KYOTO GUIDE
There is no city better than Kyoto if you want to experience traditional Japanese culture. For over a thousand years, it served as the nation’s capital. With over 1600 Buddhist temples and more than 400 Shinto shrines, Kyoto is great for sightseeing and worth visiting multiple times. I’ve only spent a few days in Kyoto in total so my recommendation list is relatively short. I would suggest augmenting it with research of your own, and email me if you have recommendations of your own!
Sightseeing
Kinkaku-ji
Recommendation: Can’t miss.
Kinkaku-ji means Temple of the Golden Pavilion and it’s one of the most popular temples in Kyoto. Surrounded by water and trees, the structure is stunningly beautiful. The gold-leaf coating shines brightly even on cloudy days and the temple’s reflection appears on the still waters of the pond. It’s my favorite temple in Kyoto and I highly recommend visiting.
Kiyomizu-dera
Recommendation: Can’t miss.
Kiyomizu-dera is a very large temple and one of the most famous ones in Kyoto. The entire structure is impressive and built without a single nail. The temple surroundings are especially beautiful in the spring when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, or in the fall when the trees leaves turn red.
Fushimi Inari
Recommendation: Can’t miss.
Fushimi Inari is a Shinto shrine, famous for its thousands of tori gates which line the trails to the top of the mountain. It is absolutely breathtaking and very picturesque. The walk up to the shrine is quite a hike and can take up to two hours. However, you don’t need to reach the top to enjoy the beauty of the site. This is one of my favorite places to visit in Kyoto and I highly recommend visiting.
Tofukuji
Recommendation: Worth a detour.
Tofukuji is a large Zen temple with beautiful gardens. There are two main structures, both built with Zen architecture. One of the unique things here is the rock garden that surrounds the head priest’s former living quarters. The buildings give a sense for how people lived a few centuries ago and I really enjoyed walking around the gardens.
Food
Hafuu
Price: $$
Worth trying once: Yes
Would I go back: Yes
Hafuu serves different steak dishes and I recommend ordering the wagyu katsu sando. It’s expensive at ¥5000 a sandwich but it’s very delicious and worth the price.
The restaurant only takes reservations for dinner and accepts walk-ins for lunch. I think the sandwich is a perfect amount for lunch and recommend arriving right when the shop opens. If you decide to visit for dinner, have your hotel make a reservation for you.
Mishimatei
Price: $$$
Worth trying once: Yes
Would I go back: No
Mishimatei is a well known sukiyaki restaurant that serves it with A5 wagyu beef. It was the first time I had sukiyaki in Japan and was cooked differently from what I was used to. Instead of a bowl of soup with all of the ingredients cooked together, a shallow pot was used to cook everything with only enough sukiyaki sauce to flavor the food, not submerge it. The food overall was pretty good but the ambiance of the restaurant wasn’t great. Everyone was seated in a large room with short dividers for some privacy. It was loud and I could hear kids running around the restaurant. For a place that costs around ¥12000 per person, I expect a better environment for the money.
Reservations are recommended so have your hotel concierge call them.
Kichi Kichi
Price: $$
Worth trying once: Yes
Would I go back: No
Kichi Kichi is a very popular omurice restaurant. The omelet is perfectly cooked and the chef cuts it over the rice right in front of you. Runny egg in the center of the omelet spills beautifully over the rice below. While the dish is totally insta-worthy, the taste was a bit underwhelming to me. The demi-glace sauce was slightly bitter and the rice was a bit undercooked. I thought my visit might’ve been a fluke but my friend who visited on a separate occasion said the same thing.
The restaurant is popular with tourists so you have to make reservations early in advance. Have your hotel call the restaurant for you. I think the experience overall is pretty neat and the food is not bad, but I’d rather try other restaurants in the future.
Gion Tokuya
