Kyoto Things to Do

This small ryokan has been welcoming guests from all over the world for more than 50 years and seems to be a favorite of visiting journalists, as evidenced by the many framed newspaper articles written about the ryokan t... more

Representative of the earliest of Heian landscaping, only bits of this once extensive strolling Chinese-style garden remains. While the aristocracy enjoyed the premises, only rarely was the public allowed to enter. It is still... more

To keep bad spirits from harming Heian-kyo in 940 Yuki Jinja was established at the entry to Mount Kurayama. The shrine has two important cultural properties--a pair of guardian lions. To commemorate the removal of Yuki's deity... more

Japanese classical literature buffs continue to debate whether Murasaki's reference to a northern hill temple in the Tale of Genji meant Kurama or Daiun-ji. Established to thwart bad spirits from the north, Kuramadera's Hon-do... more

Set in the foothills of Higashiyama, the garden's water supply came from the adjacent brick aqueduct connecting Lake Biwa to Kyoto, leaving the city less dependent on the Kamo River. With assistance from Jihei Ogawa, the Meiji... more

Located in the forested hills of Higashiyama not far from Shugakuin Imperial Villa, Saginomori Shrine dates from the ninth century but was transferred to its present location in the seventeenth century. The shrine is notable fo... more

This is a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji, which is well known for having five separate rock gardens, one of which is practically a miniature and is squeezed between two buildings. But of course, if the garden were too big, reality wo... more

Manshuin is a mountainside Tendai sect temple dates from 1656. It is noted for its Edo-style architecture and the ornate elegance of its tatami study rooms with their opulent sliding doors, painted by Kano Eitoku, opening to re... more

This often overlooked or unknown temple was a former Jingo-ji sub-temple. Vestiges of its former status are its statues--one is of the Fudo Myo bodhisattva and two are important cultural properties: a Kannon with 1,000 arms and... more

Flanked by traditional teahouses, the massive vermilion torii gate is the entrance to the hillside trek up Atago-san. The temple's main feature is the cemetery where over 1,000 gravestones (mostly of peasants) are noteworthy be... more