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Japan Sightseeing Guide

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Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you! Ryoanji temple renovations? 2009/8/4 Kyoto City Travelling to Kyoto in September 2009 and one of the top five things I want to do is to visit the Ryoanji near the Kinkakuji. However, I stumbled across this webpage http://www.ryoanji.jp/loss/info_eng.html today. Can anyone confirm if the temple is closed? Or, if it's still open to visitors, to what extent are the rock gardens inaccessible to viewing by visitors? Thanks! by Genmaisencha   April was OK 2009/8/4 We were there in April, and the Rock Garden was fully open, but one end of the surrounding building a little obscured by the scaffolding..don't know if it is any different now by fmj rate this post as useful ... 2009/8/5 I think it is safe to trust that page: Closed for a few weeks in early 2010 (Jan 5 to Feb 25), but open during the rest of the renovation period. by Uji rate this post as useful on the edge.... 2009/8/6 Just went there today. You can see the main area, but the amount of construction makes the experience a little underwhelming. Definitely worth seeing, just don't have high expectations. by lyamshin (guest) rate this post as useful Construction at Ryoan-ji 2009/10/18 The rock garden is still view-able, but the construction (a roofed wooden platform) does detract from it a little. However, the lake and gardens around the temple are still very much worth seeing and are not affected at all by the work since the zen garden is inside the temple area. Kyoto visitors may also like to know that Ginkaku-ji (the silver pavilion, at the northern end of the Philosopher's Path) is also under renovation at the moment. The scaffolding etc. is rather more visible from around the site than that at Ryoan-ji, but again it is still well worth a visit as the woodland garden is very attractive. Spring 2010 is the completion date. by ermintrude75 rate this post as useful Nanzenji 2009/10/18 I didn't head to Ryoanji temple after seeing photos of the construction coz' couldn't think of it as a good place for contemplation with construction going on, but I did head for Nanzenji instead and I thought the zen gardens were lovely. Similarly for Ginkakuji temple which was quite a let-down because the whole pavilion was under renovation. The gardens were nice but I thought I could have spent my time better at another temple with nice gardens too. by Sab (guest) rate this post as useful