Kyoto's Hongan-ji, in the middle of the city a short walk from the main railway station, is a temple of the Jodo Shinshu school of Buddhism, the largest branch of Buddhism in Japan, and one of the most important buildings in the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto inscribed by UNESCO in 1994. The city of one and a half million people spreads in every direction, and it is no place for fast riding, but the temple is one of the quietest and most human of the great monuments.
The school was founded on the teachings of Shinran, a thirteenth-century monk who taught that faith in Amida Buddha, rather than hard discipline, could save anyone, from peasants to nobles. After his death in 1262 a small mausoleum was built in Kyoto, which grew into the Hongan-ji, and the school became a powerful religious and political force. In the sixteenth century, the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi granted it land on the present site, and the temple later split into two branches, the Nishi, or west, and Higashi, or east, Hongan-ji, which stand a few minutes apart. The west temple's halls are remarkable for their size and for the way the great wooden pillars and beams, the huge gilded interior, and the carved gate with its intricate decoration show the wealth of the order. Worship goes on all day, and visitors are welcome in the main halls, but it is polite to be quiet and to take off your shoes.
Kyoto is a challenge for a rider. The grid of streets is easy to follow, but traffic is slow, bicycles weave through, parking is scarce and expensive, and the narrow lanes of the old districts are best explored on foot. A scooter or a bicycle is the sensible way to see the city, and a motorcycle is best left at your hotel. The reward is the mountains around the city, such as Mount Hiei to the north-east, and the roads over the northern hills towards Lake Biwa and the Japan Sea coast, which are excellent.
There is fuel, food and coffee in abundance. Kyoto's cuisine is subtle, with tofu, pickles, seasonal vegetables and kaiseki, but there are also cheap noodle bars all around the station. Spring, with the cherry blossom, and November, with the maple leaves, are the busiest seasons, and summer is hot and sticky.