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Lately, I’ve loved spending as much time as possible in Kyoto off-season (as in, not when the cherry blossoms bring impassable throngs of tourists). The pace here is slower, more deliberate than Tokyo. The only city in Japan not to have been flattened by WWII, Kyoto has infinite secrets to unfurl. Make your base in a machiya, an old merchant’s house, anywhere in the city centre and rent a bike to scoot up and down the river between neighbourhoods. There are many listings on Airbnb but be sure to check out Machiya, Shimaya Stays and Maana Homes, too.
Pick up your groceries in Nishiki Market, where the sheer variety of grilled fish, tofus and pickles is mind-blowing: garlic cloves preserved in plum juice and shiso leaves; skewered river fish drenched in sticky teriyaki; croquettes with molten tofu the consistency of hot cream cheese inside. Tofu here is like nothing you’ve ever tasted. It’s as different as hot Bread 41 sourdough is to the anaemic long-life sliced pan you find withering on European supermarket shelves. Seek out yuba, a Kyoto specialty, which is the skin that forms on the top of the pot when the tofu is cooking. Dehydrated and reconstituted, it makes a protein-rich, flavour-absorbing sort of noodle.
If baked goods are your thing, Kyoto has a staggering number of exquisite bakeries and coffee shops per capita. That said, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a flat white before 10am but the relentless attention to detail, process and perfection makes
every sip worth the wait. Wife & Husband, The Good Day Velo, School Bus Coffee Stop and Kitaoji Roastery Lab are just a few to try.
The most visited sites in Kyoto are famous for a reason and will take a couple of days to visit; they are well-covered in all the guidebooks. But there are countless other temples and shrines to discover while walking aimlessly through any neighbourhood. One afternoon we stumbled into the quiet courtyard of Bukk?-ji, a majestic 14th-century temple a stone’s throw from Nishiki that houses not only a stunning place for contemplation but also a beautiful shop, D&Department.
Its collection of objects from master craftspeople and a small organic restaurant specialising in katsu curry is pretty hard to beat.
Just off the beaten track and beyond the confines of the Geisha district of Gion, the renowned potter Kawai Kanjir?’s house sits just as he lived and worked in it a century ago. Like his work, his giant stepped kilns and handmade furniture are one of a kind – and you’ll be virtually alone wandering through them.
Stop by the nearby POJ Studio (Pieces of Japan), for a sublime edit of homewares and a matcha in Maana, the attached
boutique hotel run by a young architectural practice. POJ will happily ship anything you buy back home and it’ll probably
beat you back.
As an alternative to the famous bamboo forest at Arashiyama that is clogged with Instagrammers, go just a bit farther north in the park to the infinitely more tranquil bamboo grove at Adashino Nenbutsu-ji. Don’t miss the easy climb up the hill nearby to Sans? House, a perfect classical home with majestic views over the river on one side and all of Kyoto on the other. While in the neighbourhood, Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, with its moss gardens and collection of 1,200 stone statues is also a great alternative to the famous moss gardens at Kokedera, which have to be booked in writing exactly two weeks in advance, in Japanese.
