What Makes It Worth It

🏛 Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine

Kyoto is the soul of Japan — the city that served as imperial capital for over a thousand years (794–1869), that escaped the worst of World War II bombing due to its cultural significance, and that today holds the most concentrated collection of classical Japanese architecture, garden design, and living cultural tradition anywhere in the country. While Tokyo represents Japan's future, Kyoto carries its past — and the quality and density of that past is extraordinary.

Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine is Kyoto's most visited site and one of Japan's most visually iconic — 10,000 vermilion torii gates donated by businesses and individuals over centuries, winding up the forested slopes of Mount Inari in an unbroken tunnel of red. The 4-kilometre round trip to the summit takes about 2 hours and offers progressively improving city views; the lower gates are crowded by 9am, so arriving at dawn is strongly recommended. The shrine is free to enter and open 24 hours.

Arashiyama, on the western edge of the city, concentrates several of Kyoto's finest experiences. The bamboo grove at Arashiyama (at its most atmospheric in the early morning before crowds arrive) is the most-photographed spot in Kyoto. Tenryu-ji, a Zen temple with a 14th-century stroll garden that frames Arashiyama Mountain, is one of Japan's finest gardens. Sagano's thatched-roof farmhouses, the Monkey Park on the hillside, and a boat ride down the Hozu River gorge complete a superb half-day.

Gion, Kyoto's historic entertainment district, preserves the machiya townhouse streetscape most associated with geisha culture. Hanamikoji Street in the early evening — when maiko (apprentice geisha) in full kimono move between okiya (geisha houses) and ochaya (teahouses) — is the closest thing to 19th-century Kyoto that survives. Geisha are not performers for hire; they work in a private economy of teahouse entertainment, and respectful observation from a distance is the appropriate approach. Kyoto's cherry blossom season (late March to early April) is the most popular and most crowded; autumn foliage (mid-November) is equally spectacular with fewer visitors.