Strolling around famous cherry blossom and autumn foliage temples and places dedicated to the industrial revival of Meiji Kyoto (Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture)

After the Meiji Restoration, the new government of Japan positioned the area around Heian-jingu Shrine for industrial modernization since the capital was now in Tokyo, and built Japan’s first hydroelectric power plant with water channeled from Lake Biwa. There you also find Okazaki Park at the center of a cultural area that features the National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto), Kyoto Municipal Museum of Modern Art and Miyako Messe, and the foothills of Mt. Higashi where a stroll down Philosopher’s Walk along a branch canal takes you to some of the most prized locations for cherry blossoms and autumnal foliage between Nanzen-ji Temple and Eikan-do Temple (Zenrin-ji Temple) to Gingaku-ji Temple.