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Kyoto, the former capital of Japan, is a city steeped in history and tradition. Known for its classical Buddhist temples, gardens, imperial palaces, and traditional wooden houses, it exemplifies the essence of ancient Japan. With a population of over 1.4 million people, it is a center of culture and history, and a blend of ancient architecture and modern innovation.
Kyoto, officially Kyoto City is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. As of 2018, the city had a population of 1.47 million. It is located some 30 miles (50 km) northeast of the industrial city of ?saka and about the same distance from Nara, another ancient centre of Japanese culture. Gently sloping downward from north to south, the city averages 180 feet (55 metres) above sea level. Ky?to fu is at the centre of Kinki chih? (region). The city is one of the centres (with nearby ?saka and K?be) of the Keihanshin Industrial Zone, the second largest urban and industrial agglomeration in Japan.
In 794, Kyoto (then known as Heian-ky?) was chosen as the new seat of Japan's imperial court. The original city was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an. The Imperial Palace faces south, resulting in Uky? (the right sector of the capital) being on the west while Saky? (the left sector) is on the east. The streets in the modern-day wards of Nakagy?, Shimogy?, and Kamigy?-ku still follow a grid pattern.
The Emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869, when the court relocated to Tokyo. The city was devastated during the ?nin War in the 15th century and went into an extended period of decline, but gradually revived under the Tokugawa shogunate (1600–1868) and flourished as a major city in Japan. The modern municipality of Kyoto was established in 1889. The city was spared from large-scale destruction during World War II and as a result, its prewar cultural heritage has mostly been preserved.
Kyoto is considered the cultural capital of Japan and a major tourist destination. It is home to numerous Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, palaces and gardens, many of which are listed collectively by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Prominent landmarks include the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji and the Katsura Imperial Villa. Kyoto is also a center of higher learning, with Kyoto University being an institution of international renown.
The directly elected executive mayor in Kyoto as of 2013 is Daisaku Kadokawa, an independent supported by Democratic Party of Japan, Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito Party, Your Party and Social Democratic Party. The legislative city assembly has 69 elected members.
Ky?to urban prefecture, which extends to the Sea of Japan, is under the administration of an elected governor, while the city is administered by an elected mayor and city council.
The key industry of Kyoto is information technology and electronics: the city is home to the headquarters of Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, SCREEN Holdings, Tose, Hatena, Omron, Kyocera, Shimadzu Corp., Rohm, Horiba, Nidec Corporation, Nichicon, Nissin Electric, and GS Yuasa. Tourists are hugely fond of Kyoto, contributing significantly to its economy. The cultural heritage sites of Kyoto are constantly visited by school groups from across Japan, and many foreign tourists also stop in Kyoto. In 2014, the city government announced that a record number of tourists had visited Kyoto, and it was favoured as the world's best city by U.S. travel magazines.
Traditional Japanese crafts are also a major industry of Kyoto, most of which are run by artisans in their plants. Kyoto's kimono weavers are particularly renowned, and the city remains the premier center of kimono manufacturing. Gekkeikan and Takara Holdings are major sake brewers headquartered in Kyoto. Other notable businesses headquartered in Kyoto include Aiful, Ishida, MK, Nissen Holdings, Oh-sho, Sagawa Express, Volks and Wacoal. The concentration of population to the capital city area is 55%, which is highest among the prefectures. The economic difference between the coastal area and inland area including Kyoto basin is significant. Encompassing ¥10.12 trillion, Kyoto MEA had the fourth-largest economy in the country in 2010.
Ky?to is a city of thousands of medium and small industries, many of them family owned and operated. Traditional handicrafts abound, and their manufacture for the tourist trade is an important element of Ky?to’s economic life. Anti Pollution measures have forced the once-thriving Kiyomizu pottery kilns to move to nearby Yamashina.
For centuries silk weaving, centred in the north-central Nishijin district, has been one of Ky?to’s major industries. Along with the geisha and entertainment sector, the fine textiles, delicate fabrics, and embroidery represent a continuity of Ky?to’s traditional role as the centre of Japanese culture. In addition, the Fushimi district in southern Ky?to, favoured with excellent water, produces some of Japan’s finest sake. Also located in southern Ky?to are several industries established after World War II that produce industrial ceramics, women’s garments, and medical instruments. Since the early 1980s, companies such as Kyocera Corporation have put Ky?to in the forefront of such high-technology industries as electronics, robotics, and computers.
