Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu-dera by noon.

There is a reason we arrive at 8:20 AM. The tunnel of vermilion gates fills up as the morning goes on. Early on it is calmer, and easier to photograph. We walk to the inner shrine and turn back, 40 minutes in all, without climbing to the summit.

Every gate was donated by someone, and there are about 10,000 of them. The shrine is open 24 hours, with no entrance fee.

The temple is named after the water that rises on its grounds. Kiyomizu means clear water. It still runs, falling as the Otowa waterfall in three streams. Seen from below, the stage jutting from the cliff shows its bare timber frame, joined without a single nail.

Founded in 778, it became a World Heritage site in 1994. By custom you drink from one stream only.

A shop where you watch rice cakes pounded with a mallet, close up. It sits at the bottom of the slope from Kiyomizu-dera. People come for the speed of the mallet and the calls that go with it. The speciality is a rice cake with a whole strawberry inside.

It is takeaway only. You can watch the pounding without buying anything.

Wooden houses still stand on both sides of the stone steps. The state has listed this district as a townscape to protect. Down the slope is Ninenzaka, lined with craft shops and cafes, including a Starbucks in a house over 100 years old.

The stone paving is slippery when wet. Please watch your feet on a rainy day.

Small coloured cloth balls hang all over the grounds. They are kukurizaru, monkeys with their hands and feet bound. You write one wish, hang it up, and give up one desire in return. The 46-metre Yasaka Pagoda stands just beside it.

Koshin is a day that comes round once every 60 days. People used to stay awake all that night, and the temple takes its name from it.