70 Best Sights in Kyoto, Japan

Smaller than other nearby temples, this one is less visited and quieter. A gong has been placed in its humble-looking entrance for visitors to strike before stepping down inside. The garden for viewing is small and delicate; there's a larger stroll garden as well. Within the Main Hall are 36 portraits of Chinese poets by members of the Kano School. Near Sanzen-in, Jikko-in is easily combined with a visit to that temple.

The approach at one of Kyoto's oldest and most stately shrines takes visitors along a path in the middle of an expanse of lawn and through the red torii gate. That same path is the scene of horse racing on May 5 and the approach of the imperial messenger of the Hollyhock Festival on May 15 as he reports the events of the court to the resident gods.

At this favorite place for weddings, visitors may be pleasantly surprised to see one taking place in the inner shrine. The grounds are vast, with smaller shrines and a stream into which believers write their wishes on pieces of kimono-shaped paper and set them afloat. In recent years, the shrine has become the setting for a torch-lit Noh drama play on the evening of July 1. On other days, families spread out their picnic blankets on the lawn or in shadier spots and enjoy the day.

The house and workshop of prolific potter Kanjiro Kawai (1890–1966) has been transformed into a museum showcasing his distinctive works. The asymmetrical vases, bowls, and pots on display represent only a fraction of his output of this leading light of the Mingei (folk art) movement of the 1920s. Besides the intriguing workshop and enormous kiln preserved in an inner courtyard, there is a residence itself, an old country farmhouse Kaiwai had moved to this location. A little hard to find, this compound is along a small street one block west of Higashi-oji-dori and two blocks south of Gojo-dori.

A Shinto shrine of major importance to the city, Kitano Tenman-gu is famous for the hundreds of plum trees on its grounds. Built in AD 947 to honor Sugawara no Michizane, a celebrated scholar and politician, this was the first shrine in Japan where a person was enshrined as a deity. It is also well known to students, who come to ask the gods' help in passing exams. On the 25th of every month, Tenjin-san, streets around the shrine turn into a huge market. Treasures, old and new, food, bonsai, gadgets, and other items delight throngs of shoppers.

On a quiet stone-inlaid street in the Eastern Hills district, Kodai-ji is a jewel of a Momoyama-era temple complex. A koi pond figures in the beautifully tended garden, whose teahouses sit elegantly on higher ground. Many of the splendid paintings and friezes inside the temple buildings were relocated from Fushimi Castle, parts of which were used to construct Kodai-ji in the early 1600s, most notably the sinuous covered walkway. A black-lacquered altar filled with tiny images is a masterpiece of that craft.

The temple was a memorial to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–98), the powerful warrior and political leader, commissioned by his wife, Nene (1548–1624). The road in front of the temple is called Nene-no-michi in her honor. On the hills overlooking the main temple, which dates to 1912, are teahouses designed by a pupil of the tea master Sen-no-Rikyu; they are identifiable by their umbrella-shaped bamboo ceilings, thatched roofs, and large circular windows. Evening illumination in April, November, and December is popular among locals and visitors.

One of the few Soto sect Zen temples in Kyoto, Kosho-ji was founded in the 13th century in Kyoto, where it remained until it burned down four centuries later. The temple was rebuilt in Uji in the 17th century from timber provided by the Tokugawa shogunate, and it has remained unchanged ever since. The Chinese influence is evident in the architecture and dolphin finials gracing the roof. Kosho-ji, across the river from Byodo-in and upriver from Uji-gami Shrine, is popular in spring for its azaleas and in autumn for its maple trees. Walk a ways on the loop trail to the right of the temple for a view of Uji City.

Inspired by the multitude of rivers that flow into the Kyoto basin, this landlocked city opened an aquarium to display Kyoto's native salamander, a large specimen that dwells deep in forest streams. Holding 500 tons of water, the main pool is truly one of a kind. A horseshoe-shape pool gives you the illusion that you're swimming with sea lions. The penguins and the dolphin stadium are also popular.

Japan's oldest public botanical garden has been welcoming visitors since 1924 and features a huge variety of plants and flowers from around the world, including Japan's famous bonsai. The sprawling gardens are filled with seasonal blooms, so colorful displays are guaranteed throughout the year. It also happens to be one of the best places in the city to catch cherry blossoms in the spring or the stunning tones of autumn in the fall. The showpiece conservatory is home to over 4,000 kinds of flora, divided into tropical collections, desert environs, and an alpine temperate zone.

