Kyoto

"Even in Kyoto, hearing the cuckoo's cry, I long for Kyoto"

- Japanese People

The capital of Japan for 1000 years, this is the "history city." It draws Chambaras like honey does bees. In Kyoto, you can find the old Imperial palace, and literally hundreds of temples and shrines. This is an AV no-fly zone, and you'll notice there are no buildings over 12 stories high. This is because of the power of the temples. Skyscrapers would ruin the views of the Temple's gardens, and so building skyscrapers has been actively discouraged. In 1995, the JR railroad company tried to build a big 40-story hotel/convention center on the main station. It was sabotaged and blown up three times before the company gave up.

The best shopping area in Kyoto is on Kawaramachi street, from Shijo avenue to Nijo avenue. This area is purely shopping arcades, and thousands of small shops (selling everything from temple incense to new cyberware) are squeezed in. This is also a good place to see new independent Rockers in the Reggae clubs, Discos, and live Halls, as well as on the street. Kyoto is also the home of the Geisha, and they can be hired (1 million New Yen a night) for their traditional dances and music playing. (No, they are not prostitues. Those girls are along Ponto street, east of Kawaramachi.)

History
The capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years (from 794 to 1868), Kyōto (literally, “Capital City”) has been called a variety of names through the centuries—Heian-kyō (“Capital of Peace and Tranquillity”), Miyako (“The Capital”), and Saikyō (“Western Capital”), its name after the Meiji Restoration (1868) when the imperial household moved to Tokyo. The contemporary phrase  sekai no Kyōto  (“the world’s Kyōto”) reflects the reception of Japanese culture abroad and Kyōto’s own attempt to keep up with the times. Nevertheless, Kyōto is the centre of traditional Japanese culture and of Buddhism, as well as of fine textiles and other Japanese products. The deep feeling of the Japanese people for their culture and heritage is represented in their special relationship with Kyōto—all Japanese try to go there at least once in their lives, with almost a third of the country’s population visiting the city annually. Several of the historic temples and gardens of Kyōto were collectively added as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

Kyoto Wards
The city of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan has eleven wards.

Southern Higashiyama
Southern Higashiyama is the most important sightseeing district in Kyoto. It contains everything from dazzling temples, to preserved lanes, to the city’s main geisha district.

Northern Higashiyama
The Northern Higashiyama Area is one of Kyoto’s most important sightseeing districts. It’s less crowded than Southern Higashiyama but it contains at least as many first-rate sights, including fantastic temples, shrines and lots of greenery.

Downtown Kyoto
Downtown Kyoto is loaded with hotels, shops, restaurants, bars and clubs. It’s not a main sightseeing destination, but there are some good sights scattered about.

Cnetral Kyoto
Central Kyoto contains two of the most important tourist sites in the city: the Kyoto Gosho (Imperial Palace) and Nijo Castle, as well as a few smaller sights and attractions.

Northwest Kyoto
The Northwest Kyoto Area is a bit of a hike from downtown or the station, but it contains several of Kyoto’s most important sights like Kinkaku-ji Temple (the Golden Pavilion), Ryoan-ji Temple (with its famous rock garden) and Myoshin-ji Temple.

Arashiyama
Arashiyama is the second-most important sightseeing district in Kyoto. It’s filled with temples and shrines, but the star attraction is the famed Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.

Kyoto Station Area
Kyoto’s main entry point, the Kyoto Station Area is a major transport hub and shopping district.

Southeast Kyoto
Southeast Kyoto, at the far southern end of the Higashiyama Mountains, is home to two of Kyoto’s greatest sights: the Shinto wonderland of Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine and the Zen world of Tofuku-ji Temple and all the subtemples that surround it.

Kurama and Kibune
Kurama and Kibune are a pair of tranquil rural villages and easy and scenic 30-minute train north of Kyoto on Eizan Line.

Ohara
Ohara is a tranquil rural village in the mountains north of Kyoto, about an hour (20 kilometers) from Kyoto Station by bus. In addition to several fine temples

Takao
Takao is a lovely village in the Kitayama Mountains about 15 kilometers northwest of Kyoto. It rivals Kurama & Kibune as the single best daytrip out of Kyoto for nature lovers.

Uji
About 15 kms southwest of Kyoto, and easily accessed by both the Keihan Line and the JR Line, Uji is famous for the lovely Byodo-in Temple (the temple on the back of the Y10 coin). It’s also famous as a tea growing area.

Climate
Kyōto is most beautiful in spring and fall. The rainy season (June–July) lasts three to four weeks; summers are hot and humid. Winter brings two or three light snows and a penetrating “chilling from below” ( sokobie ). The yearly mean temperature of Kyōto is about 59 °F (15 °C); the highest monthly mean, 80 °F (27 °C), is in August, and the lowest, 38 °F (3 °C), is in January. The average yearly rainfall is about 62 inches (1,574 millimetres).

Cherry Blossom Season
The cherry blossoms (sakura) usually bloom in the last week of March and the first two weeks of April in Kyoto (roughly between 20 March and 14 April). In an average year, the blooms peak on 1 April in Kyoto. It is home to the most famous cherry blossom areas in all of Japan.

Economy
Economy. Tourism forms the base of Kyoto's economy. The city's cultural sites are constantly visited by school groups from across Japan, and many foreign tourists also stop in Kyoto. Kyoto is renowned for its abundance of delicious ethnic foods and cuisine.

Trivia

 * Kyoto was the capital of Japan for more than one thousand years. The city is now the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture located in the Kansai region, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. Kyoto is also known as the  thousand-year capital.
 * It is believed that there are over 1000 Buddhist temples in Kyoto. The mother of all shrines, Fushimi-Inari-Taisha, has mesmerizing arcades of vermilion  torii  (entrance gate to a Shintō shrine) spread across a mountainside.
 * The city of Kyoto offers the entire spectrum of Japanese food, from impossibly refined cuisine known as  kaiseki.  Many of Kyoto’s restaurants are in traditional wooden buildings, where you can have your brunch in the nature’s lap.
 * The festivals in Kyoto are famous not only in Japan but are also known worldwide. The three major festivals of Kyoto are the Aoi-matsuri Festival in early summer, the Gion-matsuri Festival in mid-summer and the Jidai-matsuri Festival in fall.
 * Kyoto was the largest city in Japan towards the end of the 16th century.
 * There are 17 world heritage properties which are located in Kyoto. These heritage sites are attracting many people since each embodies a respective era in which it was constructed.
 * Kyoto University established in 1897 and one of the former imperial universities is considered the best in Japan after the Tokyo University.
 * Kyoto has seven independent rail services. To go places, you need to rush from one to the other. This means you need different tickets and sometimes there is a hefty hike between stations.
 * There is a palace located in a park of 200 acres- Gosho Palace. The present buildings duplicate the simple lines and beautiful proportions of those of the Heian period.
 * Phones from countries other than Japan usually don’t work there.

Reference

 * Pacific Rim Sourcebook
 * Nippon Sourcebook