Kyoto sightseeing — winter nights
Heading to Heian Shrine for “Yorumoode”
I went back to the hotel to rest for a bit, then went out again that evening. (I’ll cover the hotel in the next post!)
I headed to Heian Shrine for the nighttime illumination event “NAKED Yorumoode 2022 — Heian Shrine.” Not that it matters, but I wondered if the name “NAKED” might surprise visitors from abroad.
When I arrived there was a long queue in front of the gate. It was clearly an effective way to draw people to a previously quiet time of night — the turnout was bigger than I expected.
Even the temizuya (hand-washing pavilion) was illuminated.
The Ōtenmon gate shifted through reds, pinks, and other colors. I waited about 30 minutes before I could finally get into the shrine grounds.
Once inside you could borrow a glowing lantern-shaped light called the “NAKED Distance Lantern®︎.” The free type that doesn’t change color was limited to one per group, while the premium version that syncs with the illuminations could be rented for 300 yen. Cleverly set up.
The grounds’ lighting was very showy — the Daigokuden was all lit up, as you can see. There was also an interactive feature where you could type in your name and have it projected.
After that I made one lap around the garden and it was over. There were far more people than in the photos on the official site, so it wasn’t the kind of place to get picture-perfect shots. lol
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