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KYOTO
Geishas, Gion and The Golden Pavilion ‘Kinkakuji’ are what make Kyoto
stand out from the rest of Japan. The cultural heart of the country, Kyoto is an
experience. With its 2,000 religious places – 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400
Shinto shrines, as well as palaces, gardens and architecture intact – it is one of
the best preserved cities in Japan. Formerly the Imperial capital of Japan for
more than one thousand years, it is now the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture
located in the Kansai region.
In stark contrast with Tokyo, where most of the old architecture was
destroyed in the air raid of 1945, Kyoto was largely spared from conventional
bombing. As a result, the Imperial City of Kyoto is one of the few Japanese
cities that still have an abundance of pre-war buildings, such as the traditional
townhouses known as machiya.