Ky?to is mainly a consumer city. It is the national centre of silk and fine textile wholesaling, but its main commercial activity is retail trade. The Gion and Pontocho districts, famed for their geisha and maiko , offer a variety of traditional and foreign food and drink. During the summer, yuka are set up on the banks of the Kamo River in the heart of town, and strolling troubadours pass below as a reminder of how Kabuki theatre originated. Traditional Japanese inns abound, and many Western-style hotels cater to the wedding, tourist, and convention trades. Kyoto's special characteristics include its world-renowned traditional arts such as Nisijin brocade and unique Kyoto styles of Yuzen silk dyeing, pottery, and dolls, and these exacting, intricate traditional arts of Kyoto is the force behind the rise of many advanced technologies. Many world-leading companies are located in Kyoto.
Moreover, Kyoto's smaller businesses and their unique products and technologies are another of the prefecture's attractive features. Kyoto is aiming to become a major IT cluster attracting IT-related companies to the area and fostering new venture businesses by taking advantage of Kyoto's stand-out characteristic of high-tech IT-related companies sitting side by side with companies with advanced manufacturing technologies. Kyoto Prefecture hosts more than ten foreign-affiliated companies.
Kyoto is also a high-potential area to invest for companies focusing on sales with an eye on the huge Kansai market. In addition to a good job environment and a cluster of many universities and research centers, many globally active companies are located in Kyoto. The 'Kyoto brand' that has been inherited from cultures sophisticated throughout its history and traditional industry to advanced industry will give new business development.
Kyoto Prefecture offers support for your location in coordination with municipalities, offering incentives such as subsidies, loans, and special provisions on taxation. Kyoto invests significant efforts into attracting businesses from overseas, establishing new research facilities and building relationships with foreign entrepreneurs and researchers. In response to the wide-ranging support systems put in place by the national government and the Kyoto prefectural and municipal governments, the Kyoto Foreign Investment Promotion Committee. was established in April 2003.
Although Kyoto does not have its own large commercial airport, travelers can get to the city via nearby Itami Airport, Kobe Airport or Kansai International Airport. The Haruka Express operated by JR West carries passengers from Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station in 73 minutes.Osaka Airport Transport buses connect Itami Airport and Kyoto Station Hachijo Gate in 50 minutes and cost 1,310 yen for a one-way trip.
Some buses go further, make stops at major hotels and terminals in the downtown area. Another airport located further from the city is Nagoya Airfield located 135.5 KM away from the city. Kyoto's municipal bus network is extensive. Private carriers also operate within the city. Many tourists join commuters on the public buses, or take tour buses. Kyoto's buses have announcements in English and electronic signs with stops written in the Latin alphabet.
Most city buses have a fixed fare. A one-day bus pass and a combined unlimited train and bus pass are also available. These are especially useful for visiting many different points of interest within Kyoto. The bus information center just outside the central station handles tickets and passes. The municipal transport company publishes a very useful leaflet called «Bus Navi.» It contains a route map for the bus lines to most sites and fare information. This too is available at the information center in front of the main station.
There are five bicycle rental stations and 21 EcoStations in central Kyoto. Because of the large number of cyclists, permitted bicycle parking areas can be difficult to find.
Within Kyoto's ancient lanes, a one-way system is prevalent and necessary for preservation of its character. The city is connected with other parts of Japan by the Meishin Expressway, which has two interchanges in the city: Kyoto Higashi in Yamashina-ku and Kyoto Minami in Fushimi-ku. The Kyoto-Jukan Expressway connects the city to northern regions of Kyoto Prefecture. The Daini Keihan Road is a new bypass to Osaka.
Although Greater Kyoto has fewer toll-highways than other comparable Japanese cities, it is served with elevated dual and even triple-carriageway national roads. As of 2018, only 10.1 kilometres of the Hanshin Expressway Kyoto Route is in operation. There are nine national highways in the city of Kyoto: Route 1, Route 8, Route 9, Route 24, Route 162, Route 171, Route 367, Route 477 and Route 478.
