Arashiyama: the bamboo grove and the river
The bamboo, the bridge over the Hozu, a temple garden, and the riverside walk. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Sagano Chikurin (the bamboo grove)
The *take* (bamboo) path everyone comes for — and the reason to start at eight, not ten, when you can actually hear it creak in the wind rather than the crowd. Walk it slowly; it's shorter than the photographs suggest.

2. Tenryu-ji
The great Zen *-ji* (temple) and its *teien* (garden), laid out in the fourteenth century to borrow the mountains behind it. Pay the garden-only ticket if you're not stopping inside; the pond view from the hall steps is the one to hold.

3. Nonomiya-jinja
A small *jinja* (shrine) tucked just off the grove, with a rare black *torii* of unstripped oak. Quieter than its neighbours and worth the two-minute detour for the gate alone.

4. Togetsukyo bridge
The 'moon-crossing bridge' over the river — the *Hozu* upstream, the *Katsura* below. Cross to the south bank for the view back at the wooded hills; in late November they turn and the whole valley goes copper.

5. The riverside path toward the monkey park
Follow the embankment upstream past the rental rowing boats. You don't have to climb to the Iwatayama monkeys — the riverbank itself, with the gorge narrowing ahead, is the quieter pleasure.

6. Arashiyama (Randen) station
End at the little tram terminus, with its kimono-fabric pillars and the foot bath on the platform. The Randen back into the city is half the charm of coming out here in the first place.

Arashiyama: the bamboo grove and the river