Kyoto - Tofukuji Temple 東福寺

The whole place looked like it was on fire. That was the expression my friend told me, and she was not exaggerating.

This was taken in Kyoto 東福寺.

And this was the price we paid to get a good shot.

It was really crowded in the temple - with the locals as well as the foreigners - despite that we came before its opening time and waited in queue to purchase the tickets. As soon as the gate opened, people rushed into this bridge to the most strategic spot for a picture. But the Japanese are really civilized people. There were limited pushing and shoving despite the crowd. Things will only get ugly when the Chinese (read: from Mainland China) comes in, no offense. :P

Can you believe this? It's blood-red!

Well not everything was red. See! Greenery!

This is called a 枯山水 karesansui. It's supposed to have some religious symbolism to it. Most of the temples in Japan have it. Don't ask me what happens when it rains.

枯山水