Although it tops many tourists' list of must-see sights, the former Imperial Palace often leaves them disappointed because visitors may not enter any of the buildings on the subdued hour-long tour. The original building burned down in 1788, as did some of its replacements. The present structure dates from 1855. The garden, however, is a revelation, the work of a century of master landscapers. Its noteworthy facets include the stone shoreline of the pond, the graceful bridges, and the magnificent trees and flower selection.

To see the palace, you must receive permission from the Imperial Household Agency. You can usually arrange a same-day visit by showing your passport at the office, in the park's northwest corner, but you can also apply there earlier or make a request online. Guided tours in English begin inside the imperial park at the Seishomon entrance.

Many famous artists have signed the walls at this bilingual museum that claims to have the world's largest collection of manga materials. Most international visitors likely associate manga with Tokyo, but Kyoto is a significant hub for the stylized comic books thanks to its rich traditions and universities specializing in the visual arts. The main permanent installation answers the question "What is manga?" and temporary exhibitions probe topics such as depictions of war in the comics. The museum's approximately 300,000 artifacts include items from outside Japan and early examples of the genre. The shelves of the Wall of Manga hold 50,000 publications you can peruse on- site.

The national museum is one of three established in the late 19th century (the others are in Tokyo and Nara) to preserve Japanese antiquities and traditional culture. The original 1897 redbrick French Renaissance–style building is currently closed for renovations. In 2014 an angular limestone, steel, and glass structure designed by Yoshio Taniguchi became the much-praised home of the permanent collection. The architect's other commissions include the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo Sea Life Park, and the 2004 redesign of New York City's Museum of Modern Art.

Calligraphy, textiles and costumes, lacquerware, metalwork, and sculpture are exhibited on the first floor. Paintings are on the second floor, the strengths being religious and secular Japanese painting, works from China, and medieval ink and Momoyama-Edo painting. Archaeological relics and ceramics fill the third floor. The labels are in English and Japanese, and audio guides are available for a fee.

For train enthusiasts, the sleek architecture reflects Japan’s Shinkansen Bullet train. Inside, 53 trains including 20 locomotives are on display. One attraction even allows the visitor to “drive” a bullet train via a stimulated video screen.

Netsuke are miniature carvings of wood, ivory, and stone traditionally used as toggles of tobacco cases or just as ornamentation. This museum is within a former samurai's estate. The architecture and garden alone make this a worthwhile visit, but the collection of netsuke is fascinating as well. For a ¥200 entry discount, open the website on your smartphone and show it when you pay.

This massive steel-and-glass train station, hailed by some as an architectural masterpiece and derided by many Kyotoites for failing to convey their beloved city's genteel spirit, is more than just the city's central point of arrival and departure: the station, designed by Tokyoite Hiroshi Hara and completed in 1997, houses dozens of shops and restaurants and offers great views of the city from the 12th floor. If you have the time, ride the escalators from the concourse floor up to the open roof, a journey Hara says he choreographed to replicate ascending from a valley floor. Excellent ramen shops cluster on the 10th level.

A gift to the city in 1886, this well-attended park lies just north of the also popular Yasaka Shrine. Crowds flow through, locals stop to people-watch, vendors supply visitors with beverages, and musicians occasionally entertain passersby. Visitation spikes as the new year dawns, when many people gather to hear the gigantic bell of Chion-in rung at midnight; and during cherry-blossom season, when the sky turns pink with those overhead boughs.

The phenomenal architecture and impressive collection of Japanese tea-ceremony artifacts and antiquities from the West, China, and the Middle East make a visit to this museum in Shiga Prefecture well worth the hour-long journey from Kyoto. Three-quarters of the museum, which opened in 1997, is underground, with skylights illuminating the displays. The grounds are extensively and beautifully landscaped and well incorporated into architect I. M. Pei's design. The Japanese collection is housed in a wing separate from the antiquities.

Set on the mountainside of Philosopher's Walk is the small shrine of Shiawase no Jizo (Joyful Jizo), with an image of the Buddhist figure holding a child on his left arm and a pilgrim's staff in his right hand. Similar images of the protector of children and the guardian of travelers can be found throughout the city, often clothed by devotees in colored bibs and caps. Jizo is beloved by Kyoto's citizens—fresh bouquets of flowers are dutifully set in the shrines twice a month. The image of Dainichi Nyorai, or the Cosmic Buddha, in the building beside the Jizo shrine, is attended to by mountain priests who announce their presence by blowing a conch shell, one of which rests on a low table, and by wearing deerskin aprons, much like the deerskin draped over another low table.

