5 Days in Kyoto | The Best Things to Do in Kyoto, Japan

5 Days in Kyoto | The Best Things to Do in Kyoto, Japan

[Music] After spending a few days in Tokyo, we took the Shinkansen Sen to Kyoto. Reaching speeds of up to 320 km per hour, the bullet trains are fast, safe, and always on time. Not only is it a convenient ride, but you can admire views of the countryside as you travel. We even saw Mount Fuji out the window. In this video, we’re going to show you how to spend five amazing days in Kyoto. The first day is a bit of a travel day as we reached our hotel around check-in time at about 3:00. Justin and I stayed at the Machia Kamiha, a boutique hotel located among the old traditional streets of southern Higashiyama. I loved the exposed wooden beams, Japanese art on the walls, and modern comforts of this hotel. We were pretty hungry, so we walked over to Silverbox Cafe for lunch. This is a vegan cafe with a friendly owner. It’s a great place to try traditional Kyoto style oenzai, which is a set of home-cooked dishes. From there, we spent the rest of the day walking along the Kamo River and exploring downtown Kyoto. One fun stop was a Nintendo store. It’s located on the top floor of a large shopping mall. There’s merchandise featuring all of your favorite Nintendo characters from games like Mario, Zelda, Pikmin, and more. Before long, it was dinner time. We went back across the river to Eon soy milk ramen Uno Yokiko. They serve up delicious and hearty bowls of ramen with a soy milk base. For dessert, we had to try their chocolate creme brulee, which was so good. They even have a vending machine of their own homemade desserts outside the restaurant to buy on the go. [Music] Good morning from Kyoto. Today we’re exploring the old area of the city around Gillon. We’re seeing the shrines, the temples, and the ancient streets. The streets around our hotel were very quiet and peaceful. That all changed once we got to the busy Matsubara Street. We’re all walking up the street to visit one of the most iconic temples in Kyoto, Kio Mizera. This translates to pure water temple. This Buddhist temple was founded in the year 778, making it over,50 years old. It’s halfway up Mount Otoa in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Mountain Range. It’s famously known for its main hall and wooden stage that extends above the hillside. Amazingly enough, the main hall and stage were built on wooden stilts without using any nails. It demonstrates the remarkable feats of ancient Japanese architecture. It’s even earthquake resistant. When you first enter, you might notice a couple of heavy metal poles. These are replicas of spears once used by Benke, a monk warrior in the 12th century. The largest one is extremely heavy, and I could not make it budge. The temple is dedicated to Kanan, a deity of mercy and compassion. Visitors pray for happiness and health. We walked around to see all of the halls, temple buildings, and pagotas. The view from up here is incredible, and all the amazing views continue as you walk around the property. There are a couple of popular traditional streets, Sanaka and Ninan Zaka. Pop into some local shops or sample some treats. From Sanaka, we admired the Yasaka Pagod in the distance. Next, we wandered into a couple of lesser visited temples and shrines. First, Yasaka Koshindo is an intriguing small Buddhist temple. This temple honors the Szaru or three wise monkeys. These are the three monkeys we know from See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil. We immediately notice the colorful fabric balls hanging all around. These are called cukuizaru. It’s thought that if you write out one of your bad desires onto a ball, the desire will be abolished and a good wish will be granted. Next, we visited the Yasui Compagu Shrine, which upon first glance looks like other shrines, but it’s definitely one of the most unique shrines in Japan. We immediately noticed this giant rock with a hole in the middle covered with papers. So, I thought that this was a place where you could make a wish on the paper, crawl through the hole, stick your paper to the rock, and it would be granted. Well, this isn’t exactly correct. Little did I know that this is a relationship making and breaking shrine. To make a good relationship tighter, crawl through the stone from front to back. To end a relationship, crawl from the back to the front. I did both. So, now what? I later learned that for married couples matched by good fate, their good relationship will not be disturbed. They will be blessed with a deeper and stronger connection. Phew. It was time for lunch, so we went to a cafe inside an old and beautifully renovated Japanese home. Tori Coffee Kyoto serves up delicious, freshly brewed coffee, as well as dectable plant-based dishes. We highly recommend trying the Katsu sandwich or the vegan fish and chips. Later this afternoon, we took a self-guided tour of Nij Castle. There’s a moat around the grounds, several buildings and gardens to explore. This palace is a former imperial villa. It’s over 400 years old, and it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. The castle dates back to 16003 when it was built as the Kyoto residence for the first shogun of the Ado period. [Applause] Walk through the Chinese style Caraman gate and reach Nino Maru Palace. You can admire it from the outside or pay a small additional fee to enter the building. No photos or videos are allowed to be taken inside the palace. It’s pretty fascinating and worth a visit. There are tatami mat rooms decorated with beautiful murals and painted sliding doors. The floors also squeak and sound like birds chirping, which was installed originally as a security measure. Continue to walk around the Ninomaru Garden towards the Han Maru Palace and [Music] Gardens. We climbed up the original stone foundation of the former Castle Keep, which offers amazing views over the property. Next, Roku Jan is a lovely place to visit for a tasty treat and a bit of history. This cafe is located