253
pages
English
Ebooks
2018
Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage
Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus
Découvre YouScribe et accède à tout notre catalogue !
Découvre YouScribe et accède à tout notre catalogue !
253
pages
English
Ebooks
2018
Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage
Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus
Publié par
Date de parution
01 août 2018
EAN13
9781787019300
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
30 Mo
Publié par
Date de parution
01 août 2018
EAN13
9781787019300
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
30 Mo
Kyoto
Contents
Plan Your Trip
Welcome to Kyoto
Kyoto’s Top 10
What’s New
Need to Know
First Time Kyoto
Top Itineraries
If You Like
Month By Month
Kyoto by the Seasons
With Kids
Like a Local
For Free
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Temples & Shrines
Explore
Neighbourhoods at a Glance
Kyoto Station & South Kyoto
Top Sights
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Shopping
Downtown Kyoto
Top Sights
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Imperial Palace & Around
Top Sights
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
Gion & Southern Higashiyama
Top Sights
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
Northern Higashiyama
Top Sights
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Northwest Kyoto
Top Sights
Sights
Eating
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
Arashiyama & Sagano
Top Sights
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Shopping
Activities
Day Trips from Kyoto
Kurama & Kibune
Ōhara
Nara
Osaka
Miyama-chō
Sleeping
Understand
Understand Kyoto
Kyoto Today
History
Religion
Geisha
Arts & Crafts
Architecture & Gardens
The Tea Ceremony
Survive
Transport
Arriving in Kyoto
Getting Around
Directory A–Z
Customs Regulations
Electricity
Emergency
Health
Internet Access
LGBT Travellers
Maps
Medical Services
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Taxes & Refunds
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Travellers with Disabilities
Visas
Women Travellers
Language
Kyoto Maps
Fushimi Inari-Taisha
Nijō-jō
Nishiki Market
Daitoku-ji
Chion-in
Gion
Kiyomizu-dera
Ginkaku-ji
Nanzen-ji
Kinkaku-ji
Ōkōchi Sansō
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Kyoto
Kyoto is old Japan writ large: atmospheric temples, sublime gardens, traditional teahouses and geisha scurrying to secret liaisons.
Japan’s Spiritual Heart
This is a city of some 2000 temples and shrines: a city of true masterpieces of religious architecture, such as the splendour of Kinkaku-ji (the famed Golden Pavilion) and the cavernous expanse of Higashi Hongan-ji. It’s where robed monks shuffle between temple buildings, prayer chants resonate through stunning Zen gardens, and the faithful meditate on tatami-mat floors. Even as the modern city buzzes and shifts all around, a waft of burning incense, or the sight of a bright vermillion torii gate marking a shrine entrance, are regular reminders that Kyoto remains the spiritual heart of Japan.
A Trip for the Tastebuds
Few cities of this size pack such a punch when it comes to their culinary cred, and at its heart is Nishiki Market (‘Kyoto’s kitchen’). Kyoto is crammed with everything from Michelin-starred restaurants, chic cocktail bars, cool cafes and sushi spots to food halls, izakaya (Japanese pub-eateries), craft-beer bars and old-school noodle joints. Splurge on the impossibly refined cuisine known as kaiseki while gazing over your private garden, taste the most delicate tempura in a traditional building, slurp down steaming bowls of ramen elbow-to-elbow with locals, then slip into a sugar coma from a towering matcha sundae.
A City of Artisans
While the rest of Japan has adopted modernity with abandon, the old ways are still clinging on in Kyoto. With its roots as the cultural capital of the country, it’s no surprise that many traditional arts and crafts are kept alive by artisans from generation to generation. Wander the streets downtown, through historic Gion and past machiya (traditional Japanese townhouses) in the Nishijin textile district to find ancient speciality shops from tofu sellers, washi (Japanese handmade paper) and tea merchants, to exquisite lacquerware, handcrafted copper chazutsu (tea canisters) and indigo-dyed noren (hanging curtains).
Cultural Encounters
If you don’t know your matcha (powdered green tea) from your manga (Japanese comic), have never slept on a futon or had a bath with naked strangers, then it doesn’t matter as this is the place to immerse yourself in the intricacies of Japanese culture. Whether you watch matcha being whisked in a traditional tea ceremony, spend the night in a ryokan, get your gear off and soak in an onsen, join a raucous hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) party or discover the art of Japanese cooking – you’ll come away one step closer to understanding the unique Japanese way of life.
Woman in traditional dress, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove | GUITAR PHOTOGRAPHER / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Why I Love Kyoto
By Kate Morgan, Writer
Having visited Kyoto many times, it still surprises and delights me. No matter how often I hear the ‘nightingale floors’ squeak beneath my feet at Nijō-jō, pad barefoot across tatami mats in ryokan, sip matcha in centuries-old tearooms, cycle through Arashiyama’s bamboo forest or drink convenience-store beer on the banks of the Kamo-gama, it’s a city I could never tire of. Yes, it’s an ancient Japanese woodblock print come to life with its geisha and impossibly pretty cherry-blossom trees, but it’s also a university town with a youthful feel and modernity breathing down its traditional neck.
