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  • Kyoto lies in Western Honshu,

  • the main island of Japan.

  • This city, regarded as one of Japan's most beautiful,

  • wore the country's imperial robes for over 1,000 years,

  • until Tokyo became the modern capital in 1868.

  • Emerging from ultra-modern Kyoto Station, you may wonder,

  • where are the centuries of culture and tradition this city is famous for?”

  • And as you look down upon the gridded streets from Kyoto Tower,

  • you might even be forgiven for thinking you've arrived at the wrong city.

  • Yet, the old Kyoto is all around you, and more often than not,

  • it's right under your nose.

  • From Kyoto Tower, head east,

  • and push through the curtains of the downtown's high-rise,

  • into the streets of Gion.

  • It is here, in this historic entertainment quarter,

  • that you'll begin to catch glimpses

  • of one of Kyoto's most alluring traditions,

  • the geisha.

  • Refined, artistic and otherworldly,

  • the geisha are the very embodiment of old Kyoto.

  • Venture further east,

  • into narrow alleyways like Ishibe Koji,

  • and feel the echoes of the past

  • amid the rows of traditional Kyoto-style houses.

  • It's in areas like this you'll find some of Kyoto's finest Ryokan.

  • These traditional inns originated in the Edo period,

  • and are the perfect places to lay your head and dream of days gone by.

  • Just a rickshaw ride away,

  • are the traffic-free streets of Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka.

  • Explore the traditional teahouses and crafts shops,

  • then retrace the steps of generations of worshipers

  • who made their way to and from the nearby hilltop temples.

  • Kyoto is known asthe city of 10,000 shrines”,

  • and it would take a lifetime to experience them all. Kyoto residents'

  • place enormous importance in the seasons. And just like the seasons,

  • every place of worship has its own colours, … its own mood.

  • There are places of spacious austerity, such

  • as the Heian Shrine,

  • dedicated to the first, and the last,

  • of the city's emperors. And intimate places,

  • such as the Shorenin Temple, where you are invited to sit,

  • and quietly contemplate the gardens outside.

  • Visit temples dominated by stone, such as the Kiyomizadera,

  • one of the most revered in Japan.

  • And others crafted from ancient timbers, such as Tofukuji,

  • loved for its covered bridges which span valleys filled with maple and spruce.

  • Water is an integral and unifying element

  • in all of Kyoto's places of worship.

  • At the Kodai Temple,

  • let your thoughts drift across a raked gravel garden

  • which represents the infinite ocean.

  • For a water feature with a difference, visit Nanzenji,

  • and rest beneath the arches of a 19th- century aqueduct,

  • which still supplies much of the city's water.

  • But of all Kyoto's temples,

  • nothing quite compares to Fushimi Inari-taisha.

  • Dedicated to the fox spirit, Inari,

  • this temple complex spans an entire mountainside.

  • From the main shrine,

  • climb the extraordinary two and a half mile path lined with 10,000 tori gates.

  • Along the way there are thousands of smaller shrines

  • where you can pay your respects or simply catch your breath,

  • before arriving at the summit two hours later.

  • It's not just within the streets and temples where you'll find old Kyoto.

  • You'll find it the palace grounds of Nijo Castle,

  • and in the fleeting cherry blossom season

  • which reminds us of the preciousness of time.

  • It resides amid the whispering leaves and

  • the ethereal light of the Bamboo Forest of Arashiyama,

  • and in the Zen-like calm of the city's resident monkeys.

  • You'll find old Kyoto in the rising steam

  • of a communal dishes like shabu shabu,

  • in the gentle pad of the rickshaw pullers' footsteps,

  • and it can certainly be found as evening falls

  • and the city lights up like a living lantern.

  • Perhaps it's then, beneath the glow of the city's lights,

  • you'll realize that there is no old Kyoto. Kyoto is timeless,

  • it exists equally in the echoes of the past and in the ringtones of today.

  • As the world rushes by on the river of time, Kyoto is but a series of perfect moments,

  • each to be savored and enjoyed.

  • Kyoto is Kyoto, here, now and forever.

Kyoto lies in Western Honshu,

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