Just like other major cities in Japan, Kyoto is well served by rail transportation systems operated by several different companies and organizations. The city's main gateway terminal, Ky?to Station, which is one of the most popular stations in the country, connects The T?kaid? Shinkansen bullet train Line with five JR West lines, a Kintetsu line and a municipal subway line. The Keihan, the Hankyu, and other rail networks also offer frequent services within the city and to other cities and suburbs in the Kinki region. There is a Railway Heritage site in Kyoto, where visitors can experience the range of Japanese railways in the JR Museum formerly Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum, situated about the roundhouse.The Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau operates the Kyoto Municipal Subway consisting of two lines: the Karasuma Line and the T?zai Line. The Transportation Bureau and Kintetsu jointly operate through services, which continue to the Kintetsu Kyoto Line to Kintetsu Nara Station in Nara. The Karasuma Line and the Kintetsu Kyoto Line connect at Kyoto and Takeda. All the stations are located in the city proper.
The T?zai Line is coloured vermilion, and its stations are given numbers following the letter «T». This line runs from the southeastern area of the city, then east to west through the Kyoto downtown area where trains run beneath the three east-west streets: Sanj? Street , Oike Street and Oshik?ji Street .
The line has following stations, from east to west: Rokujiz? in Uji; Ishida and Daigo in Fushimi-ku; Ono, Nagitsuji, Higashino, Yamashina and Misasagi in Yamashina-ku; Keage, Higashiyama and Sanj? Keihan in Higashiyama-ku; Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae, Karasuma Oike, Nij?j?-mae, Nij? and Nishi?ji Oike in Nakagy?-ku; and Uzumasa Tenjingawa in Uky?-ku.
The Keihan Keishin Line has been integrated into this line, and thus Keihan provides services from Hama?tsu in the neighbouring city of ?tsu, the capital of Shiga Prefecture.
The T?zai Line connects to the Keihan lines at Rokujiz?, Yamashina, Misasagi and Sanj? Keihan, to the JR lines at Nij?, Yamashina and Rokujiz?, and to the Keifuku Electric Railroad at Uzumasa Tenjingawa. All the stations except Rokujiz? are located in Kyoto.
The T?kaid? Shinkansen operated by JR Central provides high-speed rail service linking Kyoto with Nagoya, Yokohama and Tokyo to the east of Kyoto and with nearby Osaka and points west on the San'y? Shinkansen, such as Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kitakyushu, and Fukuoka. The trip from Tokyo takes about two hours and eighteen minutes. From Hakata in Fukuoka, Nozomi takes you to Kyoto in just over three hours. All trains including Nozomi stop at Kyoto Station, serving as a gateway to not only Kyoto Prefecture but also northeast Osaka, south Shiga and north Nara.
Established in 1989, Kyoto Research Park is an innovation hub that has grown massively in its near 30-year existence. It was the first privately operated research park to open in Japan, with the aim of forming a base for new business creation and the collaboration between different industries, academia and government to drive innovation. A lot of this is technology based, with the KRP currently home to 420 tenant companies in ICT, biotech, electronics, machinery and other sectors. Walking around KRP, it looks pretty much like you’d imagine for an innovative Japanese business park. It has clearly grown since it was first introduced and there are now a variety of block buildings with large glass windows, dark grey bricks and revolving doors. From the road the façade looks like a cross between a block of flats and an office environment, with trees and bits of greenery dotted around. It’s inside the KRP where the magic happens though, where two main services are offered to these innovators. It was only in 2012 that the university’s Shinya Yamanaka won it for inventing the synthetic stem cell.
It has been the huge number of successful companies that have emerged from Kyoto University that has seen the government, academics and business leaders work together to link capital funding with start-ups in tech, energy and biotech. The Kyoto University Venture Fund is a prime example of this. Then there’s Innovation Hub Kyoto, which opened in 2017 in the Med-Pharm Collaboration building of the university. It aims to foster biomedical ventures and promote commercialisation of research. Visiting the university, it’s incredibly big and spread out. For those with an interest in it as a working tech hub, it’s best to visit for a specific lecture or arrange with a member of staff, as otherwise you could spend ages walking endless corridors.
Arguably Kyoto’s most famous entertainment-based tech export has been Nintendo. The headquarters of Nintendo are still based in Kyoto. First, visit the old HQ, which is situated in the middle of the ancient city, though there’s not much around it. You can see the original signs on the building, but you can’t go in, sadly there isn’t a museum or gift shop for Nintendo fans. Plenty of investment, strong academia, a long history and supportive infrastructure mean Kyoto’s tech hub should have a bright future.
