KYOTO || These Photos will make You Fall in Love with this Historic City Brimming with Creativity
Kyoto offers more than meets the eye.
When you think of Kyoto, temples, shrines, and other historical Japanese architecture or landmarks may come to mind, but there’s much more to discover. While we embraced the serenity and peacefulness of basking in the nature scenes of the city’s dense, majestic forests and mountains, we indulged in the many innovative culinary offerings dotting the neighbourhood streets.
We loved discovering mom-and-pop homestyle eateries while walking along residential streets. They seem to pop up where you least expect them. Locals would come by on their bikes to grab their morning coffee, politely saying goodbye and bidding the owner a nice day as they shut the sliding wooden door. On one such encounter, it was an elderly man leaving a traditional coffee shop, and when he spotted me with my camera in hand, he jokingly asked if I wanted to take his photo. One thing that surprised me about this trip was the friendliness of the Japanese people; when I lived in Japan, this type of encounter would have been harder to come by; however, on this visit, we had plenty of shop owners stop to chat with us. They asked us where we were from and how long we were staying before telling us to enjoy our stay in their country. It was lovely to have such experiences.
Some of the photos below are street scenes I captured on my morning walks through a quieter residential neighbourhood near Gojo station, just one stop from Kyoto station. Here, you could avoid the tourist crowds and enjoy the solitude of this ancient city. Other photos are of our visits to temples near the city, tranquil escapes where you can breathe in nature’s scent and feel the stress melt away.
This blend of old and new is a key reason for spending time in Kyoto. We hope you enjoy it.
An eatery nestled in a hidden garden that we stumbled upon during one of our neighbourhood walks.
You’ll see locals riding along on their bikes everywhere in Kyoto. An easier way of getting around the neighbourhood instead of driving since eateries, cafes, and groceries are all nearby.
Cozy specialty coffee shops serve the surrounding neighbourhood and are truly hidden gems.
What we loved most about Kyoto was the pleasant surprise of stumbling upon a traditional or hip eatery as we were exploring the residential streets.
The Rokkakudo Temple. A Buddhist temple that blends in with the residential homes and retail shops in the same city block.
Visitors tie their paper omikuji to the willow tree branches billowing in the wind. Omikuji are paper fortune strips at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.
The majestic trees soaring above the architecture reminds us of how small we are.
Imagine enjoying time alone here. Just you and the historic red torii gates of Fushiinari-Jinja.
Photography by Florence Leung
