Rodney Campbell's Blog

The Philosopher’s Path is the best walk in Kyoto. It’s a 2 kilometer stone path along a sakura (cherry tree) lined canal (30 minute walk) that winds past charming shops, cafes and traditional houses. The Path of Philosophy starts about 100 meters north of Eikan-do Temple and reaches its northern terminus at the base of the approach to Ginkaku-ji temple (Silver Pavilion).

Among The Blossoms

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200 mm, 1/200 sec at f/8, ISO 400

We walked it in reverse starting at the Silver Pavilion end and wandered slowly along the path to the southern end.

The path gets its name due to Nishida Kitaro, one of Japan’s most famous philosophers, who was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University.

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Philosopher’s Path

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 300 mm, 1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 640

The path follows a canal which is lined by hundreds of cherry trees. Usually in early April these trees explode with colour, making this one of the city’s most popular hanami (cherry blossom viewing) spots. Unfortunately we missed the best of the blossoms by perhaps a week, still what remained was very beautiful.

Delicate Greens

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 300 mm, 1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800

It was a lovely day to be out walking and we joined the many other families enjoying the walk. Many were dressed in traditional kimono which only adds to the charm.

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