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Nestled among mountains in Western Honshu, Kyoto (京都; [2]) has a reputation worldwide as Japan's most beautiful city. However, visitors may be surprised by how much work they will have to do to see its beautiful side. Most visitors' first impressions will be of the urban sprawl of central Kyoto, around the ultra-modern glass-and-steel train station, which is itself an example of a city steeped in tradition colliding with the modern world.
Nonetheless, the persistent tourist will soon discover Kyoto's hidden beauty in the temples and parks which ring the city center, and find that the city has much more than immediately meets the eye.
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Kyoto offers an incredible number of attractions for tourists, and visitors will probably need to plan an itinerary in advance in order to visit as many as possible.
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A highly-recommended walking tour is the "Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English" tour (16/over ¥2000; 13-15 ¥1000; under 13 free; no reservations, cash only). The tour is given by Hajime Hirooka, better known to the tourists as Johnny Hillwalker. During the five-hour English-speaking tour, Hillwalker shows tourists a large Buddhist temple, a few Shinto shrines, and workshops in the back alleys of the city. The tour operates rain or shine on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between March and November, excluding public holidays. Departure time is 10:15 AM sharp outside the main (north) entrance of Kyoto station. See Johnnie's Kyoto Walking for more information.
- Shunkoin Temple (???), 42 Myoshiji-cho, Hanazono, Ukyo-ku, ? +81 75 462 5488 (rev.taka.kawakami@gmail.com), [10]. 9-10:30 AM, 10:40 AM-12:10 PM, 1:30-3 PM daily. The temple's American-educated vice abbot, Rev. Taka Kawakami, offers a detailed English tour of temple and leads Zen meditation lessons. The temple hosts many important artistic and cultural properties related to Zen Buddhism and also connected to Shinto and Christianity, and also offers accommodation for ¥5000/night. ¥2000 for tour, including ''matcha'' green tea and sweet.
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If you've just stepped off the train and the first thing on your mind is a bite to eat, there are several restaurants on the tenth and eleventh floors of the Isetan department store attached to Kyoto station. Most of the offerings are Japanese, including a veritable Ramen village, with a few casual Italian cafes as well.
- Local specialties include: hamo (a white fish served with ume as sushi), tofu (try places around Nanzenji temple), suppon (an expensive turtle dish), vegetarian dishes (thanks to the abundance of temples), and kaiseki-ryori (multi-course chef's choice that can be extremely expensive).
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