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City guide · 京都 Kyoto
Kyoto
An imperial capital for over a thousand years: temples, machiya and festivals are the best textbook on Japan
Kyoto is the culmination of traditional Japanese culture: the stage of Kiyomizu-dera, the reflection of Kinkaku-ji, the thousand torii of Fushimi Inari and the stone lanes of Gion. It deserves a slower pace, exploring one district at a time.
History
How the city came to be
In 794 Emperor Kanmu moved the capital here and built Heian-kyō on the plan of Tang Chang'an. For more than a thousand years the emperor lived in Kyoto, until the move to Tokyo in 1869. The Ōnin War, the Honnō-ji Incident and the Battle of Toba–Fushimi all took place here. Kyoto escaped large-scale bombing in the Second World War, so most of its pre-war heritage survives, and 17 sites are inscribed on the World Heritage List as the 'Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto'.
- 794Emperor Kanmu moved the capital to Heian-kyō
- 1397Ashikaga Yoshimitsu built his Kitayama villa (forerunner of Kinkaku-ji)
- 1467The Ōnin War broke out and much of Kyoto was destroyed
- 1582The Honnō-ji Incident: Oda Nobunaga died
- 1626Nijō Castle was completed
- 1867At Nijō Castle, Tokugawa Yoshinobu announced the return of power to the emperor
- 1869The emperor moved to Tokyo, ending Kyoto's thousand years as imperial capital
Stories
Stories of the city
The deer-hunting general and Kiyomizu-dera
Legend · Kiyomizu-dera
According to temple tradition, in 778 the monk Kenshin (later renamed Enchin) received a revelation in a dream and came to practise beside the waterfall on Mount Otowa. Two years later Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, hunting in the mountains for deer blood as medicine for his sick wife, met Kenshin and was deeply moved. In 798 he and Enchin built the main hall on a large scale and enshrined Bishamonten and Jizō Bodhisattva.
A shogun's villa that became a Zen temple
History · Kinkaku-ji
In 1397 the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu bought a mountain villa in Kitayama, Kyoto, from the Saionji family and rebuilt it as the complex that includes the Golden Pavilion. After Yoshimitsu's death, his son turned it into a Zen temple according to his wishes.
The fire of 1950 and Yukio Mishima's novel
History · Kinkaku-ji
Early on 2 July 1950 a 22-year-old novice monk set fire to the Golden Pavilion and burned it down; the original statue of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was also destroyed in the fire. The Golden Pavilion seen today was rebuilt in 1955. Yukio Mishima based his 1956 novel 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion' on the incident.
The Hata clan and the god Inari
History · Fushimi Inari Taisha
Fushimi Inari Taisha's founding is traditionally dated to 711, by the Hata, an immigrant clan from the Korean Peninsula. The Hata were skilled in agricultural techniques and closely connected to the court, and Inari gradually changed from the clan's tutelary deity into a god protecting abundant harvests and the nation. The roughly 10,000 torii in the grounds are all donated by businesses, and about 800 of them form the continuous 'Senbon Torii'.
The shogunate began here, and ended here
History · Nijō Castle
In 1601 Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the daimyō of western Japan to help build Nijō Castle as the shogunate's base in Kyoto; it was completed in 1626 under his grandson Iemitsu. More than two centuries later, in 1867, the fifteenth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, announced the 'restoration of imperial rule' in the Ninomaru Palace, returning power to the imperial court and bringing the Edo shogunate to an end.
