The author interviews both Pico Iyer and Alex Kerr. I can't recommend these two authors highly enough. Iyer's "The Lady and the Monk" and Kerr's "Another Kyoto" are worth reading even if you don't travel to Japan.
I was in Kyoto last year for two weeks. There are still lots of places where you can be completely alone in nature or a garden or a lovely street. But "the Big Five" are off limits unless you love human traffic jams.
That said, Gion before 10am is practically empty. You can wander around and look at the architecture. And I know quiet places within five blocks of central Gion.
I have mixed feelings about even saying this. Please, don't go . But if you are a respectful, slow traveler, Kyoto is still doable.
Japan is where the tourist traps are really really touristy but everything else (99%) is lovely. I stayed a bit out the way in Tokyo and Kyoto (not drastically so: 15 min bus to a central hub) and those places seem like the read deal Japanese life.
Kyoto is one of my favourite places in the world. Besides the obvious "Kyoto" being on your doorstep, you only need to jump on a train for 15 minutes to arrive at Lake Biwa. Amazing to think that so much beautiful nature is a stone's throw away from such a lovely city. Itself only a bullet train away from Tokyo
I live in Kyoto. There are a lot of tourists, but they all go to the same handful of spots. I avoid those places as much as I can. Kyoto is an amazing city: clean, safe, convenient, inexpensive (outside the tourist spots), full of history, culture, and nature.
I was there in January. Maybe not the busiest season but honestly this issue is overstated. I was the only white bro in a kimono (and it was my Japanese friend who really wanted to do it). Most of Kyoto is completely unaffected by tourism, though these are not historical areas. We had great omurice at a very local place on the outskirts of town after finishing up with Kinkaku-ji.
We arrived in Kyoto last night, and a few hours ago (very briefly) visited the Nishiki markets the author mentions - can confirm that they were awful.
Being middle aged Australians, we are definitely part of the problem described, but taking some comfort, after reading that article through, that we're part of that first 20% cohort. Also that wandering randomly and preferring to avoid crowds makes for a better experience, in the traditional (lived), if not the insta / tik tok, sense
We're also old enough to recall travelling before 'all this', and while I'm sure that same sense of nostalgia recurs for each generation, just (like many things) it feels unnervingly like we're rapidly approaching a tipping point of sorts.
Kyoto was our nod to a 'proper city' in our itinerary, fully conscious of the warnings about crowds, but mildly optimistic about our timing. We'd originally been planning a 2020 trip, which got kiboshed, but the upside was my wife spent an additional five years collecting duolingo badges in anticipation.
We opted to eschew Osaka, and from here are heading to increasingly smaller places.
Hiroshima was one of those places I felt should be visited by everyone. Or perhaps more accurately - especially by everyone who doesn't appreciate why they should.
(The museum there - if you turn up after 9am - almost feels like it is in fact being visited by everyone.)
I’m going to Japan in a week and I’m doing 1 week Tokyo, 2 days Nakasendo trail, 1 week Kyoto, 2 days Hiroshima. (Plus a day leftover I haven’t decided what to do with)
Do people have tips to find less touristy but still worthwhile places to go. Tourists go for these big places because traveling to Japan costs quite a bit and I’m using limited vacation time. Planning the trip in a location where the language doesn’t even have the same characters and I don’t have many familiar geographical reference points that coordinate with known cultural themes (unlike Europe) is already a bit overwhelming.
Haven't been there since before the pandemic but it was lovely. I think travel bloggers always act like everyone who goes there after them is some kind of idiot without taste.
When I travel I get a lot of enjoyment from slice of life kind of experiences - watching people on the bus or by the river or a bunch of school kids going to lunch with their teacher. And if you just wander around Kyoto you'll get a lot of that with a lot of historic beauty.
My friends are there right now and they seem to be having a great time.
Much of this article describes the behavior of relatively new travelers. As they mature, they’ll dig deeper, stay off the beaten tracks and, with luck, open up their cultural lens.
Without paywall: https://archive.md/hUSoQ
Any recommendations outside of the tourist area? I've been looking to go next year but if you look up recommended places, there's so many to pick from
"When in Rome".
It's not a guide - it's a hard, fast, unbreakable rule, *especially* in Japan.
Obey rules. Follow queues. Don't eat and walk. BE QUIET.
Learning some of the language wouldn't go amiss either.
I've been to Japan over the last 20 years or so and I've become utterly INFURIATED at tourists from pretty much every country. Yanks and Chinese are loud and obnoxious, Aussies (my group) are woefully uncouth. Interestingly I don't have much of a general impression of European travellers.
Part rant, part instruction.
This article is terrible. It's two paragraphs long and basically says:
-Tourists rent kimonos for $20 a day.
-Lots of people are there.
-Guy quoted in the article doesn't like it.
I want to copypaste this answer to so many comments in this thread but instead, let me reply to the post directly.
I'm going to travel to Japan (again) around late November this year. For this trip, I made a point to not return to a city I've been to already — Tokyo is an exception but I need to take my plane back home at some point.
Japan really has a high density when you go to the touristic attractions (most of those are inside Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka). But when you go out of your way, you won't regret it. Peaceful streets, beautiful gardens. I would even advocate to actively go out of your way. Even if you get lost, Japan is very forgiving. People will try to help you.
Somehow, outside of those cities it kinda looks like the countryside everywhere, but as long as there is a train station it's still convenient to go there.
Also, Japan is cheap. People doubt me when I say this, but Japan is very inexpensive. When you do the "Top 5" on TripAdvisor and eat Kobe Beef every day, yes it sure is expensive but it also is an experience that isn't meant to be lived that many times.
If any of you read this and need help planning a trip or want any humble suggestions, feel free to contact me!