In this video, we explore Kyoto in 2 days. Join me as I show you the hidden gems near some of the popular sites in Kyoto. I’ll give you good tips for finding some of the best snacks and souvenir places in the city. We also take a look at some of the more important historical sites in Kyoto and even learn to shoot bow and arrow with a grand master in archery.
Archery: https://maps.app.goo.gl/c6RVSWagiYd2dqbb7
Two Best Sake Places in Kyoto:
Local Sake and Beer Stand 336: https://maps.app.goo.gl/btUEGFrc3WNHnjrY6
Gabana: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DiAJbFwvhABmeaeQA
Shops
Fans: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tHV6e7j3VwgKts5T8
Chopsticks: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tcYQo1jF1Dg24S2u7
Vintage Masks and Kimonos: https://maps.app.goo.gl/52mzUDM9BpngbEpv5
Pottery: https://maps.app.goo.gl/We2rKNwAtwr5LJFt6
Best Knives in Kyoto: https://maps.app.goo.gl/46YGQkDzhf1SmcHdA
Hidden Shrine by Inari: https://maps.app.goo.gl/aVkpMpsosVSFqBd69
welcome to Kyoto Japan one of my
favorite destinations in the entire
country as I’ve been traveling it for
about 2 months Kyoto is synonymous with
peace and relaxation you can’t help but
stop at one of the many hundreds of
temples or Gardens that line the city
and are within a short walking distance
today we’re going to look at a few
different things we’re going to learn to
shoot bow and arrow with a level five
grandm we’re going to have many many
many and many delicious treats we’ll
have sake from one of the oldest bars
inside the city center we’ll tour some
of the less seen temples just next to
some of the main sites we’ll see an old
medieval castle that has stood at the
test of time witness a 19th century
Aqueduct that brings water across the
city see some fun Temple
traditions and visit one of the darkest
sites in all of kyot
but we’ll end our trip with a highlight
of the best places to find some great
souvenirs that are very authentic
including a unesc protected fan shop the
best place to find used authentic wooden
masks a place to find great chopsticks
for a good deal and a place that has
been making knives since the samurai
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ERA this morning it was a little rainy
as we were leaving guon the old District
of Kyoto
we were making our way to this little
workshop which also serves as an archery
ring it happens to be the private
business of a level five grandm Archer
the master who speaks primarily in
Japanese has a translator for you who
speaks English he goes through for about
5 to 10 minutes and explains all the
intricacies that go into firing an
ancient Japanese Longbow unlike Western
Europe where firing a longbow is the
simple practice of pulling the string
back and firing the arrow and hoping
that you hit the Target Japanese archery
is much more involved it’s part
meditation part combat the instructor is
incredibly patient even with people like
me who are very bad at following
instructions especially when there’s
about 20 steps that you need to remember
fortunately though over the course of an
hour in which we got to shoot about five
or six times my archery skills got
substantially better I went from missing
the target
entirely to getting within about a few
inches of the bullseye
in my two months in Japan this has since
been my favorite activity it takes about
an hour and you get to shoot the arrows
about five to six times I highly
recommend it and I’ll have a link in the
description down below for where you can
book it by a Viet
tour after refining our skills like an
authentic Japanese warrior it was time
to relax a little bit where else better
to do that than here inome the old
District we found for ourselves a little
place that served up some warm and cold
socket okay as well as some delicious
treats the sake is really good but the
star of this restaurant has got to be
this this looks like raw duck but it’s
actually been smoked for a whole day the
Smoky flavor comes through in every
single bite and it’s served up with this
delicious little mustard 10 out of 10
would
recommend come for the sake but stay for
the duck but after that I needed
something sweet so I grabbed my first
little snack this giant cone of matcha
ice
cream as well as these little things
which I thought were going to be sweet
but turns out they’re basically just soy
sauce that have been
caramelized to rectify this misadventure
I found probably the most fancy doughnut
place I’ve ever seen Welcome to The
Powder Room this place makes Gourmet
donuts and this is an art form this is
very elaborate and it takes nearly 2 or
3 minutes to make after the Doughnut’s
been already cooked and you’ll notice
that we have several different layers
that go into some of these Donuts let’s
sit back and watch an artisan at their