People
People connected with Kyoto
Sengoku period · c. 1528–1582
Akechi Mitsuhide
Sengoku commander who launched the Honnō-ji Incident
Muromachi period · 1358–1408
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
Third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate
1 related places
Sengoku period · 1534–1582
Oda Nobunaga
Sengoku daimyo who began the unification of Japan
Early Heian period · 758–811
Sakanoue no Tamuramaro
Seii Taishōgun (shogun)
1 related places
Sengoku to Edo period · 1543–1616
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Founder of the Edo shogunate
1 related places
Bakumatsu to Meiji · 1837–1913
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Last shogun of the Edo shogunate
1 related places
Must see
Places you shouldn’t miss
Kiyomizu-dera
The courage of 'jumping off the stage at Kiyomizu', where the ancient capital looks back over a thousand years
Kinkaku-ji
A three-storey pavilion clad in gold leaf, a Pure Land reflected in the Mirror Pond
Hanamikōji, Gion
A stone-paved geisha district where geiko and maiko brush past, the 'miyabi' (refined elegance) in the glow of machiya lanterns asks every trave…
Nishiki Market
Four hundred years as 'Kyoto's Kitchen': 390 m of arcade packed with Kyoto vegetables, tamagoyaki and the calls of old shops — a living museum o…
Fushimi Inari Taisha
A vermilion tunnel woven from ten thousand torii: the god of commerce, guarded by fox messengers
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
A 'tunnel of light' with sun filtering through the bamboo, its rustling chosen among the '100 Soundscapes of Japan'
Nijō Castle
The Tokugawa shogunate's base in Kyoto: the Edo shogunate began here, and ended here.
Local life
Food and local daily life
Kiyomizu-dera
Must-try
- Yudōfu (hot tofu)
- Matcha desserts / soft-serve
- Yatsuhashi
Yudōfu (simmered tofu), matcha desserts / soft-serve, yatsuhashi (cinnamon rice cakes), sweets with Kiyomizu-ware tea, Kyoto-vegetable cuisine
| Where to eat | Teahouses and snacks on Ninenzaka / Sannenzaka, the approach of Kiyomizu-zaka; dinner in Gion's Pontochō |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | The slope shops mostly have standing corners — don't eat while walking; no eating or drinking inside the temple |
| Typical price per person | JPY 1,800–3,000 ≈ CNY 81–135 |
| Tips | There are plenty of yatsuhashi samples; nama yatsuhashi (fresh, soft yatsuhashi) needs refrigeration and should be eaten the same day. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
Ocdp · CC0
Kinkaku-ji · Yudōfu / shōjin ryōri · Matcha with wagashi · Kyoto udon
Must-try
- Yudōfu / shōjin ryōri
- Matcha with wagashi
- Kyoto udon
Yudōfu / shōjin ryōri (Buddhist vegetarian cuisine), matcha with wagashi, Kyoto udon, yuba (tofu-skin) dishes, Tsujiri-style matcha desserts
| Where to eat | Teahouses and the canteen street at the gates of Kinkaku-ji, around Kitano Tenmangū, student canteens around Kinugasa |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | No eating or drinking anywhere inside the temple (including your own food); don't be loud in the garden |
| Typical price per person | JPY 1,500–2,800 ≈ CNY 68–126 |
| Tips | Shops by the gate mainly offer lunch sets; for dinner, go back to Shijō-Kawaramachi in the centre. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
Jpatokal · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hanamikōji, Gion · Kaiseki / Kyoto cuisine · Saba-zushi (mackerel sushi) · Kuzukiri
Must-try
- Kaiseki / Kyoto cuisine
- Saba-zushi (mackerel sushi)
- Kuzukiri
Kaiseki / Kyoto cuisine, saba-zushi (mackerel sushi), kuzukiri (arrowroot noodles at old teahouses), matcha + wagashi, yudōfu
| Where to eat | Teahouses and ryōtei on Hanamikōji (mostly by reservation; first-time customers may be restricted), restaurants on Gion-Shijō, the lanes of Pontochō |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | Photography is banned on Hanamikōji's private roads (including of maiko); don't stop maiko or eat and gawk in front of teahouses; ryōtei have strict dress and booking etiquette |
| Typical price per person | Tea and sweets JPY 2,000–3,500 ≈ CNY 90–158; ryōtei dinner JPY 15,000+ ≈ CNY 675+ |
| Tips | For affordable Kyoto food, go to Pontochō / Kiyamachi; Hanamikōji is mainly for strolling and teahouse sweets. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
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MemColorLab · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nishiki Market · Tamagoyaki on a stick · Soy-milk doughnuts · Kyoto pickles
Must-try
- Tamagoyaki on a stick
- Soy-milk doughnuts
- Kyoto pickles
Tamagoyaki skewers (dashimaki on a stick), soy-milk doughnuts, Kyoto pickles, yuba / tofu snacks, matcha desserts / eel-liver skewers and other market snacks
| Where to eat | Shops along the whole Nishiki Market arcade (standing corners), set-meal restaurants around the market |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | The market expressly bans eating while walking — finish in front of the shop where you bought it and hand the rubbish back (multilingual notices) |