Ogawa Jihei (1860–1932), a leading landscape architect of the Meiji period, departed from tradition in developing this late-19th-century garden whose rolling expanses of English-style lawn represent the first use of this type of ground cover within a Japanese garden. The blending of Western and Japanese influences can also be detected in some of the architecture and interiors of this estate, once part of Nanzen-ji, that was commissioned by Arimoto Yamagata, twice Japan's prime minister in the late 19th century. The paths of Murin-an, a small but classic Meiji stroll garden, meander along converging streams and past a three-tier waterfall. The garden's southern section is almost always in shadow, creating wonderful contrasts. To maintain the serene atmosphere and to limit overcrowding, a reservation system is now in place (see the garden's website for the reservation form); however, you can enter without a reservation when it's not busy.

A Zen temple complex with 47 subtemples, Myoshin-ji contains many valuable treasures. One of them, a painting of a coiling, writhing dragon by Tan'yu (1602–74), a major artist of the Kano school of painting, graces the ceiling of the main temple's Hatto lecture hall. The dragon, a revered animal in Asia, symbolizes might and success. You can apply at the hall for a 20-minute tour of it and the temple's bathhouse, where after scraping off the grime loosened by the heat and steam, monks rinsed off with buckets of water that flowed down the slanted floors.

Japan's oldest bell is in daily use in Myoshin-ji, having tolled out the hour for meditation since 698. Shunko-in, one of the 47 subtemples, has a Hidden Christian bell. Made in Portugal in 1577, the bell was placed in Nanban-ji Church, Kyoto's first Christian church. Established in 1576, the church was the center of Catholic missionary activity until eligious persecution brought about its destruction in 1587.

Several magnificent temples share this corner of the forested foothills between Heian Jingu and Ginkaku-ji, but, with its historic gatehouse, the most prominent is Nanzen-ji. A short distance away are Nanzen-in, a subtemple noted for its garden's serene beauty, and Kochi-in, a subtemple, which also has a noteworthy garden.

As happened with Ginkaku-ji, the villa of Nanzen-ji was turned into a temple upon the death of its owner, Emperor Kameyama (1249–1305). By the 14th century this had become the most powerful Zen temple in Japan, which spurred the Tendai monks to destroy it. During the 15th-century Onin Civil War, the buildings were again demolished. Some were reconstructed during the 16th century.

Nanzen-ji has again become one of Kyoto's most important Rinzai Zen temple complexes, and monks are still trained here. Entrance is through the enormous 1628 Sanmon (Triple Gate), the classic "gateless" gate of Zen Buddhism that symbolizes entrance into the most sacred part of the temple precincts. After ascending, visitors have a view of the city beyond and the statue of Goemon Ishikawa. In 1594 this Robin Hood–style outlaw tried but failed to kill the daimyo (feudal lord) Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He hid in this gate until his capture, after which he was boiled to death in a cauldron of oil, thus lending his name to the old traditional rounded iron bathtubs once popular in Japan. His story is still enacted in many Kabuki plays.

On your way to see the major subtemples and gardens within the complex, don't overlook Nanzen-ji's other attractions. The Hojo (Abbots' Quarters) is a National Treasure. Inside, screens with impressive 16th-century paintings divide the chambers. Eitoku Kano (1543–90) painted these wall panels of the Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety and Hermits. Outside, Enshu Kobori (1579–1647) is responsible for what's commonly known as the Leaping Tiger Garden, an excellent example of a dry rock-and-sand garden. The large rocks are grouped with clipped azaleas, maples, pines, and moss, all positioned against a plain white well behind the raked gravel expanse. The greenery effectively connects the garden with the lush forested hillside beyond. Visible in the complex's southeastern section is an arched redbrick aqueduct from the 1890s, with the waters of Lake Biwa, in the next prefecture, still flowing along it. The canopy of trees here, which keeps this favorite picture-taking spot cool, stands as a reminder of the city's awakening to new technology that changed residents' lives. Boring through the mountain allowed supplies as well as water to flow more easily into the city.

Nanzen-in (南禅院). This sub temples' east-facing garden has recently been renovated into a contemplative one with a pathway of diamond-shaped stones resting on moss-covered ground. Farther back is a large stroll garden with bridges over the tree-shaded, koi-stocked pond. A small building back here with a curving Chinese-style roof is a memorial to Emperor Kameyama.

