Exploring Kyoto, Revised Edition: On Foot in the Ancient Capital

By Judith Clancy

UPDATED: This book will be updated with current information on transportation, internet use, new locations, and revised maps and trails to reflect modernization and changes.

AUTHORITATIVE: Author is a long-time Kyoto resident who knows first-hand all the best places, hidden passages, and great spots to walk, view gardens, visit temples, and soak in the classic Kyoto ambience. She leads tours and knows many fascinating shops and shopkeepers and brings all that hard-earned knowledge into this single, compact package.

UNIQUE AND SAVVY: Not a book by a committee but by someone with a deep love and knowledge of the city. Clancy knows the city inside out and can lead others to special places and off-the-beaten-track discoveries.

• 6,000+ copies sold of previous edition
• Kyoto is a perennial favorite destination of tourists. People go there wanting to see traditional culture, gardens, and temples, and this book has them all!
• The Japanese government is investing heavily in promoting Japan as a tourist destination in advance of the 2020 Olympics, so from 2018-2020 tourism to all parts of Japan is expected to be strong. Kyoto is only 2 1/2 hours from Tokyo by bullet train.

TOURISM IN JAPAN

• In 2015, according to www.tourism.jp, there were 2,621,212 North American visitors to Japan, with 2,066,516 from the U.S. Among other English-speaking groups There were 752,150 visitors from Australia, 516,976 from the U.K., 462,780 from Canada, and 98,804 from New Zealand.
• Japan attracted 24.03 million international tourists in 2016. Japan has 19 World Heritage Sites, including Himeji Castle, Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto and Nara.
• The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks Japan 4th out of 141 countries overall, which was the best in Asia. Japan gained relatively high scores in almost all aspects, especially health and hygiene, safety and security, cultural resources and business travel. (Wikipedia/Tourism in Japan)
• Japan Times (Oct 19, 2016) reported: "Tokyo and Kyoto have been picked as the world's best and second-best cities outside the United States, the U.S. travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler said Tuesday."
• "The total number of foreign visitors to Japan this year [2016] is expected to top 20 million for the first time. The government has doubled its annual target of overseas visitors to 40 million in 2020, when Tokyo will host the Olympics and Paralympics." (Japan Times)
• "Kyoto's popularity in recent years has created a surge in demand for hotel rooms. A survey of 27 major hotels by the Kyoto Convention Bureau last year showed their occupancy rate over the January to December period was around 89 percent. During seven months, it went over 90 percent, and in November, the occupancy rate reached 94 percent." (Japan Times)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
• Release date: Apr 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781611729290

Book preview

KEY TO MAPS

京

都

御

苑

1

KYOTO IMPERIAL PARK 京都御苑

Kyoto Gyoen 京都御苑

Kyoto Gosho 京都御所

Sentō Gosho 仙洞御所

As you step into Kyoto Gyoen, the park that surrounds Kyoto Gosho, the former imperial palace, you are likely to be met by the swish of a frisbee or barking dogs, their tails wagging as they appraise other canines out for a walk; this a far cry from the sounds one might have expected to hear just a little over a century ago. Until the 1860s, more than two hundred estates of retired emperors, court nobles, and aristocrats were located within this enclosed patch of green. Then the swish you might have heard would have been that of the silk garments of nobles on their way to court, while the barking might have come from the guns of imperial troops as they fought those defending the collapsing Tokugawa shogunate. Vestiges of that era, marked by scattered boulders and sign posts, offer a glimpse of Kyoto’s past.

Originally, Hamagurimon (Clam Gate; the suffix -mon means gate) was always kept closed. However, a great fire swept through the city in 1788, and, as the flames neared, it opened, like a clamshell tossed on the fire—presumably to allow people to escape—and has remained open ever since.

The end of the Edo period (1600–1868) was a time of great political upheaval, ending in the destruction of the shogunate, the restoration of the imperial rule, and the relocation of the capital to Tokyo. In the midst of this turmoil, feuding clans and factions tried on more than one occasion to force their way into the palace to petition the emperor directly. In one such clash, which took place in the late summer of 1864 and became known as the Hamaguri Gomon Incident, invading forces from the domain of Chōshū were repelled by troops from Satsuma and Aizu defending the imperial court. The gate is still scarred with the bullet marks left by their struggle. Small round indentations can be found at eye level.

KYOTO IMPERIAL PARK

A large expanse of gravel surrounds the outer wall of Kyoto Gosho, the old imperial palace. Close by the wall, an imposing muku tree (Aphananthe aspera) spreads its limbs like a massive fan. The tree was once a part of the Shimizu residence. Today, three hundred years later, it is marked with a sign that explains that it witnessed the fighting at the Hamagurimon in 1864 and is the spot where Lord Kijima Matabei was killed while fighting on the side of the imperial guards. South and west of the giant muku is a long stand of peach and plum trees. There are five or more varieties planted here; they begin to bloom in late February and continue to display their flowers into early April.

In the middle of the palace’s south outer wall is the magnificent gate known as the Kenreimon. This gate, which may be used only by the emperor, is a fine example of Japanese architectural aesthetics. The quiet beauty of unpainted cryptomeria wood and bark-shingled roof lend a distinctly Japanese flavor to this royal entranceway.

The Gishūmon admitted princes, princesses, and royal peers to the imperial palace. The Seishōmon is used by visitors who have applied for and received permission to enter the palace compound itself. (Twice a year, for five days in the spring and fall, the palace is open to the general public from 9 to 3, during which time visitors enter through the Gishūmon.) The third and last gate on the west side is the Kōgōmon, and opposite it is a simple wooden pillar that designates the site of the former Ichijō residence.

The Sakuheimon, the only gate in the north wall, was used by consorts and ladies-in-waiting. Across from it, one of the small paths to the north leads to a rather overgrown area with a sign marking the site of the former Konoe estate. The Konoe were among the highest-ranking aristocrats associated with the court, and for over a thousand years they served as regents and chief advisors to the emperor. Today, very little is left of their garden, although yellow wagtails, kingfishers, and a number of other feathered visitors find their way to the secluded pond. West of the pond stood a mansion that served as a temporary imperial residence. A sign indicates that one emperor composed a poem while viewing a treasured cherry that grew here. Today, a canopy of hanging cherry trees makes this a favored spot in April.

A wide graveled road leads out of the north gate of the park. Just to the right, before the exit, is a walled-in area that was once the Katsura residence. Today this compound provides housing for the employees of the park and palace.

Japanese consider the northeast direction so unlucky that the outer wall of the palace was built without a proper corner. (This superstition is so pervasive that a bed will not be laid out with the head facing north, nor are traditional houses constructed with northeast-facing entrances.) However, tucked up under the eaves on the eastern side is a caged wooden monkey wearing a nobleman’s hat and carrying a Shintō wand with paper strips. Legend has it that this rascally monkey caused so much trouble at court that he was consequently assigned to the northeast corner to pester and scare off whatever evil spirits found their way into the palace grounds. He was allowed out at night to patrol the area, but was kept in his cage and out of mischief during the day. Today, the netting that enclosed him is intended more to protect him from prying hands than the other way