| Typical price per person | Snacks altogether JPY 1,500–2,500 ≈ CNY 68–113 |
| Tips | Everything is open by 10 a.m. and gradually closes in the afternoon; buy small portions to share across several shops. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
Pitan · CC BY-SA 3.0
Fushimi Inari Taisha · Inarizushi · Grilled quail / sparrow · Tofu doughnuts
Must-try
- Inarizushi
- Grilled quail / sparrow
- Tofu doughnuts
Inarizushi (rice in fried tofu pouches, linked to the fox legend), grilled quail / sparrow (traditional stalls on the approach — choose with care), tofu doughnuts, matcha shaved ice, Kyoto ramen (by the station)
| Where to eat | The stall street on the shrine's approach, small shops around Inari Station, restaurants in the Fushimi sake-brewery district |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | Eat stall food in designated areas of the shrine grounds; inside the Senbon Torii, don't eat, drink or stop for photos and block the way |
| Typical price per person | JPY 1,200–2,200 ≈ CNY 54–99 |
| Tips | Stalls are few and pricey higher up the mountain, so stock up below; Fushimi sake tastings are off-limits to minors and drivers. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
Ocdp · CC BY-SA 3.0
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove · Yudōfu set meal · Yuba (tofu skin) dishes · Matcha soft-serve
Must-try
- Yudōfu set meal
- Yuba (tofu skin) dishes
- Matcha soft-serve
Yudōfu set meals (Saga tofu), yuba dishes, matcha soft-serve, bamboo-shoot dishes in season (spring), Arashiyama coffee / wagashi
| Where to eat | The shopping street in front of Tenryū-ji's main gate, Shigetsu (the shōjin ryōri restaurant inside Tenryū-ji), restaurants around Togetsukyō Bridge |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | Shōjin ryōri inside Tenryū-ji must be booked, vegetarian without the five pungent vegetables; don't eat or leave rubbish in the bamboo grove |
| Typical price per person | JPY 2,000–3,500 ≈ CNY 90–158 |
| Tips | Famous yudōfu restaurants have lunchtime queues — arrive before opening; book meals ahead in cherry-blossom and autumn-leaves seasons. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
Flickr user cobacco(hiro kobashi) · CC BY 2.0
Kyoto Gion Matsuri · Hamo (pike conger) dishes · Minazuki · Yoiyama food stalls
Must-try
- Hamo (pike conger) dishes
- Minazuki
- Yoiyama food stalls
Hamo dishes (Kyoto's summer pike conger — blanched / tempura), minazuki (a June wagashi), Yoiyama yatai (yakisoba / skewers / shaved ice); note that the 'chimaki' of the Gion Matsuri are amulets against misfortune and are not to be eaten
| Where to eat | Yatai around Shijō-Karasuma on Yoiyama nights, restaurants in Pontochō / Gion (book during the festival) |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | Be clear: the Gion Matsuri 'chimaki' are amulets, not food; don't rush into the yamahoko procession rites; take rubbish home from the Yoiyama pedestrian zones |
| Typical price per person | Yatai JPY 1,500–3,000 ≈ CNY 68–135, hamo set JPY 4,000–7,000 ≈ CNY 180–315 |
| Tips | Hamo is a luxury summer delicacy in Kyoto, and lunch sets are the best value. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
Ocdp · CC0
Before you go
Rules to know in Kyoto
There is no tipping in Japan
Do
- Say thank you with 'arigatō gozaimashita'
Don’t
- Pressing loose change on staff
Japan is a no-tipping country and bills usually include service; if you press a tip on staff, some will politely refuse.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: JNTO: Japanese table manners
Take off your shoes when you see a genkan (entrance step)
Do
- Take off your shoes at the entrance of homes, some restaurants, temples and hot-spring facilities
- If unsure, look for a shoe rack or slippers at the entrance
Don’t
- Stepping onto tatami or indoor wooden floors in shoes
It is seen as very rude.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: JNTO: Japanese etiquette
No phone calls on trains and the shinkansen; queue to board
Do
- Put your phone on silent; on the shinkansen, take calls in the area between carriages
- Queue at the marked spots on either side of the train door, and let people off before you get on
- Give priority seats to older people, pregnant women and passengers with limited mobility
Don’t
- Talking on the phone or playing sound aloud in the train
Not illegal, but you will get looks and a reminder from the conductor.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: JNTO: Japanese etiquette
Regional deep dives
Read deeper into each place
Japanese Mythology · Tales of yōkai
The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons in Heian-kyō
What Heian-kyō feared most was not bandits, but a street late at night where old objects, come to life, marched in procession.
