Chikurin-no-michi (Arashiyama Bamboo Grove), Kyoto

“Chikurin-no-michi” (Arashiyama Bamboo Grove), which is a representative sightseeing spot in Kyoto and also a symbol of Arashiyama along with Togetsukyo Bridge. From Nonomiya Shrine, pass through the north side of Tenryu-ji, and there is a bamboo forest that extends high enough to cover the sky about 400 meters to the Ohkochi-sanso Garden.
Chikurin-no-michi often appears when Kyoto is featured in television and magazines, so you may have seen it.
A well-kept bamboo forest continues on both sides of the road, a place where you can feel dignified beauty.
It is said that it was a noble villa place during Heian period, the sunny days have pleasant sunbeams, and the days without sun are dull even at noon. Here, you will feel like being invited to a world of delicate beauty even after 1000 years.
When you step into Chikurin-no-michi, the voices of people you have heard and the sounds of cars can not be heard suddenly. Instead, it is a place where you can feel the sound of the wind crossing the bamboo forest in a pleasant and calm mood.
From the Heian period, there were many villas of the aristocrats, and a palace of the royal family. Saga and Arashiyama’s Chikurin (Bamboo Forest) also appear in classical literature. “Chikurin-no-michi” is a place where we can feel the image of the Heian period.
As it is a famous tourist spot, the time of cherry blossoms and colored leaves is crowded. If you want to walk slowly, it is recommended to be on the morning of weekdays. The evening gets dark early as the bamboo forest blocks the sunlight. Because there are few street lights, it is better to go early if visiting in the afternoon.
In addition, an event called “Hanatoro” (Lantern Festival) is held every year in the Arashiyama area including “Chikurin-no-michi” in the beginning of December. During this period the road is lit up and you can walk at night. The lighted-up road is a fantastic beauty and you can feel the taste different from daytime. In addition to the light up of Chikurin-no-michi, this event is a major event in the early winter, where various events such as Ikebana (flower arrangement) Promenade will be held.

Been loved more than 1,000 years

Arashiyama, a tourist destination representing Kyoto. Togetsukyo Bridge for Katsura River shows various expressions throughout the four seasons, and it will not make tourists bored. In Arashiyama, “Chikurin-no-michi” (Arashiyama Bamboo Grove) spreading in Sagano north of Togetsukyo Bridge is a huge popular spot in recent times.
“Chikurin-no-michi” (Arashiyama Bamboo Grove) has been loved more than 1,000 years by Japanese. Among Chikurin of Kyoto Sagano, the paths approximately 400m to continue from Nonomiya Shrine to Okochi Sanso Villa is the most famous.
In the area where tens of thousands of bamboo grows, a path is stretched like sewing bamboo grove, and if you walk it leisurely you can feel directly the taste of the Heian era. Also, in the summer you can feel cool with playing the winds of bamboo shoots making noise.
Because of popular spots, bamboo forest trails with many other tourists. It is recommended to go around a bamboo grove on a rickshaw for sightseeing. Because the rickshaw men are also tourism experts in this area, they will tell you the historical background of the surrounding temples and the sightseeing information of Kyoto which is not listed in the guidebook in detail.

It greets people calmly

As the place where you feel a very Japanese, many tourists come. In the world among the green bamboo, the wind meets being chilly and greets people calmly.
In December, “a Kyoto, Arashiyama flower light road festival” is held every year, and you can walk the way of fantastic Chikurin lighted up.

The land where a noble villa and hermitage

Sagano spreading out northeast of Arashiyama is the land where a noble villa and hermitage were opened in the Heian era. This place that a noble ever loved continues being loved by still many people after 1,000 years.

Not to change

It may be a place with such a universal beauty not to change even if the times change.

Wrap the whole Arashiyama by the pale light

It is lighted up for ten days from the weekend of around December 10 in every year. It has more than hundred thousand visitors in this period. Because the fallen leaves of Chikurin are the early spring, so they are bright Green in winter. 2,500 garden lamps are put along the way during a period, those wrap the whole Arashiyama by the pale light of them.

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