Skip to content

  • Home
  • Destinations
    • By Location
    • Published Articles
    • Day Trips
    • Weekend Trips
    • Seasonal
      • Winter
      • Spring
      • Summer
      • Autumn
  • Features
  • Art+Culture
  • Eat+Sleep
  • Travel Tips
  • Self-guided Tours
  • Bucket List
  • Photo Stories
  • Excursions + Events
  • Article List
  • About

Tag: Pontocho

Kyoto:  Best Neighborhoods for Dining

June 30, 2017

Kyoto is full of famous sightseeing spots, but wandering around in the evening, looking for just the right restaurant, is an attraction of its own. I strongly recommend that you do not eat dinner at your hotel or ryokan. The neighborhoods listed below have great atmosphere, are very safe at night, and are full of … More Kyoto:  Best Neighborhoods for Dining

Leave a comment Kyoto:  Best Neighborhoods for Dining

Enter your email address to follow this site and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Instagram

To take in the view I posted yesterday of Kyoto Prefecture’s Amanohashidate, tourists take either this monorail or this chairlift up to Amanohashidate View Land (850 yen, round-trip). View Land consists of a large, grassy park filled with... a mini amusement park, a ‘sky viewing path’, a restaurant with a panoramic view, a cafe, a couple of wood deck patios with open seating, and a souvenir shop.
Amanohashidate is locate in Miyazu City, on the Sea of Japan in Kyoto Prefecture. Meaning ‘bridge to heaven’, it is a 3.6 kilometer long, pine-covered sand bar that connects the two sides of Miyazu Bay. It is possible to walk or bicycle on the sand bar, or travel by boat, from one side to the other. On both ends are interesting viewpoints, temples, shops, cafes, and more.
If you visit Kyoto’s Tofukuji, or its sub-temple, Komyo-in (previous post), be sure to stop in for tea and dessert at the cafe/gallery, Chikujousou. Within this 100-year-old home, visitors can relax in a tatami room overlooking a lovely garden. For 1000 yen, choose a drink (matcha, hot or iced coffee, or Japanese herb tea) and a dessert (on my visit the choices were a seasonal wagashi or matcha-flavored Baumkuchen). Chikujousou was the home of Baisen Hirai, a famous local painter, and his wife, Maki Hirai, a master of tea ceremony and ikebana flower arrangement. In addition to the cafe space, there is a small memorial gallery dedicated to the Hirai’s. Chikujousou is run by their friendly grandson, a graphic designer. He also offers tea ceremony, flower arrangement, painting classes, etc. in the house (information in Japanese on Chikujousou’s website). http://chikujousou.jp @excursions_japan #tofukuji #komyoin #chikujousou #竹情荘 #kyotocafe #wagashi #東福寺 #japanesesweets #dessert
The walk between Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Shrine and the magnificent Zen temple, Tofukuji, is a leisurely 15 minutes through a residential neighborhood. Along the way is one of Tofukuji’s sub-temples, Komyo-in (previous post). Founded in 1391, its famous rock garden is relatively new. It was designed in 1939 by Mirei Shigemori - who also designed Tofukuji’s four famous Zen gardens. However, it blends beautifully with the rest of the temple compound - which, although rather small, is one of the most beautiful in all of Kyoto. The attention to detail in all of its design, like this amazing round window, is very impressive! @excursions_japan #kyototemple #japanesetemple #komyoin #tofukuji #東福寺 #光明院 #window #japanesegarden
There is an amazing art exhibit on display within Komyo-in, a sub-temple of Kyoto’s famous Zen temple, Tofukuji. It is an exhibition by a young artist named Yuta Niwa. Extremely talented, his Japanese style pieces blend beautifully into the compound of this stunning temple. These fusuma (sliding Japanese doors) are just a couple of examples of his work using mineral pigments, Japanese paper, and sumi ink. Unfortunately, the exhibit ends on Sunday - but Niwa-san mentioned that some of his work will be on display again in Tokyo in the near future. Keep an eye out for it! yutaniwa.com @excursions_japan #yutaniwa #komyoin #光明院 #japaneseart #youngartist #japanesetemple #artexhibition #paintings #amazingart #tofukuji #東福寺
If you visit Kameido Tenjin (previous post), be sure to try a tasty Japanese sweet with tea at Funabashiya. This wagashi shop, which opened in 1805, is located about one minute from the shrine - on the nearby main street (Kuramaebashi-dori). Enjoy one of their desserts on-site (they even have a small outdoor courtyard) or take a treat to go and enjoy it under the wisteria. Note: They have a handy ‘bloom meter’ on their website. funabashiya.co.jp @excursions_japan #kameidotenjin #kameido #wagashi #japanesesweets #funabashiya #船橋屋 #tokyo #tokyotokyo #1805

RECENT ARTICLES

  • Kyoto 2021 – Without Tourists
  • What & Where is it? Kansai Explained
  • Kyoto’s Kinkakuji, the ‘Golden Pavilion’
  • GLIMPSES OF GEISHA – A ‘VIRTUAL’ ART EXHIBITION
  • Living in Japan: Places to visit before international tourists return
  • Shirakawa Mini-Walk, Central Kyoto
  • Specialty Dining in Obama, Fukui Prefecture
  • Obama – Asia’s Original Gateway to Japan and Kyoto
  • City Explorations: A Day in Morioka
  • Experience Morioka-Hachimantai Iwate Prefecture

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

CATEGORIES

  • 23 Wards (6)
  • Akita (1)
  • Aomori (2)
  • Art+Culture (5)
  • Autumn (3)
  • Bucket List (8)
  • Chiba (3)
  • Day Trips (20)
  • Destinations (16)
  • Eat+Sleep (5)
  • Events + Projects (3)
  • Features (32)
  • Fukui (2)
  • Fukushima (2)
  • Gunma (1)
  • Hakone (3)
  • Hyōgo (1)
  • Iwate (2)
  • Izu (4)
  • Kagawa (1)
  • Kanagawa (7)
  • Kawasaki (2)
  • Kumamoto (1)
  • Kyoto (12)
  • Kyoto City (9)
  • Mie (1)
  • Minato-Ku (3)
  • Nagano (1)
  • Nagasaki (1)
  • Nara (1)
  • Niigata (1)
  • Osaka (1)
  • Photo Stories (32)
  • Published Articles (3)
  • Saitama (1)
  • Seasonal (2)
  • Self-guided Tours (28)
  • Shiga (2)
  • Shimane (1)
  • Shizuoka (4)
  • Spring (5)
  • Summer (2)
  • Tama Area (1)
  • Tochigi (3)
  • Tokyo (9)
  • Travel Tips (4)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • Wakayama (2)
  • Weekend Trips (18)
  • Winter (4)
  • Yokohama (1)

Tags

Arashiyama art beach beginner hike boating cable car castle Cherry Blossoms culture cycling daibutsu day trip dining exhibition festival fishing flowers Fukui garden geisha giant buddha Gion golden pavilion golf hike hiking history hotel inn island Japan June kannon Kansai Kanto kinkakuji Kiyamachi Kyoto Kyushu lake magazine mountain mountain resort Mt. Mitake museum myth Obama Ome onsen overnight trip painting park Pontocho restaurant river ropeway ryokan Saba Kaido sake Sakura Shikoku shopping shrine sightseeing Spring Summer temple Tohoku Tokyo Winter

MOST POPULAR

  • Top 3 'Must Buy' Magazines on Japan
  • Morinji Temple & the Tanuki Tea Kettle
  • 'Maguro-lovers' day trip to Misaki Port & Jogashima

Contact Me

excursionsjapan@gmail.com
Blog at WordPress.com.
Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×