Wanders The World

Japan is a country that is on my bucket list and I hope to visit it in the near future. There is much to see in this small yet historic country.  Where to start? Let’s go with Kyoto. The former imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto is city of 1.5 million that is recognized for its beauty that is found in various places within its urban and ultramodern landscape.  One of those places pops up on my Instagram feed on a regular basis. It seems to me that Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine is one of the cool kids on major travel accounts. Located at the base of a hill, it was constructed during the 8th century C.E. as a tribute to the gods of rice and sake. Within the area are numerous torii or gates that that create paths leading to the shrines. It is these brightly painted gates that appear stunningly on my Instagram feed. It’s not a wonder it has caught my eye and promptly made its way onto my every growing bucket list. But that is a what a traveler lives for, isn’t it. Couple these torii with the dramatic main gates, shrines, the numerous fox statues and I imagine I could easily meander the grounds for hours absorbing the artistry surrounding me.

baggio4ever [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons