I apologize for the lateness of this newsletter. I returned to my home in Tokyo early Monday morning after traveling to Kyoto for the first time in many years last weekend. I drove about 500 km to Kyoto for the extended trip to Amano-Hashidate after Kyoto. It has been so long since my previous trip to Kyoto that I cannot remember when I last was there, and my image of Kyoto has changed dramatically with the rapid increase in the number of tourists from abroad this time. Kyoto has many offerings for international visitors: temples, Japanese gardens, teahouse culture, Japanese food, and even cafes. Even I, a Japanese, was amazed at the many options available. This week, while I still have lingering memories of my first visit to Kyoto in many years, I want to summarize some tips for preparing an itinerary for a visit to Kyoto. There are many different perspectives on visiting Kyoto, and I want to touch on them before too much time passes.
First Impressions of Kyoto after so many years
The first thing I noticed when I walked around Kyoto was the overwhelming number of foreign tourists. The number of tourists, especially from Europe and the United States, was remarkable. Walking around the city, I felt like I was in a Western town.
I went to popular coffee shops in the city for breakfast and found that more than half of the customers were foreign tourists. Not only restaurants but other places that become a topic of conversation on social networking services, etc., quickly spread, and the number of visitors increases rapidly. In the case of Kyoto, tourists tend to concentrate on a limited number of places in a small area, so visitors should be prepared for a certain level of congestion when visiting sites that are the talk of the town on SNS.
Typical Kyoto itinerary for the first time comer to Japan
A model case would be a one-week stay in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. The breakdown of the length of stay varies from person to person, but it may be typical to spend a total of 3 days in Kyoto and Osaka and about two days in Kyoto.
Suppose you are planning to stay in Kyoto for two days. It would be best to visit Kiyomizu-dera Temple and Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine in the east on day 1. For day 2, the Sagano and Arashiyama areas are in the west. All these areas are popular, so if you plan to take photos for social media, you will want to move before the early morning crowds begin. Also, during the fall season, the Sagano/Arashiyama area and other famous spots should be very crowded, so you should consider leaving the popular sites out. I visited Sagano and Arashiyama on Saturday; I could not see anything but crowds. Having enough time and keeping your itinerary flexible is also very important. You will end up with an empty feeling if you put too many things in your plan.
Getting around
Kyoto's public transportation system is very straightforward, with only the Karasuma Line running north-south and the Tozai Line running east-west, and use buses when necessary. In the central area of Kyoto, most places are within walking distance of subway stations, while a combination of subways and buses serves the outer fringes. Buying a day pass for the subway and buses would be best. You can get them at JR Kyoto Station and subway stations.
One recommended location for the hotel
Booking a hotel in Kyoto can be a headache. The high season in Kyoto is the cherry blossom season in spring, and the autumn leaves season in November. This summer's unusually high temperatures made it difficult to predict when the leaves would turn, but the weekend from the 23rd to the 26th of November will be the best time to see the leaves. When I visited there this weekend, the leaves had already started to change in some places, but they were not at their best.
Two of Kyoto's most popular sightseeing spots are Kiyomizu Temple, a World Heritage site, and Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine of "Inari-san," the deity of prosperity and good harvest. Kiyomizu-dera Temple is a 13-meter-high wooden structure built on the steep slope of Mount Otowa. At the same time, Fushimi Inari attracts tourists with its "Senbon-torii," an endless series of vermilion torii gates.
In this case, which area is the most appropriate for a hotel? The area around Gojo Ohashi Bridge, where I stayed this time, is a 15-minute walk from Kiyomizu Temple, 10 minutes from Kiyomizu Gojo Station on the Keihan Electric Railway to Fushimi Inari, and adjacent to the Gion area. It is also a 20-minute walk from JR Kyoto Station and a 10-minute walk from Gojo Station on the Karasuma Subway Line, making it very convenient.
Eating out
Where to eat depends mainly on your budget and the contents of your meal. Various restaurants concentrate between the Kamo River and the line connecting Karasuma-Oike and Gojo on the Karasuma subway line. You can choose the restaurants of interest in this area online. Next time I have a chance, I would like to introduce you to some restaurants where I ate during this trip.
Summary
I have included the following summarised points for you to remember when deciding on your Kyoto itinerary.
You should book hotels as soon as you decide on the itinerary.
If you plan to visit Kiyomizu Temple or Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, the Gojo Ohashi Bridge area is a good choice.
If you plan to visit famous temples and shrines, do so early before breakfast. If you want to go to the extreme, go as soon as the sun rises.
Use the subway system for transportation in the city, and take a bus if necessary. Please avoid taxis.
The number of cabs has declined after the pandemic, so be careful when using them.
I will warn you again that, please start very early if you want to enjoy the silence of temples and shrines in Kyoto. It would be best if you didn’t see yourself surrounded by tourists when you take pictures.
If you have any comments or questions regarding the Kyoto itinerary preparation, please leave them in the chat section.
I’ve long ago given up on Kyoto. Whether they are foreign tourists or not, there are just too many TOURISTS. We say Disneyland as a joke, but it’s not.
Kyoto needs to wrestle with Over Tourism. Now. I don’t envy them, and I do understand their predicament.
When I first came to Japan in the 1980s, I was fortunate to be given some amazing advice about Kamakura. Definitely go, I was told, but get off the train one stop early at Kita Kamakura. I did that over and over again for years, bypassing the mess that Kamakura Stn area had already become even back then.
Kyoto as it currently stands has zero attraction for me. It’s in danger.