Page 5 - japan

Stroll through the regal retreats of the Im-

perial Palace or one of the two Imperial vil-
las with gardens and teahouses managed

by the Imperial Household Agency. These
are the Imperial Palace (Kyōto-gosho) and

Sentō Imperial Palace (Sentō-gosho) in
Central Kyoto, Katsura Imperial Villa (Kat-

sura-rikyū) in Western Kyoto, and Shūga-
kuin Imperial Villa Shugaku-in-rikyū) in

Northern Kyoto In 1994, 17 historic sites
were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heri-

tage List under the group designation His-
toric Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. Four-

teen of the listed sites are in Kyoto itself,
two are in the neighbouring city of Uji and

one is in Ōtsu.
Kyoto and the nearby city of Uji are well

known for matcha (maccha) or green tea,
but visitors don’t just come to drink the

tea; there are a wide variety of matcha-fla-
vored treats. Matcha ice cream is particu-

larly popular, and most places selling ice
crea option.