Kyoto
With more than 2,000 temples and shrines, Kyoto is a city steeped in history. Alongside its impressive architectural heritage, there are many other attractions for the modern traveller, such as intricate Japanese cooking, a thriving coffee culture, a lush retail scene and museums filled with art – old and new. Kyoto spent some 1,000 years as the capital of Japan, so generations of families have been making knives, ceramics, kimonos and other highly specialised crafts here for millennia. But the ancient capital is not all about the past: video game giant Nintendo is headquartered here and the relocation of the Cultural Affairs Agency from Tokyo to Kyoto has reinforced its modern relevance. By 2030, new facilities for the restoration of Japan’s historic cultural properties will be established in the city.
While home to fewer than 1.5 million residents, an annual influx of tens of millions of visitors means that the city is busier than ever. Those willing to put in the time will discover that pockets of tranquillity can still be found, especially on the fringes. Take a stroll in a Zen garden or dangle your feet in the Kamo, the river that flows through central Kyoto. One of the city’s foremost attractions is its proximity to nature: the basin is surrounded by mountains and the changing seasons are deeply felt.
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