{"id":10665,"date":"2015-12-08T15:30:24","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T15:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.insidejapantours.com\/?p=10665"},"modified":"2025-03-13T14:45:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T14:45:05","slug":"secret-kyoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/08\/secret-kyoto\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret Kyoto: The temple with a hidden bar"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>Like this post? Help us by sharing it!<\/h4><ul class=\"wpfai-list\"><li class=\"wpfai-list-item facebook\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665&amp;t=\" title=\"Facebook\" class=\"wpfai-facebook wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-facebook fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item twitter\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665\" title=\"Twitter\" class=\"wpfai-twitter wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-twitter fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item pinterest\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665&amp;description=&amp;media=\" title=\"Pinterest\" class=\"wpfai-pinterest wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-pinterest fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item linkedin\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665&amp;title=\" title=\"Linked In\" class=\"wpfai-linkedin wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-linkedin fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item envelope\">\r\n      <a href=\"mailto:?subject=&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665%20-%20\" title=\"E-Mail\" class=\"wpfai-envelope wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-envelope fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item stumbleupon\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stumbleupon.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665\" title=\"Stumble Upon\" class=\"wpfai-stumbleupon wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-stumbleupon fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item reddit\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665\" title=\"Reddit\" class=\"wpfai-reddit wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-reddit fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><\/ul><p>Many temples and shrines in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/japanese-destinations\/kyoto\/\">Kyoto<\/a> are worth a visit after dark. Kiyomizu-dera has an impressive \u201clight up\u201d show, where huge light beams of various colours are pointed high into the night sky. The brightly lit Yasuka Shrine in Gion is very popular and photogenic at night. Kanga-an Temple, however, has an altogether different reason for visiting of an evening: a wonderful hidden bar, deep within the temple grounds.<\/p>\n<p>Kanga-an was once a very important temple and for more than three centuries has enshrined Chintakurefushin, the Holy Spirit of Residential Protection. In the 17<sup>th<\/sup> century, Emperor Go Mizuno asked the chief priest of Manpuki-ji, an Obaku sect Zen temple in nearby Uji, to build a temple for the purpose of protecting the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Kanga-an is a little-known temple in a sleepy suburb of Kyoto, and still serves as an Obaku sect Zen temple &#8211; albeit with a fantastic vegan restaurant and very special &#8220;secret&#8221; bar!<\/p>\n<p>To get there, take a right out of Exit One of Kuramaguchi Subway Station. At the first corner, turn right. After a few minutes&#8217; walk, you will see the temple\u2019s decorative gate to your left-hand side.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Kyoto's secret temple bar\" width=\"400\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1-720x960.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1-390x520.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1-780x1040.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1-510x680.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-1.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Immediately after passing through the gate, you\u2019ll come face to face with a number of <em>rakan<\/em>, the most famous disciples of Buddha.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10668 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2.jpg\" alt=\"the temple's &quot;rakan&quot;\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2-390x293.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2-780x585.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-2-510x383.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>From here, turn the corner and walk along the beautifully lit path towards the main hall of the temple.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10669\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The temple's grounds are beautifully lit\" width=\"400\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3-720x960.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3-390x520.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3-780x1040.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3-510x680.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-3.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the left, as you approach the main hall, is an attractive building that serves <em>fucha ryori<\/em>, a type of Zen vegan food that\u2019s generally considered a bit more more \u201cupmarket\u201d than its more famous Zen cousin, <em>shojin ryori<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>To the left of the main hall and through a heavy wooden door is the temple\u2019s \u201csecret\u201d bar. Until roughly eight years ago it served as the Head Priestess\u2019s private entertaining quarters, at which time it was renovated and opened to the public.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10666\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"photo 5\" width=\"400\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5-720x960.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5-390x520.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5-780x1040.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5-510x680.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/photo-5.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The bar faces the temple\u2019s Zen garden and seats just 10, giving it a serene and relaxing atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10670\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Zen garden\" width=\"400\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6-720x960.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6-390x520.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6-780x1040.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6-510x680.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/pic-6.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The barman, a gentleman is his fifties, speaks only a little English &#8211; however there is an English menu available. There is a 1,000 yen cover charge and most drinks cost a further 1000 yen each. However, some drinks could cost you a lot more, so be sure to check!! Choose from a selection of beers (including Guinness!), Japanese whiskeys and sake. The plum wine (<em>umeshu<\/em>) is very good.<\/p>\n<p>Kanpai!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Richard Pearce is a tour leader with InsideJapan Tours, and leads a variety of Small Group Tours across Japan. He lives in rural Tottori Prefecture, in the southwest of Honshu main island.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Like this post? Help us by sharing it!<\/h4><ul class=\"wpfai-list\"><li class=\"wpfai-list-item facebook\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665&amp;t=\" title=\"Facebook\" class=\"wpfai-facebook wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-facebook fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item twitter\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665\" title=\"Twitter\" class=\"wpfai-twitter wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-twitter fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item pinterest\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665&amp;description=&amp;media=\" title=\"Pinterest\" class=\"wpfai-pinterest wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-pinterest fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item linkedin\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665&amp;title=\" title=\"Linked In\" class=\"wpfai-linkedin wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-linkedin fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item envelope\">\r\n      <a href=\"mailto:?subject=&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665%20-%20\" title=\"E-Mail\" class=\"wpfai-envelope wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-envelope fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item stumbleupon\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stumbleupon.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665\" title=\"Stumble Upon\" class=\"wpfai-stumbleupon wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-stumbleupon fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item reddit\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F10665\" title=\"Reddit\" class=\"wpfai-reddit wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-reddit fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like this post? Help us by sharing it! Many temples and shrines in Kyoto are worth a visit after dark. Kiyomizu-dera has an impressive \u201clight up\u201d show, where huge light beams of various colours are pointed high into the night sky. The brightly lit Yasuka Shrine in Gion is very popular and photogenic at night. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2366],"tags":[2573,2619,2621,2622,2623],"class_list":["post-10665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japanese-food-and-drink","tag-insider-knowledge","tag-hidden-gem","tag-temple","tag-hidden-bar","tag-secret-bar"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34922,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10665\/revisions\/34922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}