Ohara: the northern mountain village
A moss garden among cedars, a nunnery with a sad story, and shibazuke pickles. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Sanzen-in
The *-in* (temple) the village is built around — an imperial monastery whose moss garden runs out under tall cedars, dotted with small stone *jizo* figures half-sunk in the green. Come at opening, before the coaches; the moss holds the morning damp and the light comes down in shafts.

2. The cedar approach (Roman-zaka)
The cobbled lane climbing to *Sanzen-in* between stone walls and shop awnings. It's short and it's worked hard by tour groups by midday — which is the whole argument for arriving early. Pickle shops line both sides; you'll come back to them.

3. Jakko-in
A *-in* nunnery across the valley, where the empress dowager Kenreimon-in retired after the Heike clan's defeat — the closing scene of the *Tale of the Heike*. The hall burned in 2000 and was rebuilt; the story is what you carry up the steps. Quieter than anything on the east side.

4. The rice-terrace valley
Between the two temples the valley floor is still worked — narrow rice terraces, a stream, persimmon trees by the houses. Walk the lane between them rather than the main road. Greenest in early summer, gold in October.

5. The shibazuke shops
*Ohara* is the home of *shibazuke* — aubergine and cucumber pickled red-purple with *shiso* leaf. The shops on the approach hand out samples on cocktail sticks; taste before you buy, and the older places press their own rather than truck it in.

6. Ohara bus terminal
The walk loops back to where the bus drops you. Kyoto Bus 17 runs to *Demachiyanagi* and on to Kyoto Station; check the return times posted at the stop before you wander off, as they thin out in the late afternoon.

Ohara: the northern mountain village