probably a good idea to resist the urge to shop until the walk down so you don’t have to lug it around all day.
Although if it is hot you may be tempted to stop for one of these shiso flavoured ice creams…
Once out of the shops look for this sign which points towards the forest behind Sanzen-in.
Shortly afterwards you will see this temple sign – yep still heading in the right direction
Another small group of stalls greet you before you reach the main entrance
The local ladies ‘Ohara me’ wear this traditional farming garb (or similar) when they are working in the fields – there is also a festival in May which celebrates their strength and hard work and you can see all the local women dressed in this ‘uniform’.
Keep walking – not much further now.
Finally you will walk up some stone steps to your left and about 50 meters in front of you – on the right hand side is the entrance to beautiful Sanzen-in.
Once inside just wander at your own pace, through the various parts of the building, stopping for a traditional sweet and a bowl of matcha on the sunny temple deck if you like. Then continue on to explore the expansive garden. You could spend half a day here if you took your time and stopped for tea.
It is common for me to take quite some time contemplating the smooth wood temple deck soaking up the energy there – particularly when it is quiet – it is as if there is no one else in the world at that moment and you can really open your heart and mind – so blissful. On this particular day it was still quite hot – the end of summer hanging on for dear life – so I was grateful for the respite.
After about 45 minutes of temple gazing I walked through this building up towards the main area of worship.
Just look at that face. Such a serene Jizo
As stated, it was pretty hot and humid so on this occasion I didn’t walk further up through the extensive gardens but they are really quite something – not overly structured, just lovely for slowly wandering.
Outside looking in – back through the exit into the serene grounds – the gates framing the scene.
A brief stroll back in the direction you originally come from takes you past souvenir shops and sweet shops before you get to the same set of stairs you walked up
Otabe sweets below – glutinous rice wrappers (nama yatsuhashi) wrapped around fillings such as red bean, green tea and white beans, and in one of these seasonal boxes they’ve included ingredients such as pumpkin , chestnut and sweet potato. There’s matcha and houjicha tea wrappers. There’s also an eclair otabe with chocolate wrappers around fake cream and custard…hmmm.
These young ladies are taking a break with some mitarashi dango – rice dumplings grilled and served with a sweet soy glaze – these don’t look or sound particularly appetising but a good mitarashi dango is a beautiful thing
When you reach the stairs at the end of the little street take them – and at the bottom you’ll see the restaurant/ryokan on your right. Keep walking down the hill with this on your right hand side.
However.. If you are hungry it’s worth a look inside -I can’t speak for the food in recent times ( my experience of the food about 6 years ago was that it wasn’t fabulous – although I hear it has significantly improved with some refurbishment – possibly with new owners – but don’t quote me on that!.) But I think you will agree – for a quick lunch or something to drink it is a lovely spot to sit regardless!
And then down the hill you continue…
I was very temped by these bamboo baskets … they have a little vase inside for you to pop a flower into – just gorgeous… and they were a bargain at around $8 at the time!
The wares in the little group of shops along the road can be pretty eclectic – you never know what you might find…
It is definitely worth stopping to check out some of the pickle action. On a summer’s day these cucumbers are definitely refreshing
I haven’t quite managed to do a whole eggplant pickle on a stick yet
I love a good persimmon tree – not quite sure what it is about it. But the orange against the blue is so stunning.
More jizo below -dressed in their bibs. I thanked them and made my leave this day.
Back across to the bus stop and you will note there are fairly regular departures (about every 20 minutes or so). Stop off in town for the remainder of the afternoon and evening if you aren’t too laden down with parcels. The bus stops in several key places in the main grid.
If you haven’t done so already I highly recommend checking out Ohara next time you are in Kyoto.
And if you’ve fallen in love with the Japanese aesthetic you might like to hop over to our sibling store ZENBU HOME!
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