inside a century old Japanese style home with a beautiful garden in the middle of it. After a short tour of the home, we were seated in front of a large window for tea. Their specialty is hanoarabi, a transparent motif filled with colorful edible flowers. You can dip them into a homemade brown sugar syrup and soybean flour. They’re almost too pretty to eat. For dinner, we headed over to Mousashi Sushi, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It’s day three in Kyoto and we’re spending the day in Arashiyama on the western side of the city. We walked up Saga Toriimoto Preserve Street lined with older homes, eventually reaching Arashino Nenbutsi Temple. This is a little temple that you pay a small fee to enter. Our main reason for visiting was to see the bamboo forest within the temple [Music] property. Walk up an incline path surrounded by tall bamboo trees. It’s so pretty. It’s so peaceful to watch the bamboo trees sway in the wind and even hear the sounds of them creaking back and forth. Even though there will be other visitors, it’s not quite as crowded as the main bamboo forest. Walk a little ways up the street to reach Otagi Nbutsuji Temple. This is a really interesting temple that has been destroyed by flooding, typhoons, and has changed locations over the years. One of the most interesting features are the 12,200 plus Rakan statues representing the followers of the Buddha. Every statue is different because each one is carved by a different person. In 1981, a famous sculpture, Coocho Nitimura, guided the locals to carve their own statues. Each one has a different facial expression or whimsical pose. Some are cute, silly, or serious. All the statues are covered in moss, which really adds a magical vibe. There are also three large golden bells. Be sure to ring the bells when you’re there as their sounds are thought to convey the heart of Buddha to the natural [Music] world. This is such a great find and it’s a little bit off the main tourist track, so you might end up having it all to yourself. It’s the early afternoon and we headed to 10 Rioji, a famous Buddhist temple and UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s in a really scenic location on the Katsura River at the edge of the Hosu Gorge. Japan’s first Zen temple was established here in the 9th century. While the grounds of Tenriu are only about a tenth of the size that they once were, it’s a fascinating site with many halls, shrines, and tea houses. Our main reason for visiting was to have lunch at the 10 Ryuji Temple Chi Getsu inside the temple grounds. This was such a special experience. We dined in our own private room sitting on the tatami mat floor. This restaurant serves shojene riori, also known as zen vegetarian cuisine. These dishes harmonize with Buddhist ideals. They’re nourishing meals made from fresh seasonal vegetables, herbs, and wild plants that don’t harm any animals. This temple is open for lunch every day but Thursday. It’s also a Michelin recommended restaurant and has received the bib gourmand. The food was so delicious and this was truly an experience we’ll remember for a long [Music] time. After lunch, we went for a stroll around the temple and it started to snow. We were visiting Kyoto in February and even though it’s technically winter, it’s rare that you see snow here. And when it does snow, it doesn’t stick to the ground. The snow really added to the magic of the day and thankfully it wasn’t too cold outside. Staying in Arashiyama, we walked to the train station, but not to leave just yet. We wanted to see an art installation called Kimono Forest. These are rows of pillars clustered together much like the bamboo forest, but each covered with traditional Kioen style textiles. Walk through the pillars wrapped in kimono textiles. At night, they’re illuminated. I would love to return to see [Music] that. We walked across the iconic Toetsu Kio Bridge, which translates to mean moon crossing. It comes from a tale that the emperor Kamiyama was once enjoying a full moon boating party and he thought that it looked like the moon was crossing the [Music] bridge. We walked to the Arashiyama Park, Nakamoshima, a little island park that’s also home to a Pokémon manhole cover. There are numerous manhole covers covered with Pokémon characters around Japan. If you look it up on Google, there’s a map to show you where to find them all. Back in downtown Kyoto this evening, we’re taking a tour with the company Arriato Travel. This tour is called Kyoto Luxury Sake Whiskey and Cocktails Tour. This barc showcases some of the best establishments in the city as introduced by a local guide. Not only did we sample Japanese whiskey, sake, and cocktails, but we also learned about the context, history, and culture behind these famous drinks in the city itself. Our first stop on our Kyoto bar crawl specializes in the popular drink, the whiskey highball. It’s commonly served in izakaya’s casual Japanese bars with snacks and smaller dishes to accompany the drinks. The Japanese whiskey highball is a light and casual drink that pairs well with food. It’s made with Japanese whiskey, sparkling water, ice cubes, and a slice of citrus fruit. Our next stop combined a sake tasting with dinner. Since I follow a vegan diet, our guide took us to the must- vvisit restaurant, Vegan Izakaya Nijia. Seated at the bar, the food and drinks were prepared before our eyes, and it was such a memorable dining experience. Every small plate we ordered was so good, including the soy meat skewers, torched donigiri, the dumplings, the tofu dish, the soup, and the oanzai. Yeah, I just listed everything we ate. It was so good. At our restaurant, in most bars, the sake cup is placed inside a masu, a small square box that was originally used to measure a day’s worth of rice. It’s considered to be a sign of generosity when the sake overflows from the cup into the masu. Drink from the glass and then drink the remaining sake from the [Music] box. Ponto is a narrow alley in Kyoto filled with restaurants and