Brian Winters, left, and Blade artist Jeff Basting in front of the Todai-ji Temple in Nara. It is the world’s largest wooden building. The walk way leading to the temple is made of stone from India, China, Korea, and then Japan, symbolizing the path of Buddhism to Japan. Inside the main hall is the world’s largest bronze Buddha, the Virocana Buddha.
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Fushimi Inari Shrine is a walk through thousands of Torii gates donated by Japanese businesses. Inari is the god of rice and the patron of business and merchants.
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The 49-foot-tall-Virocana is also known as Daibutsu.
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A view of Kyoto along the Kamo River.
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Banryutei Rock Garden is the largest rock garden in Japan. It is comprised of 140 pieces of granite, symbolizing a pair of dragons rising from the mist.
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Temple of the Golden Pavillion is a shrine covered in gold leaf. It was burned down in 1950 and rebuilt in 1955.
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Okunoin cemetery is the largest in Japan and houses the mausoleum of Kukai, the founder of Koyasan.
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A Heian Shrine Torii Gate between the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art and the National Museum of Art Kyoto.
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The five-story pagoda at the Horyu-ji temple is acknowledged to be one of the oldest wooden structures in the world. The center pillar has been dated to 594 A.D.
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Hoshinoya Inn is an exclusive resort that can only be reached by boat on the Katsura River.
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Visitors enter the Kiyomizudera Temple grounds through the Niomon Gate.
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The entrance gate to the Nijo-jo Castle, once home to the imperial family.
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A Shingon monk performing the purifying fire ceremony at Kumagaiji Temple.
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Hondo, the main hall of the Kiyomizudera Temple with a large verandah, is built without using a nail.
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The Kabuki Minamiza Theatre in downtown Kyoto.
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A zen garden viewed from a ceremonial tea room in the Taizo-in temple, which was home to Josetsu’s famous painting ‘Cat-fish with a Gourd.
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Shinkansen, or bullet trains, can reach speeds of 150 to 200 mph.
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