One of my most favorite places to visit in Kyoto is Fushimi Inari Taisha, a Shinto shrine famous for their thousand torii, or "gates".  Much like Antelope Canyon, you can't really take a bad picture here.  The grandeur of it all is breathtaking.

Can't afford to sponsor a torii?  Write your wishes on these mini gates and maybe the Shinto gods will answer your prayers.

You can hike through these gates for hours and it would probably look much the same (except the crowds will thin out).  But you don't have to go too far to get shots without people in them.

One of my favorite things about this place are the food stands right outside.  Grab some traditional Japanese mochi snacks (below) or get the karaage (Japanese fried chicken) which was perfect!

From the Fushimi Inari train station to the the shrine, there are several shops along the way.  The first senbei shop that you see (closest to the train station) is a 3-generation shop where you can see the current generation making the senbei using traditional irons over a stove.  His parents now are the salespeople and they were super friendly.  When we bought some senbei, they gave us a free sample from their imperfect senbei pile.  It was still warm and it was delicious!  I can't recommend this place highly enough.  Also if you don't know what senbei is, it's basically the original fortune cookie (tastes like the best fortune cookie you've ever had), but minus the fortune.  You can read up on the history here.