bars that for the most part open in the evening. Walk along this narrow street lined with glowing lanterns. We ducked into one of these bars on the eastern side of the river and managed to snag a spot at the back window. With the dimly lit ambiance of the bar and the calm river views at dusk, it offers the ideal atmosphere to enjoy some Japanese whiskey on the rocks. Our last stop of our bar crawl in Kyoto was a cocktail bar down a quiet street. It’s a favorite among locals and situated inside a centuries old home transformed into a cocktail bar. The bartenders in Kyoto aren’t focused on speed or showiness. They will take the time to craft the perfect cocktail. Today we are so excited because we are finally going to the Nintendo Museum. It just opened in October, just in time for our trip. Actually, we’re just huge Nintendo fans. Been playing the games all since we were kids, right through till present. So, really excited to go check it out. Let’s go. The Nintendo Museum is a video game museum devoted to all things Nintendo, of course. It’s on the site of the old Agura plant that used to make its trading cards and repair toys and consoles. Be sure to stop for some photo ops outside the museum, and you can even get a picture of your own me on your entry card. Getting tickets to the Nintendo Museum is not easy. You need to enter a lottery in advance. We didn’t get selected for the lottery, but we did manage to snag some tickets when the remaining ones were put up for the sale for the month we were visiting. You can’t take photos inside the museum portion that takes up the second floor of the museum, but you can in the playable games area. I wish I could show you the vast collection of museum artifacts, but you’ll just have to visit for yourself. There are several interactive games to play. Each visitor gets 10 coins on their card, and the games take either one or several coins to play. Justin and I played games on gigantic Nintendo controllers that are two-player. These ones were our favorites. We also played a Nintendo Zapper game, original Famicom games, a baseball game, and a classic Game and Watch game. There’s more memorabilia on the first floor, like old systems and their controllers, Pokémon cards, and Hanafuda cards. Speaking of Hanafuda cards, did you know that Nintendo used to make these cards going back to the 1800s, long before they made video game systems? For an extra fee, you can create your own set of Hannah cards. We booked this at the front desk upon our arrival. You can choose which set you’d like to make. There are 12 different ones for every month of the year. I chose June for my birth month and Justin chose September for his. There are staff members that will help you, but the painting instructions are pretty clear. It’s a really cool souvenir to bring home with you. I think we’re going to frame [Music] ours. It’s day five and our final day in Kyoto. This morning we went to the famous Fushimi Anari Shrine. Okay, so you’ve probably heard that this is a really busy and popular place and that you need to go early in the morning. Well, it’s very busy, but there’s really a good way to escape the crowds even in the middle of the day. And I’m going to show you how. First, Fushimi Anari is home to thousands upon thousands of Tory gates. These gates surround a path that winds through a forest up to the top of Mount Anari. I’d set aside 2 to three hours to walk up to the top of the mountain and back. Now, here’s where my tip comes into play. You should walk up to the top of the mountain if you can manage it. It’s not an extremely strenuous climb. There are just quite a few stairs in some areas. When you visit, you can turn around and go back anytime that you’d like. And here’s the thing, most tourists won’t make it past the halfway point. So, if you keep on walking, the longer that you walk, the less people that you’ll be sharing the grounds with. There will be areas to get the perfect photo. Just be patient and wait until you get further [Music] up. An interesting note, you will notice that the Tory gates are all inscribed with writing. That’s because each gate is sponsored by individuals or companies. On the backs of the pillars of the names of the donors. The cost to sponsor a gate starts at around 400,000 yen and goes up to 1 million yen. At about the halfway point, there’s a really beautiful view of the city of Kyoto. Then keep on walking. The Tory gates line the path for the entire journey, which is quite impressive. There’s said to be 10,000 gates in total. There are also smaller shrines on the way up. This Shinto shrine is dedicated to Anari, whose messengers are foxes. You will see fox statues all over Fushimi Anari. I feel like I’ve been training for this all week. Not only are there 10,000 gates, but there’s also I don’t know how many steps here. It just keeps going up and up and up as we go towards Mountari. I think there’s just a few more stairs to go, but this feels a bit like the final boss. We finally reached the top where you’ll find a small shrine and then it’s time to turn around and go back down. We spent the rest of our day in the city center and stumbled upon another great place for video game lovers called Cafe Lassiesta 8bit Edition. This is a retro video game bar with memorabilia, toys, and decor devoted to old games. There’s a video game inspired cocktail menu, and you can even play some games like Mario [Music] Kart. On our last day in Kyoto, we also went to the popular Nishiki Market, but I thought I’d tell you a little bit more about an interesting find there. Nishiki Ten Mongu is a shrine right in the middle of the market. It’s the perfect example of how cities in Japan offer such a unique combination of the old and the new. Thanks so much for watching our video about Kyoto. I hope it gives you many ideas for when you plan your trip here. Please give it a like if you enjoyed it, and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button to stay in touch. We have many more Japan videos coming soon.

