The Arashiyama district on the west side of Kyoto certainly has the most visited and perhaps instagrammable bamboo grove in the city, but Kodaiji Temple has a nice one, too. In fact, you can visit it at night when the temple opens late for seasonal illuminations. Everything in Arashiyama closes in the evening after the main tourist attractions, the Buddhist temples, shut their doors for the day, so if you go to the grove there at night, it’s pitch-black and the wind makes spooky sounds as it rustles the bamboo leaves. What’s also great about Kodaiji is that although it’s in the middle of the tourist-packed Higashiyama district, this temple has never felt particularly crowded when I’ve visited.
嵐山には京都で最も多くの人が訪れ、インスタ映えするような竹林があるけど、高台寺にも素敵な竹林がある。嵐山はすべて夕方には閉まってしまうから、夜は高台寺の竹林に行く。周りは真っ暗で、風が竹の葉を揺らして不気味な音を立てている。また、高台寺の素晴らしいところは、観光客でごった返す東山のど真ん中にあるのに、ぼくが訪れたときに特に混雑を感じたことが一度もないこと。
©︎Alexander Farrell