Konchi-in (金地院). Recognized by aficionados around the world as one of Japan's finest gardens, Konchi-in was first established in the 15th century. It was moved inside Nanzen-ji's temple complex in 1605 and landscaped by designer Enshu Kobori several decades later. The elaborate black-lacquered gate, reminiscent of Nikko, is a shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun whose clan ruled Japan for centuries. The garden is one of Japan's finest examples of a classic tortoise-and-crane design, representing longevity and wisdom. It's also the most authentic example of Kobori's work. Konchi-in is before Nanzen-ji's main entrance, slightly southwest of the Sanmon Gate.

Architect Fumihiko Maki, whose commissions include the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto (2014) and 4 World Trade Center in New York City (2013), designed Museum of Modern Art's 1986 steel, glass, and reinforced concrete structure. The museum is known for its collection of modern Japanese paintings, with an emphasis on the artistic movements in the Kansai region. The museum's other important holdings include ceramic treasures by Kanjiro Kawai, Rosanjin Kitaoji, Shoji Hamada, and others.

A short walk south of Nijo-jo, this 17th-century merchant house saw later service as an inn for traveling daimyo (feudal lords). A warren of rooms, Nijo Jinya is crammed with built-in safeguards against attack, including hidden staircases, secret passageways, and hallways too narrow to allow the wielding of a sword. The house is again a family residence, so visitation is limited to one-hour tours that require reservations at least a day ahead. The tours are in Japanese, and nonspeakers are required to have an interpreter (instructions for how to arrange one are on the house's website).

Immense images of temple guardians are enclosed on both sides of the massive gate here. With a five-tier pagoda at its center, Ninna-ji has grounds filled with late-blooming cherry trees that attract crowds every May. Emperor Omuro's palace stood on this site in the late 9th century, but the buildings you see today were constructed in the 17th century. The Hondo (Main Hall), moved here from the Imperial Palace, is the home of the Omura School of Ikebana. A miniature version of Shikoku island's 88-temple pilgrimage wends it way up the mountain behind the complex. The walk takes about an hour. Ninna-ji, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a 10-minute walk west of Ryoan-ji and a five-minute walk northwest of Myoshin-ji's north gate.

The sound of looms and spinning machines adds a subtle rhythm to the narrow streets of the Nishijin district, a longtime center of weaving and dyeing in northwestern Kyoto. The textile center here was established to showcase the skills of the local artisans. In hands-on lessons you can weave your own garment: for ¥2,200 you'll learn something and get a great souvenir. Reserve ahead and you can try on various different kimonos, rent one for a night on the town, or even buy one (¥10,000). On the second floor are weavers at work and items for sale, and artisans work at their crafts on the third floor. Several times a day, kimono-clad models appear in the latest seasonal designs during 15-minute shows.

Dating from 887, this very small shrine is best known for its "guardian rats." Most shrines have pairs of Koma-inu, mythical dogs, but Otoyo is unique in this regard, and very popular during the Year of the Rat. As with the canine twosomes, one rat's mouth is open, and the other's is closed. The main halls enshrine Sukunahikona-no-mikoto, the Japanese god of medicine; Emperor Ojin, Japan's 15th emperor; and Sugawara Michizane (845–903), a Heian-era poet and politician. The grounds are resplendent with several varieties of camellia. Otoyo Jinja is considered the guardian shrine for people who live in the adjacent neighborhoods of Shishigatani, Honenin, and Nanzenji.

Serious collectors of tea-ceremony utensils are likely to have a raku bowl in their collections. The Raku Museum displays more than 1,000 bowls and containers of subtle beauty embodying the Japanese aesthetic terms of wabi and sabi, which refer to “understated elegance” and “mature beauty.” Raku refers to a low-temperature firing technique that yields a ceramic that is soft to the touch. Raku is the family name with a long history of creating pleasing tea utensils for the shogun's use.

With their ancient stone paths and traditional wooden buildings, these two winding streets are the finest extant examples of Old Kyoto—the area is one of four historic preservation districts in the city. Shops along the way sell crafts such as pottery, dolls, and bamboo baskets.

In the rural village of Ohara, northeast of the city, this Tendai sect temple was founded by the priest Dengyo-Daishi (767–822), also known as Saicho. The approach is up steep stone steps and onto the temple grounds. Tall cypress trees admit spots of sunlight onto the moss-and fern ground cover. The most famous building, constructed in AD 985, houses a huge image of Amida Buddha. On either side are images of Seishi and Kannon. The convex ceiling is painted with scenes of paradise, but with the passing of the centuries, these paintings of the descent of Amida, accompanied by 25 bodhisattvas, to welcome the believer are fading. Famed for its maples, the temple draws its largest crowds in autumn, but the grounds north of the main buildings have been planted with hundreds of hydrangea bushes, in bloom throughout June.