Kyoto: people and place. Part 1

Kyoto: quiet temples, sublime gardens, colourful shrines and geisha scurrying to secret liaisons.

There are said to be over 1000 Buddhist temples in Kyoto. You’ll find true masterpieces of religious architecture, such as the retina-burning splendour of Kinkaku-ji (the famed Golden Pavilion) and the cavernous expanse of Higashi Hongan-ji). Within the temple precincts are some of the world’s most sublime gardens, from the Zen masterpiece at Ryōan-ji) to the riotous paradise of moss and blossoms at Saihō-ji). And then there are the Shintō shrines, monuments to Japan’s indigenous faith. The mother of all shrines, Fushimi-Inari-Taisha), has mesmerising arcades of vermillion torii (shrine gates) spread across a mountainside.

While the rest of Japan has adopted modernity with abandon, the old ways are hanging on in Kyoto. Take a morning stroll through the textile district of Nishijin) and watch the old Kyoto ladies emerge from their machiya (traditional townhouses) to ladle water onto their stoops. Visit an old shōtengai (shopping street) and admire the ancient speciality shops: tofu sellers, fishmongers, pickle vendors and tea merchants. Then join the locals at a local sentō (public bath) to soak away the cares of the day.