Uji and Byodo-in

Uji is a small riverside city between Kyoto and Nara, famous for two things: green tea and the Byodo-in. Uji tea has been prized for centuries, and the town's main streets are lined with tea merchants, many of them long-established, selling matcha and sencha, matcha sweets, soft-serve ice cream and tea-ceremony sets. The Byodo-in began as a villa of the powerful Fujiwara clan and was converted into a Buddhist temple in 1052. Its Amida Hall, built the following year, is better known as the Phoenix Hall: a graceful central hall with wings extending to each side and a tail corridor behind, said to resemble a bird with outstretched wings, with two bronze phoenixes on the roof. Reflected in its pond, it is one of the most beautiful buildings in Japan, and it is the only original building of the complex still standing, a rare survivor of the Heian period. It is so iconic that it appears on the 10-yen coin. Inside sits a gilded wooden Amida Buddha attributed to the sculptor Jocho, surrounded by wall-mounted bodhisattvas riding on clouds. The temple's modern museum, the Hoshokan, built partly underground so as not to disturb the view, displays the original phoenix roof ornaments, the temple bell and several of the cloud-riding bodhisattvas up close. The Byodo-in is part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, as is Ujigami Shrine across the river, which has one of the oldest surviving shrine buildings in Japan. The Uji River, the town's stone bridges and its connections to the final chapters of The Tale of Genji complete the picture.

Visiting the Byodo-in. Admission to the garden and Hoshokan museum is a modest fee; entry inside the Phoenix Hall itself is a separate small ticket for short, timed guided visits, conducted in Japanese with an English leaflet, which sell out in busy periods, so buy one on arrival. Even without going inside, walking around the pond for the reflections of the hall is the main event. Arrive at opening to see it in calm water and soft morning light. Wisteria trellises bloom in late April and early May, and autumn brings maples around the pond.

Around Uji. From the temple, cross to Tachibana-jima, an island park in the Uji River, and over to the east bank for Ujigami Shrine, a small, quiet UNESCO shrine, and the Tale of Genji Museum, which brings the classic novel's Uji chapters to life with models and film. The approach to the Byodo-in, a lane lined with tea shops, is the place to sample matcha soft-serve, matcha dango or a proper bowl of tea, and many shops offer tea tastings or grinding experiences. In summer, cormorant fishing demonstrations are held on the river on some evenings. Uji Bridge, one of the oldest bridges in Japan, has a statue of Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji, at its western end.

Getting there. Take the JR Nara line from Kyoto Station to Uji: rapid trains take about twenty minutes and locals about thirty. The Byodo-in is about fifteen minutes' walk from JR Uji Station, and closer from Keihan Uji Station, served from central Kyoto via Chushojima. Fushimi Inari is on the same JR line, so a combined half day of Fushimi Inari at dawn and Uji afterward works well, as does continuing to Nara. Allow three to four hours in Uji, including lunch, and save room for matcha desserts. Uji is also an excellent alternative on days when central Kyoto feels overwhelmed by crowds: the town is relaxed, the river views are wide and open, and the pace is gentle. Many tea merchants ship their tea internationally, and buying fresh matcha here, sealed in tins, makes a lightweight and genuinely special souvenir to take home.