아라시야마(嵐山), 교토
Arashiyama is Kyoto's most scenically beautiful district, sitting at the western edge of the city where the Oi River flows between forested mountains and the last residential streets of the city give way to temples, bamboo groves, and the kind of landscape that has drawn visitors to this part of Japan since the Heian period.
The name Arashiyama (嵐山) means "storm mountain," a reference to the mountain that frames the northern side of the district and whose forested slopes turn brilliant red and gold each autumn in what has been considered one of the finest natural spectacles in Japan for over a thousand years.
The Heian court established villa estates and temples in this area during the eighth and ninth centuries, attracted by the combination of scenic beauty, clean river water, and distance from the political pressures of the capital, and that association with beauty, refinement, and retreat has defined the character of the district ever since.
Today Arashiyama functions as one of Japan's most visited natural and cultural attractions, drawing enormous crowds, particularly during cherry blossom season in spring and autumn foliage season in November.
What Arashiyama Is Most Famous For
Bamboo Grove (竹林の小径) is the most photographed feature of Arashiyama, a path running through towering bamboo on the way between Tenryuji Temple and the hillside temples to the north. The experience of the bamboo itself—the quality of light filtering through the stalks, the sound of the wind — is genuinely impressive, though achieving that experience requires either arriving very early in the morning or accepting that it will be shared with many other people.
Tenryuji Temple is one of the most important Zen temples in Japan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a celebrated garden designed by Muso Soseki in the fourteenth century that uses the mountains of Arashiyama as borrowed scenery in a composition that has been considered one of the finest garden designs in Japan for seven centuries.
Togetsu-kyo Bridge crossing the Oi River with the Arashiyama mountain behind it is one of the most iconic images of Kyoto, particularly during autumn foliage season when the forested mountain turns red and the bridge provides the foreground for the view. Cormorant fishing on the river during summer evenings is one of the more atmospheric traditional activities still performed in this part of Kyoto.
How to Get to Arashiyama
Arashiyama Station on the Hankyu Arashiyama Line from Katsura and Randen Arashiyama Station on the Keifuku Arashiyama Line from Shijo-Omiya are the most convenient rail access points.