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craft but this isn’t the only sweet
thing that you can find in Kyoto
throughout the city and throughout Japan
you’ll see stalls just like this you’ll
have little vending machines where you
can press the thing that you want by
just simply inserting your money I opted
for the chocolate version I’m not
entirely sure what these things are
called but they are absolutely delicious
they come in a cheese variety a
chocolate variety and a vanilla variety
another thing you can’t forget to try
are Japanese sweet potatoes I thought
these were just like American sweet
potatoes they are
[Music]
not it’s nearly midnight here in Kyoto
Japan and I have a couple meetings
coming up so I needed a good coffee
place to hit up I’m in gon which is the
old town now most old towns across
Europe most your coffee places are
closing around you know 8:00 at night
however I found one here in Kyoto that’s
open until 1:30 and you got to check
this place out it’s called tamaka and
it’s got this nice dingy old 8s Vibe
going on there’s smoke in the atmosphere
feels like an old Club you got to hit it
up
[Music]
[Applause]
the next morning we traveled just
outside of kot to anari one of the more
popular Instagram destinations for all
of Kyoto but when you get there you
quickly realize that it’s overcrowded
this is a little trick for getting away
from the crowds and finding little
shrines embedded within this very large
Shino Shrine if you notice this little
Trail as you’re walking up the mountain
be sure to take it it’s quiet and
there’s very few tourists around you’ll
be able to wander through this bamboo
forest and eventually find a path that
looks like this I encourage you to walk
down this path because you’ll be taken
to one of the best shrines I have seen
across all of
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Japan it’s quiet and placed right inside
this little bamboo forest wander around
through here and take in the Serenity
and I promise you you will not regret it
and then Venture back into the crowds of
anari and continue getting your
Instagram
photos after this we venture back into
the busy streets of Kyoto and we head
straight for the Kyoto Castle this is a
medieval castle and I highly recommend
that you come here late in the morning
or early in the afternoon so that you
can schedule one of the few tours that
go on here every day there’s about 2 or
three depending on the day and depending
on the season the tour comes not only
with a guide but a way to access private
locations within the castle that you can
visit with just a regular ticket the
tour will last for about an hour to an
hour and a half depending on how much
you’re guide likes to talk but
afterwards you’ll be able to explore the
castle grounds I highly recommend that
you do so not only are you able to
stroll through these many little side
streets you’re also able to take in some
beautiful Rock Gardens you can also
climb on top of a tower and have a
dominating view over Kyoto and imagine
what it would have been like back in the
day when this would have been the
tallest building around and it allows
you to really appreciate the defensive
measures that this Castle has but the
best thing you could do inside this
Castle is take a moment on your way out
to stop by its lovely Tea Garden and
partake in a traditional tea service of
either green or matcha tea also side
note I highly recommend the apple pie
and ice
[Music]
cream on the other side of town you can
follow the Philosopher’s path and
eventually end up at the nanzenji temple
the temple grounds are one of the best
things to see while you’re in Kyoto but
there’s a lot of other videos on YouTube
that cover them there’s two main things
that I recommend seeing here besides the
temple and besides the grounds
themselves the first one is going to be
this 19th century Aqueduct which was
built to take water across the city of
Kyoto the other main thing that you want
to see is right behind the aqueduct and
is often times missed by other tourists
in fact if you look on Google Maps it’s
really hard to even figure out what the
name of this little path is but this
path takes you is one of the coolest
little shrines that I’ve seen in all of
Kyoto it’s up on the mountain side
there’s absolutely no one around there’s
a cute little Red Bridge a nice
waterfall and it’s a very quiet area in
a really really busy
City but a small word of caution while
you’re up here I recommend going with at
least another person because there are
signs posted about beware of monkeys
that are a bit aggressive I heard them
while I was up there I wasn’t attacked
but do be careful these steps up to the
temple are a bit slippery and there are
monkeys that may or may not attack
