Kyoto

Kyoto

Kyoto is considered one of the most historically significant cities in Japan. It is the only major Japanese city spared from the bombs of World War II, leaving it the country's most preserved urban area. This former capital is brimming with more than 2,000 temples and shrines, a trio of palaces and dozens of gardens and museums. It's well-preserved architecture and relics are what put Kyoto on the sightseeing map, but one could spend years exploring it's hidden treasures and still keep turning up more surprises. Once you've had your fill of temples, you can easily go for a hike in the surrounding mountains, browse the shops or best of all enjoy some of the finest food in all Japan.

Attractions

Kinkakuji (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion) - One of Kyoto's best-known attractions, Kinkakuji was constructed in 1397 as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. This impressive palace features a three-story pavilion covered in gold leaf with a roof topped by a bronze phoenix, and was said to evoke paradise on earth. Kinkakuji was converted to a Zen temple after Yoshimitsu's death in 1408. If you come here on a clear day, the Golden Pavilion shimmers against a blue sky, its reflection captured in the waters of a calm pond.

Activities

Tucked away in the corners of Kyoto, the curious visitor can discover quiet Japanese gardens, tea-houses, traditional Japanese restaurants, cobbled alleyways, and shops selling antiques or the products of traditional artisans.

Shopping

As the nation's capital for more than 1,000 years, Kyoto became home to a number of crafts and exquisite art forms that catered to the elaborate tastes of the upper classes. There are several crafts specific to Kyoto. Kyoningyo are display dolls, kyoshikki is lacquerware with designs formed using gold or silver dust, and kyosensu are ritual fans made from bamboo and Japanese paper. And Kyoto's markets are the best place to find antiques and bric-a-brac at reasonable prices. Make sure you bargain for better prices, and the markets are the only places in Japan where you are able to do so.

Food

Kyoto is full of restaurants serving both kaiseki (meals fit for an emperor) and simpler restaurants specialize in Obanzai (home-style Kyoto cooking). Kyoto cuisine, known as Kyo-ryori, is probably most famous for the vegetarian dishes created to serve the needs of Zen Buddhist priests making the rounds of Kyoto's many temples. These vegetarian set meals (shojin ryori) may include tofu simmered in a pot at your table, filmy sheets of soymilk curd and an array of local vegetables. Kyoto is also renowned for its own style of kaiseki, an elaborate feast enjoyed by the capital's nobility with its blend of ceremonial court cuisine, Zen vegetarian food, and simple tea-ceremony dishes.

Currency

The yen (JPY) is the currency of Japan.

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