Kyoto

If you were to compare the three major cities of Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto), a good way to do so would be in this way: Tokyo is the future (high-tech, hyper-globalized), Osaka is the present (more laid back, a real living-in-the-moment vibe), and Kyoto is the past. You’ve probably heard about Kyoto before; it’s where people go to see the old Japan: shrines, temples, tea houses, geishas, etc. Kyoto has the most world heritage cites out of anywhere in Japan, and probably has more than in the entire United States. You might think that because of this Kyoto is just a tourist-trap, but there’s way more to it than that.

For one thing, Kyoto is not just a city of old buildings. It is a real, functioning city, so of course the vast majority of its buildings are not that impressive. I’ve heard that because of this many people are disappointed when they first come to Kyoto; for some reason they expect it to be this magical place where Japan hasn’t advanced technologically or architecturally since the 1800s. There are tons of beautiful pieces of old architecture, but they’re hidden among lots of really boring architecture. That said, even the standard architecture of Kyoto is more reminiscent of old Japan than the architecture of Tokyo or Osaka. It still has to do with the comparison I made earlier. Tokyo’s futuristic buildings are covered in flashing lights; Osaka’s modern buildings are strictly practical and not at all aesthetically pleasing; Kyoto’s traditional buildings generally have features reminiscent of older architecture.

The feeling of Kyoto being reminiscent of the past extends to the overall vibe as well. You generally expect nightlife districts to be crazier than the rest of the city. So in Tokyo, the nightlife districts are absolutely insane and the rest of the city is crazy; in Osaka the nightlife districts are crazy and the rest of the city is chill; but in Kyoto the nightlife districts are chill and the rest of the city is sleepy. Even though the nightlife area we went to was full of people and had a great vibe, it was in no way like Tokyo or Osaka. There were no people yelling at us in random English sentences to come to their clubs. In fact, we didn’t even see any clubs. People were just hanging out in bars, or were just chilling by the river, which was what we ended up doing.

But anyway, the whole point of going to Kyoto was to see the historical landmarks. And they were incredible. The first one we went to had a sweeping view of a beautiful forest, and held a waterfall that people could drink from and make a wish. The second one housed 1001 gold statues of Buddha, as well as one giant Buddha statue, and 28 statues representing other deities. The last one we went to was the famous golden temple, which was as impressive as you would imagine a solid gold building surrounded by water would be. Everything was awe inspiring. It must have had a far greater effect during feudal Japan.

As for the food in Kyoto, it was much lighter than Osaka or Nagoya cooking. Kyoto cuisine uses a lot of tofu (seriously, I’ve never had tofu prepared in so many different ways), and is also famous for matcha, a thick tea that they put in almost every dessert. Kyoto summers are notoriously hot, so green tea ice cream and shave ice were incredible in Kyoto.

So there you go. I’m going to Hong Kong in a couple days, and will probably post every day, or at least a couple times, while I’m there.