For more, see Our Writers
Kyoto’s Top 10
Kinkaku-ji
1 Talk about eye candy: the gold-plated main hall of this immensely popular temple in northwest Kyoto is probably the most impressive sight in the entire city. The hall rises above its reflecting pond like an apparition and if you’re lucky enough to be here on a bright sunny day, you almost need sunglasses to look at it. The surrounding gardens and cosy teahouse Sekka-tei are also worth a visit here. Go early on a weekday morning to avoid the crush of people that descend on the temple each day.
1 Northwest Kyoto
GOWITHSTOCK / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Kyoto’s Top 10
Fushimi Inari-Taisha
2 This sprawling Shintō shrine is arguably one of Japan’s most arresting visual spectacles. Thousands of vermilion torii (entrance gate to a Shintō shrine) line paths that criss-cross this mountain in southeast Kyoto. Visit the main hall and then head up the hill towards the summit. Be prepared to be utterly mesmerised. If you have time, do the circular pilgrimage route around the top of the mountain. And don’t be afraid to get lost – that’s part of the fun at Fushimi.
1 Kyoto Station & South Kyoto
PATRYK KOSMIDER / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Kyoto’s Top 10
Gion District
3 Gion , Kyoto’s traditional entertainment district, is the best place in the city to catch a glimpse of ‘old Japan’. With no fewer than three geisha districts scattered about, you stand a good chance of spotting a geisha (known as geiko in Kyoto) scurrying to an appointment. But geisha are only part of the story here: Gion also contains some of the most picturesque lanes in Kyoto, including Shimbashi. And don’t forget Minami-za Theatre, the city’s traditional kabuki theatre.
1 Gion & Southern Higashiyama
F11PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Kyoto’s Top 10
Ginkaku-ji
4 A paradise tucked at the base of the Higashiyama mountains, Kyoto’s famed Silver Pavilion is everything a Buddhist temple ought to be. The eponymous pavilion looks over a tranquil pond, and the stroll garden is sublime. Make your way past the unique sand mounds (used to reflect moonlight into the main hall for moon-viewing ceremonies), then climb the pathway to a lookout that offers panoramic views over the entire city. The autumn foliage here is among the best in the city.
1 Northern Higashiyama
SEAN PAVONE / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Kyoto’s Top 10
Chion-in
5 Called by some ‘the Vatican of Pure Land Buddhism’, this temple complex is a thriving hub of religious activity. The 24m-high San-mon gate is one of the largest wooden tower gates in Japan. The main hall is an imposing and impressive building, though is closed to the public until 2019. Wander the gardens visiting the collection of temple buildings here and allow yourself to be transported to blissful realms by the chanting of the monks. Then head up the hill to admire the enormous 70-tonne temple bell.
1 Gion & Southern Higashiyama
Monks at Chion-in | PANORAMIC IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES ©
Kyoto’s Top 10
Kaiseki Cuisine
6 In a city blessed with excellent dining options, one not to be missed is the refined and elegant experience of kaiseki cuisine . Kaiseki consists of a number of small courses, largely vegetarian, served on exquisite dinnerware where the preparation and service is as outstanding as the food itself. Diners are usually served in private rooms at speciality restaurants, such as the highly regarded Kikunoi , and many ryokan serve kaiseki for guests. Prices can be steep when it comes to this Japanese haute cuisine but it’s guaranteed to be a meal of a lifetime.
5 Eating
KPG_PAYLESS / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Kyoto’s Top 10
Ōkōchi Sansō
7 While tourists descend on the nearby Bamboo Grove like paparazzi snapping photos of a big-wig celebrity, Arashiyama’s Ōkōchi Sansō sits out of the limelight like a star waiting to be discovered. This charming estate is the former home of the famous samurai film actor from the 1920s, Ōkōchi Denjirō. The sprawling gardens here invite lazy wandering and there are fine views from the top of the hill. Take a break in the traditional teahouse with matcha (green powdered tea; pictured right) and a sweet, and relish your escape from the crowds.
1 Arashiyama & Sagano
KPG_PAYLESS / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Kyoto’s Top 10
Daitoku-ji
8 Carefully raked gravel representing rippling water, stylised arrangements of rocks, pruned trees, lush moss and dripping water – just one of these Zen garden features would be enough to have you feeling calm and contemplative, but here you have a mini world of them. Daitoku-ji is a complex of wandering lanes and subtemples with some of the most beautiful kare-sansui (dry landscape) gardens hidden inside their gates.