Konnichi-wa! Today's Japanese city for your sightseeing pleasure is Kyoto, a city in the Kansai region of Japan. Lets get rolling with sightseeing Kyoto!
As I researched Kyoto, I was captivated by the wide variety of things available in this city. Kyoto has a lot of history! There are many traditional wooden Japanese houses called, "Machiya" for rent, as well as a few Ryokan, which are traditional Japanese hotels. I guess Kyoto house owners have been doing pretty well renting out these houses as I found a lot of owners of one or two such rental properties just adding on yet another location. At least a couple of the Kyoto temples have comfortable and clean guest houses which they rent out, or you can usually book a package including stay in the guest house plus tour of the temple and basic meditation lesson followed by tea all hosted by the priest. The most popular seems to the Shunkoin Temple Guest House.
A nice feature of Kyoto is Kyoto University, considered to be one of the top Universities in Japan. Kyoto University is a part of a cooperative program with a number of universities, both public and private, for the purpose of course sharing toward degrees granted by the participating schools. Kyoto Unisversity is part of the national public university system of Japan. With about 2000 Kyoto temples, I certainly hope history is one of the degrees Kyoto University offers. Kyoto University has a museum with exhibits highlighting technological history through display of some pretty neat models and cultural development of Japan through display of ancient manuscripts and archeological artifacts. Kyoto University museum is open all except Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 am until 4:30 pm, so it would be something fun to do on a weekend. Hyakumanben is the nearest bus stop and Demachiyanagi is the nearest rail station, and the entry fee is no more than ¥400.
Several small traditional craft malls and museums offer classes in a variety of traditional Japanese crafts, including a class in classic kimono painting techniques practiced on a t-shirt you can take home with you. If freehand painting just isn't your thing, there are lots of other traditional Japanese craft lessons available including paper making, dyeing, weaving, doll making and cloissene. Basic lists of things to do in the city range from the 40 most popular to an exhaustive 253, so one could easily spend two weeks just exploring all the Kyoto city has to offer.
Japan has such readily available public transport and is among the safest tourist areas, so it's not surprising most who have traveled to Japan recommend just doing the self tour thing. Among the few exceptions I have come across is Kyoto. An evening with a Geisha or Maiko, which is a Geisha-in-training, can be expensive and rather hard to arrange as introductions are usually needed. Also, Kyoto has a rather large number of very popular tourist destinations ranging from World Heritage historical sites and beautiful gardens to the Gion Corner shows and shopping. A lot of travelers have praised the JTB Sunrise Tours half day bus trip as a great way to get a nice overview in a short amount of time before setting out on your own to try to capture as much of Kyoto as possible in whatever time you have. I have also come across references to a Kyoto city bus system tour, but have no information yet as to how detailed this tour might be or if it is available in English. Chris Rowthorn, author of a number of Lonely Planet handbooks to Japan, has a company offering customized walking tours starting at just ¥20,000 for a two hour Gion walk. Gion is an area of Kyoto popular for evening walks as Geisha and Maiko are often spotted there on their way to and from various evening appointments. I've seen reports in a variety of locations praising his temple and shrine tour, but no reports on the exclusive kaiseki-ryori meals in the company of Geisha's or Maiko. Given these meals are praised as the height of Japanese haute cuisine I can only assume the clients enjoying them are simply too sated by the experience to remember to write up a report.
;)
Just visiting the 17 World Heritage sites in Kyoto prefecture would prove a daunting task, as you can see from this map, but the Kiyomizu-dera Temple seems to come most highly recommended. The main hall offers a panoramic view of the city below from it's famous wooden terrace. The Higashiyama district lanes leading up the steep hill to the temple have been touted for their traditional pottery and pickles, as well as well-stocked stalls of popular souvenirs. The Kinkaku-ji, or Golden Pavillion, and the Nijo-jo Castle seem to via for second place in popularity, but I find the Nijo-jo the most tempting. The decorated sliding doors and floors that squeak as a security measure against intruders just sound so much more interesting than a reconstruction of a building covered in gold leaf. (The Golden Pavilion was burned down by a monk in 1950 and reconstructed in 1955.) The Kyoto Gosho, or Imperial Palace isn't on the World Heritage list either, as it is also a reconstruction. It's one of the sites many recommend just be viewed from the half day bus tour as it is not generally possible to enter the building anyway, however, I've been assured the East Garden is particularly lovely in spring and fall. The beautiful Ujigamijinja shrine's inner shrine is believed to be the oldest shrine building existing in Japan. Kyoto gardens are noted for their beauty and history, as you can see from the sample pictures on this page maintained by Bowdin College.
When you get hungry after hiking around all those historical buildings and beautiful gardens, the Pontocho, narrow street running from Shijo-dori to Sanjo-dori, one block west of the Kamo River, offers sustenance. Inexpensive yakitori, which means "grilled chicken", and expensive exclusive establishments which require connections for entry line the street. Restaurants are typically open until nearly midnight, and you might spot a Geisha while hunting just the right eatery. The area is easy to reach as it is near Shijo Kawaramachi bus station, which is served by ten bus lines, as well as the Shijo and Kawaramachi train stations. There will be another entry on Kyoto later with a preliminary itinerary.
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