In November 2015 the Japanese electronics company started a project called «Kyoto KADEN Lab.» It aims to push innovation while collaborating with traditional industries in Kyoto. It is both a process of analyzing what products make our life meaningful and creating objects which encapsulate and add to this experience.Kyoto KADEN Lab. won international acclaim during the first phase of the project, called “Electronic Meets Crafts.” Designers and craftsmen collaborated to create 10 prototypes of future consumer products, which would awaken memories and the five senses. The project won the Best Storytelling Award at the Milano Salone in 2017. Riding a wave of international acclaim, Panasonic moved forward and introduced “Electronics Meets Crafts: Engraving Phenomenon.” This second phase created five prototypes aiming to recall the deepest experiences engraved in our memories.Since Panasonic aims to foster creative innovation, there seemed no better place to do it than the hub of culture in Japan: Kyoto.
Hi I'm Kosuke Let me show you around my home town. Feel free to contact me and let me know dates and places of your interest. Please book me two days at least if you really want to enjoy Kyoto! Thank you very much
The Japanese garden defies quick and easy understanding. As we move in awe through one of these masterpieces we can feel that there is something deeper than just the physical beauty that surrounds us. This experience is designed to go to the heart of that "something deeper". While occupying 3 temples of the Nanzen-ji Monastery, you will hear in-depth explanations and insights into the world of Japanese gardens that you would never learn about otherwise. The Japanese garden will be revealed to you as an expression of profound art. As you will undoubtly visit at least several temples and gardens while you are here, this experience will equip you with all the tools you need to help make your experience in Kyoto one that will form a lasting impression on your heart.
Myokaku-ji Temple, a historic main temple of the Nichiren sect once visited by the legendary warlord Oda Nobunaga, provides the majestic setting where GOAT Trip offers a truly unique samurai experience. Within its majestic grounds, learn authentic samurai sword fighting directly from an active samurai actor. Practice real sword techniques and be filmed by a professional actor, becoming the star of your own period drama. Even if you’re a bit shy or don’t usually like being in the spotlight, this experience welcomes you with a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. Immerse yourself in the atmosphere of history while acting out a scene from a movie. Create unforgettable memories in Kyoto with this one-of-a-kind samurai experience.
Our cooking lessons are held in an authentic Japanese style house. You will experience the feeling of being invited over for lunch by a friend in Japanese culture. This is a great opportunity for all tourists coming to Japan. Our group lessons have a maximum of 6 people. Our instructors are all very friendly and want you to have a memorable time with us. Even if you came alone, you would have a great time. After finishing lunch, all the participants will go and explore a local supermarket with our instructors. Together we will help you find all the ingredients we used in the lesson. We will introduce you to some of basic Japanese seasonings and some great tips on preparing some Japanese dishes. You will get all the recipes of the dishes we prepare together. You will be able to make some great Japanese dishes for your family and friends back home. We look forward to meeting all of you soon!
You'll receive direct lessons from a professional Shamisen player with 20 years of experience. It’s extremely rare to find Shamisen lessons in English within Japan. In just 30 minutes, you'll be able to play a well-known traditional Japanese song! You can also immerse yourself in a meditative Shamisen session while enjoying the atmosphere of a traditional Japanese house. We're looking forward to our session at the Shamisen Dojo!
A Traditional Washi Art Experience Discover the serene beauty of Kamisuki, the ancient art of Japanese papermaking. In this immersive 1-hour session, you’ll feel the texture of raw natural fibers and witness the moment a simple liquid transforms into a delicate sheet of paper. Under the gentle guidance of our instructors, you will "add flowers" to tradition by arranging seasonal blossoms onto your wet paper. Whether it becomes a set of postcards for a loved one or a soft lampshade for your home, your creation will carry the warmth of your own hands and the spirit of Japanese seasons.
This is not a typical walk through Gion. Instead of simply passing through Kyoto’s most famous district, this experience helps you understand what most visitors are actually looking at, but rarely notice. Led by a local guide who has lived in Japan for over ten years, this walk is shaped by daily life, storytelling, and a genuine passion for Kyoto’s culture. As we move through Gion at a relaxed pace, with time for photos and questions, you will gain a clear understanding of how the world of geisha truly functions, their arts, traditions, and the rules that shape their daily lives. Rather than focusing on chasing geisha sightings, this experience gives you the context to understand the atmosphere, the behavior, and the meaning behind what you see around you. Gion can be busy, but once you understand what you are looking at, the experience becomes completely different. By the end of the walk, you will not just have seen Gion, you will understand it.