We spent 5 days in Kyoto, Japan and had an incredible time. In this Kyoto travel guide, we’re going to show you the best things to do in Kyoto in 5 days.

This is a detailed Kyoto itinerary that will help you plan your trip or inspire you to visit this beautiful Japanese city with so much history, culture and fun!

Kyoto Day 1 (Arrival):
We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto, so this was a travel day for us.
We checked into our hotel, The Machiya Kamiumeya, a boutique hotel located among the old, traditional streets of southern Higashiyama.
– Lunch at Silver Backs Cafe
– Walking along the Kamo River to downtown Kyoto
– Shopping in downtown Kyoto, including the Nintendo store in Kyoto
– Dinner at Gion Soy Milk Ramen Uno Yokiko, amazing vegan ramen.

Kyoto Day 2 (Gion and Nijo Castle):
– Matsubara Street
– Kiyomizu-dera
– Traditional streets, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka
– Yasaka Koshindo (Buddhist temple)
– Yasui Kompiragu Shrine
– Toriba Coffee Kyoto for lunch
– Nijo Castle
– Rokujuan for hanawarabi
– Musashi Sushi, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant

Kyoto Day 3 (Arashiyama):
– Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street
– Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple and its bamboo forest
– Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
– Tenryuji Buddhist Temple
– Tenryuji Temple Shigetsu for lunch
– Kimono Forest
– Togetsukyo Bridge
– Arashiyama Park Nakanoshima
– Arigato Travel tour: Kyoto Luxury Sake, Whisky and Cocktails Tour

Kyoto Day 4 (Nintendo Museum):
We spent the day at the amazing Nintendo Museum and had an absolute blast!

Kyoto Day 5 (Fushimi Inari):
– Fushimi Inari
– Cafe La Siesta 8bit edition for dinner
– Nishiki Tenmangu in Nishiki Market

#Kyoto #Japan #Arashiyama #Nintendo #Gion

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0:00 Shinkanen to Kyoto
0:29 The Machiya Kamiumeya
0:50 Silver Backs Cafe
1:04 Kamo River
1:10 Nintendo Kyoto
1:23 Gion Soy Milk Ramen
1:45 Matsubara Street
2:12 Kiyomizu-dera
3:24 Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka
3:41 Yasaka Koshindo
4:10 Yasui Kompiragu Shrine
4:59 Toriba Coffee Kyoto
5:20 Nijo Castle
6:32 Rokujuan
7:02 Musashi Sushi
7:15 Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street
7:29 Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple
8:02 Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
9:08 Tenryuji Temple Shigetsu
10:20 Tenryuji Buddhist Temple
10:42 Kimono Forest
11:07 Togetsukyo Bridge
11:25 Arashiyama Park Nakanoshima
11:43 Arigato Travel Nightlife Tour
14:10 Nintendo Museum
16:20 Fushimi Inari
18:44 Cafe La Siesta 8bit edition
19:08 Nishiki Tenmangu

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