Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺, Ginkaku-ji), the "Temple of the Silver Pavilion," is also a Zen temple in Kyoto, often compared to Kinkaku-ji. The official name is Jishō-ji (慈照寺, "Temple of Shining Mercy"). It was built in 1474 by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who sought to emulate the golden Kinkaku-ji commissioned by his grandfather Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The temple is part of the Shokoku-ji branch of Rinzai Zen. Like Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji was originally built to serve as a place of rest and solitude for the Shogun. During his reign as Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa inspired a new outpouring of traditional culture, which came to be known as Higashiyama Bunka, the Culture of the Eastern Mountain. Having retired to the villa, it is said Yoshimasa sat in the pavilion, contemplating the calm and beauty of the gardens as the Ōnin War worsened and Kyoto was burned to the ground. In 1485, Yoshimasa became a Zen Buddhist monk, and after his death the villa became a Buddhist temple, renamed Jishō-ji. In addition to that building, the temple features wooded grounds covered with a variety of mosses, and a Japanese garden, supposedly designed by the great landscape artist Soami. The rock and sand garden of Ginkaku-ji is particularly famous, and a pile of sand said to symbolize Mount Fuji has now come to be a part of the garden.

In 1601 Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of Tokugawa Shogunate ordered all the feudal lords in Western Japan to contribute to the construction of the Nijō Castle. The construction was completed during the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1626. It was built as the Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa Shoguns. The Tokugawa Shogunate used Edo as the capital city, but Kyoto continued to be the home of the Imperial Court (Kyoto Imperial Palace is located north-east of Nijo Castle).

In 1867 the Ninomaru Palace was the stage for the declaration by Tokugawa Yoshinobu, returning the authority to the Imperial Court. Next year the Imperial Cabinet was installed in the castle. In 1939 the palace was donated to the city of Kyoto and opened to the public the following year.

The Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyōto Gosho (京都御所, Kyōto Gosho), is an imperial palace of Japan, though the Emperor of Japan is not in residence. The Emperor has resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace since 1869 (Meiji Restoration), and ordered the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 1877.

Today the grounds are open to the public, and the Imperial Household Agency hosts public tours of the buildings several times a day.

The Kyōto Imperial Palace is the latest of the imperial palaces built at or near its site in the north-eastern part of the old capital Heiankyo after the abandonment of the larger original Heian Palace (大内裏, daidairi) that was located to the west of the current palace during the Heian Period. The Palace lost much of its function at the time of the Meiji Restoration, when the capital functions were moved to Tokyo in 1869. However, the Taisho and Showa Emperors still had their coronation ceremonies at Kyōto Gosho.

The fall is 13 meters, but the lush vegetation below the platform might cushion the fall of a lucky pilgrim. However, the practice is now prohibited. Two hundred and thirty-four jumps were recorded in the Edo period and, of those, 85.4% survived.

Beneath the main hall is the waterfall Otowa no taki, where three channels of water drop into a pond. Visitors to the temple collect the water, which is believed to have therapeutic properties, from the waterfall in metal cups on poles (which, though shared, are sanitized in UV trays) or commemorative plastic cups. It is said that drinking the water of the three streams confers wisdom, health, and longevity. However, some Japanese believe that you must choose only two -- if you are greedy and drink from all three, you invite misfortune upon yourself.

The temple complex contains several other shrines, notably Jishu-jinja, dedicated to Okuninushino-Mikoto, a god of love and "good matches." Jishu-jinja possesses a pair of "love stones" placed 18 meters apart, which lonely visitors attempt to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone, eyes closed, is taken as a presage that the pilgrim will find love. One can be assisted in the crossing, but this is taken to mean that an intermediary will be needed. The person's romantic interest can assist them as well.

The complex also includes all the fixtures of a popular temple, being one of the most-visited attractions of the city: hawkers offering various talismans, incense, and omikuji (paper fortunes ranging from "great blessing" to "great curse") abound. The site is particularly popular during festivals (especially New Year's and obon in the summer) when additional booths fill the grounds selling traditional holiday foodstuffs, among other things, and the crowds are immense. (Indeed, the high popularity of the place means that tourists will find it difficult to take pictures on the main temple's platform.)

The temple is also a particular haven for students wishing the aid of deities in graduation, and is well known for having trees whose branches are covered with paper wishes tied there by the hopeful.

Ōsaka-jō (大阪城,) is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometer square (1100 yards square). It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers.

The Castle grounds, which cover approximately 60,000 square meters (15 acres) contain thirteen structures which have been designated as Important Cultural Assets by the Japanese government, including the Toyokuni Shrine, dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Todai-ji (東大寺,, meaning the Eastern Great Temple), is a Buddhist temple complex. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), reputedly the largest wooden building in the world, houses a colossal bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as the Daibutsu (大仏).

Nigatsu-dō (二月堂 literally "The Hall of the Second Month", ) is one of the important structures of Tōdai-ji. Nigatsu-dō is located to the east of the Great Buddha Hall, on the hillside of Mount Wakakusa.

Another important landmark that we will tour is the Kasuga Shrine (春日大社, Kasuga-taisha). It is a Shinto shrine est. in 768 A.D., rebuilt several times, and is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lanterns that lead up the shrine. The architectural style Taisha-zukuri takes its name from the Kasuga Shrine. The path to Kasuga Shrine passes through Deer Park (where tame deer roam free). Over a thousand stone lanterns line the way. The Manyo Botanical Garden is also adjacent to the shrine.