Read more
Stories and legends
People of the Heian period believed that an implement used for a full hundred years gains a spirit; these are the tsukumogami. The worn umbrellas, old straw sandals, broken koto, and bald brooms carelessly thrown away during the year-end great cleaning (susuharai) accumulated their resentment around Ichijō-dōri, and one night they all suddenly took form: the lantern demon led the way holding a lantern high, one-eyed little monks hopped along, the ittan-momen fluttered and coiled through the air, the umbrella demon laughed with its tongue lolling out — the procession was vast, with the faint sound of drums and gongs. This is the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Hyakki Yagyō). The tale tells of a young nobleman who did not believe and secretly watched the parade late at night; after meeting the demons' gaze he died suddenly (one version says his soul was carried off). The Uji Shūi Monogatari and other collections also record eyewitness accounts of encountering the procession near the Great Ichijō Bridge. The onmyōji Abe no Seimei was cast by later generations in the role of "foreseeing the night parade and setting wards to protect the palace" — there is no such event in the official histories; it is a layer of Seimei legend accumulated from the Konjaku Monogatarishū onward. The story's "ending" is that there is no ending: the only countermeasures were avoidance — do not go out at night, recite sutras, and place straw sandals upside down to ward off evil. Thus the Night Parade became the first master-theme of Japanese yōkai culture: the Night Parade Picture Scrolls drew the procession into long scrolls, and Mizuki Shigeru's Kitarō, and today's anime and games, are still making this procession march on.
Origins of the story
The term "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" appears in the setsuwa literature from the late Heian to the Kamakura period and in works such as the Tsurezuregusa; the tsukumogami were systematised in the Muromachi-period Tsukumogami-ki and in Toriyama Sekien's Edo-period Illustrated Night Parade of One Hundred Demons （画图百鬼夜行）. Ichijō-dōri was the great avenue at the northern boundary of Heian-kyō, beyond which lay cemeteries and dumping grounds for discarded objects — the geographical reason it became the stage for yōkai (the standard explanation in folklore studies). Seimei Shrine was founded by later generations on the site of Seimei's residence (by one account); the present shrine buildings belong to a modern rebuilding system.
Customs
Yōkai Street is an ordinary residential shopping street — ask the shopkeepers' permission before photographing the yōkai figures at their shopfronts, and do not make loud noise at night that disturbs residents; worship at Seimei Shrine follows two bows, two claps, one bow, and do not touch sacred objects other than the water-drawing facilities of the Seimei Well; when joining yōkai events in cosplay, follow the organisers' routes and curfews, and do not enter solemn festival areas in costume.
Places you can visit
Ichijō-dōri's Taishōgun shopping street in Kamigyō Ward, Kyoto (the "Ichijō Yōkai Street," about 400 m, with handmade yōkai figures at the shopfronts and the Yōkai-dō); Seimei Shrine (the five-pointed star crest, the Seimei Well); the market in front of Kitano Tenmangū can be visited along the way. It must be stated truthfully: the "Ichijō Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" procession on Ichijō-dōri has been suspended in recent years for reasons including safety (there are public reports of the cancellation of the spring 2025 session); whether it resumes is as officially announced each year. Alternative living activities include the "Uzumasa Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" at Toei Kyoto Studio Park's Kai-Kai Yokai Festival, with schedules as officially announced each year.
