Uzumasa: Koryu-ji and the tram town
Kyoto's oldest temple, a smiling wooden bodhisattva, and the little Randen tram streets. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Koryu-ji
Kyoto's oldest *-ji* (temple), founded in 603 by the Hata clan who first cleared this ground. The gate and the Kodo hall are weathered and unfussy; the real reason to come is inside the treasure house.

2. Miroku Bosatsu (in the Reihoden)
The temple's treasure hall holds the Miroku Bosatsu — a slender wooden bodhisattva with a hand at its cheek and a faint smile, one of Japan's first registered National Treasures. No photographs; just sit with it. This single carving justifies the trip.

3. Uzumasa-Koryuji tram street
The Randen tram runs down the middle of the road here, level with the shopfronts and the bicycles — Kyoto's last street tram, and the most ordinary, likeable thing about *Uzumasa*. Let one rattle past before you cross.

4. Toei Kyoto Studio Park edge
The working samurai-film backlot is just north. You don't need a ticket to feel it — the streets around the gate carry posters and the odd costumed extra on a cigarette break. Go in if period drama is your thing; skip it happily if not.

5. Omuro / Uzumasa back streets
Wind south-east through the everyday west-Kyoto grid — tiled roofs, vending machines glowing, a sento chimney here and there. This is the city as it's actually lived, no temple gates, and the better for it.

6. Katabiranotsuji junction
The Randen's only crossing point, where two tram lines meet at a level junction. Stand on the platform and watch the cars swap tracks; from here the line runs straight back to the city or out to Arashiyama.

Uzumasa: Koryu-ji and the tram town