you today I’m walking through the back
streets of kyota Japan and I’m taking
you right now to one of the darkest
historical sites in the entire city it’s
so dark that it wasn’t included in
textbooks until the 1970s and it’s so
dark that it’s off most of the tourist
guide Maps here in Japan nestled in this
quiet neighborhood is this large Mound
which was erected in the late 16th
century at this time Japan was invading
the Korean Peninsula and its Warriors
there on the Korean Peninsula brought
back the noses and ears as trophies of
Those whom they killed those noses and
ears belonged both to soldiers and
civilians alike when they returned home
the ears and noses of these individuals
were put inside this mound where they
still sit to this day I recommend taking
some time to not only visit the site but
also one of the best shops in all of
Kyoto it is a fan shop that according to
one review is a unesc protected site and
I highly recommend going in and
exploring these different fans they are
very fairly priced and a lot of them if
not all of them are made by local
Artisans so most of these are going to
be handmade and hand painted
[Music]
back in the main part of Kyoto is Hashi
one of the best tourist sites that you
can go to for buying Chopsticks this
feels like olivanders and Harry Potter
to me the walls are lined with hundreds
if not thousands of different Chopsticks
that you can purchase all of these at
least most of them can be engraved they
come from different regions of Japan and
if you speak with the people who run the
shop they will happily tell you where
the wood is sourced from and where they
were created in Japan I purchased some
for myself that were from the Tokyo
region and some that were made just
outside of Kyoto as gifts they’re very
reasonably priced ranging from about5 to
$10 but can get pretty expensive up to
$100 if you’re looking for kimonos or
other antiques I recommend this shop
right here it’s got vintage kimonos but
more importantly for those who are
interested in vintage authentic Japanese
wooden masks you can find on the walls
many different ones that you can
actually purchase I picked up one for
myself it makes for a great souvenir
when we get back home if you’re in the
mood for pottery then there is no better
place in all of Koto than the many shops
that line Gojo Dory street now while
this might be a very touristy area
because of the nearby Temple and shrines
I highly recommend that you do stop into
these shops this is ancestrally where
all the potteries would have been back
in the day in Kyoto and many of these
shops can date their history back many
centuries I highly recommend shopping
through these different areas and
looking and speaking with the
individuals to find pottery that is
sourced not only from Japan but is made
in the region of Kyoto because many of
these shops will sell authentic wees
also there are going to be some touristy
shops so if it’s priced really low and
you see a lot of other common souvenirs
that might be a good indication that you
should look
elsewhere for those of you who are
interested in authentic knives and there
is no better shop than this one here I
don’t know how to pronounce this name it
is all rendered in Japanese on Google
Maps but I’ll have a link in the
description down below this shop dates
his history back centuries and this shop
was originally owned by individuals who
made swords during the samurai era
however later in time the samurai were
prevented from Legally carrying swords
so the shop owners just shifted and
started making knives instead today you
can purchase knives from this shop that
are made in Japan and in many cases made
nearby in the regions around Kyoto you
can also get them to customize and
engrave them for you they are going to
be a little a little bit more on the
expensive side but what you get is an
authentic experience in a high quality
Japanese knife 10 out of 10 would
recommend after a long day of visiting
sites and souvenir shopping I recommend
this sake shop it’s a bar called gabana
it’s got like this really old school
Vibe going on if you look on Google Maps
you’re going to see really bad reviews
that’s for the meat don’t eat the food
here definitely come here for the sake
it’s an incredible experience where it
feels like a lot of locals come that’s
going to be all for ik kyot video
hopefully you’ve enjoyed it please like
And subscribe down below everything that
you’ve seen in this video can
realistically be done in about 2 days
and a lot of these sites remember are
going to be nearby the main tourist
destinations so take a look on your map
and I highly encourage you to spend a
little bit of time and Venture away from
those popular Instagram spots and go and
see these other little sites
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