Image source · Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert · CC BY 4.0
Japanese Mythology · Tales of yōkai / warrior-house legend
The Tengu of Mount Kurama and Minamoto no Yoshitsune
The orphaned young lord of a fallen house, fostered at an ancient mountain temple, learned swordsmanship from a tengu night after night — later he became Japan's most tragic famous general, Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
Read more
Stories and legends
After the Heiji Rebellion, Taira no Kiyomori spared the life of Ushiwakamaru, the young son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and fostered him at Kurama-dera in the northern mountains of Kyoto, hoping he would take the tonsure and end his life as a monk. The boy Ushiwakamaru refused to accept his fate: by day he chanted sutras in the temple; by night he slipped into the dense forest of Sōjōgatani valley. Legend says the valley was home to the great tengu Sōjōbō — red-faced and long-nosed, with wings on his back, the highest lord of Mount Kurama (in one account, an attendant of the mountain temple's honzon, the Demon King). The tengu saw the boy's obstinacy and his natural frame, and night after night taught him strategy and swordsmanship: Ushiwakamaru leapt and darted over fallen trees and practised his footwork among the coiling roots of the "path of tree roots" (Kinone-michi), light as a bird. On the day his training was complete, he vaulted over the railing of Gojō Bridge before the thousand-man slayer Musashibō Benkei and defeated him with a fan — but that is a later story. In the Kurama narrative, the tengu is no man-eating demon but the "teacher in the mountains," the only one in a chaotic age willing to teach skill to someone with neither power nor influence. Ushiwakamaru later passed through Kibune and Hiraizumi and came of age as Minamoto no Yoshitsune; his master-and-pupil bond with the tengu became the boyhood chapter retold again and again by the Noh play Kurama Tengu and countless period dramas. The sorrow of the ending lies outside the mountain: Yoshitsune, his merit too great, was hunted down by his elder brother Yoritomo and died at last in Hiraizumi — and so the dense forest of Kurama remains forever at the moment before anything had happened.
Origins of the story
Yoshitsune's fostering at Kurama-dera is narrated in the Tale of the Heike （平家物语） tradition; the tengu's teaching of his art took shape mainly in the Gikeiki （义经记） (a Muromachi military chronicle) and in Noh and jōruri — a layer of later legend; the official history Azuma Kagami has no tengu affair. Kurama-dera was founded at the end of the Nara to the beginning of the Heian period (traditionally by Gantei in 770); its honzon is now the three-in-one body of Bishamonten, Senju Kannon, and the Guardian Demon King. The great tengu statue in front of Kurama Station was installed by local people in 1994 to commemorate the 1,200th anniversary of the transfer of the capital to Heian (the second-generation statue); it is not an antique.
Customs
On the day of the Fire Festival the streets of Kurama are extremely crowded — follow the one-way flow and police guidance, do not stand directly beneath the torches, and carry no flammables; the mountain paths are practitioners' ways — do not make noise, and do not step on the tree roots of the Kinone-michi to take photos; the water divination at Kifune Shrine must use the shrine's divination paper — do not put ordinary paper into the water basin; many stretches of the mountain have no signal, so do not walk alone at night "looking for tengu."
Places you can visit
Kurama-dera in Sakyō Ward, Kyoto (the Niōmon gate, the main hall Kondō, the inner sanctuary Maōden, the Kinone-michi path of tree roots, and legend sites associated with Yoshitsune such as the Ikitsugi water and the back-comparing stone); Yuki Shrine (a site of Izumi Shikibu's retreat in the Tale of Genji tradition, and water-deity worship); Kifune Shrine (the legend of the origin of ema votive plaques at the shrine of bonds); the Kurama Fire Festival at Yuki Shrine (usually on the night of 22 October, when torch processions march with the calls of "Saireya, Sairyō," as officially announced each year, with strict crowd control).
Image source · · Public domain
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