Togetsukyō is the landmark bridge at Arashiyama. Curiously, the river changes names as it passes under the bridge. To the west, it is the Hozu River; to the east, the Katsura River.

Boats are available to take visitors on a cruise of the area.

Arashiyama is especially popular in the spring, when the cherry trees are in blossom, as well as in the fall, as the leaves change colors. For the benefit of tourists, traditional cormorant fishing is practiced on the Hozu River during the months of July and August.

Greeting passersby on the way to the Arashiyama bamboo grove are these images, called Arashiyama Rakan. They are arhats, ones who have achieved enlightenment. Presented to Hogon-in, a sub-temple of Tenryu-ji and located on the opposite side of the street, they were dedicated by individuals and corporations to pray for the repose of victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.

Removing one face for another!

Grounds of Tenryu-ji temple along the way to the bamboo grove

Hiun Kannon, dedicated originally to the Kamikaze pilots lost in the war, is prayed to today for the safety of all who travel by air.

More lovely maple leaves in the process of changing color

A sub-temple of Tenryu-ji temple

Entrance to another sub-temple of Tenryu-ji temple

Giant bamboos dwarf visitors to the Arashiyama grove.

Andrew Marvell's metaphysical "green thought in a green shade" may come to mind as one stands in wonder within this green grove. But Bashō, one of Japan's greatest poets, was more direct and incisive in the haiku he composed here (in a translation by Robert Hass): "Arashi Mountain— / the path of the wind / through the bamboo grove."

Walking paths wend their way through the bamboo grove, leaving a visitor engulfed in the subdued green beauty of these enormous, slender reeds.

A view through the bamboo before leaving the grove