Kyoto– category –

Last updated: November 2, 2026 On November 30, 2025, I had tours booked at two of Kyoto’s imperial gardens. At the Sento Imperial Palace, in the flat middle of the city, the maples were close to their best. At Shugakuin Imperial Villa, a...

Four glasses at every place. Napkins rolled on the plates. Silverware laid out so evenly it looked measured, and it probably was. It was a table set for a state dinner, and I was not on the guest list. Presidents, prime ministers, and ro...

One sentence led me back to Daisen-in. Keep your patience long and your heart round. Don't lose your temper. Make much of others, and little of yourself. Ki wa nagaku, kokoro wa maruku, hara tatezu, hito wa okiku, onore wa chiisaku. That...

"Is this a good place for autumn leaves?" If so, I'd come back when the maples turned. The woman at the reception desk didn't hesitate. "For autumn leaves, I'd go to Obai-in next door." She looked like a college student, not someone you ...

This was my first zazen. Properly, I mean. Like many Japanese people, I had done some version of it before. You sit cross-legged on the tatami, close your eyes, and try to look serene until your knees file a complaint. What I had never d...

"Excuse me. Where is the light-up?" Tenryuji closes its gates at 5:00 p.m., which left me in the bamboo grove with an hour to kill and nowhere to kill it. Arashiyama is not generous with benches. There is no real rest area, and walking b...

On the last night of the year, Japan rings out the old year. Temples across the country strike their bells 108 times as one year turns into the next, a ritual called Joya no Kane. In Kyoto, no bell draws a crowd like the one at Chion-in,...

Katsura Imperial Villa lives in Japanese history textbooks. It also lived around the corner from two of my closest friends. In college, the three of us spent nearly every day together. Their homes were close enough to Katsura Rikyu, as t...

Planning a visit? Jump to How to Visit Shugakuin Imperial Villa for tickets, reservations, and access. I saw it on someone else's feed first. An influencer had posted Shugakuin Imperial Villa at the very height of autumn: a pond reflecti...

Planning a visit? Jump to How to Visit Sento Imperial Palace for booking, same-day tickets, and access. The first thing I noticed at Sento Imperial Palace wasn't a maple. It was a young Western couple at the entrance, leaning in to talk ...