Tenryuji Temple Arashiyama

天龍寺 Tenryu-ji Temple , in the lush Arashiyama district , is one of Japan's most famous and influential Zen temples. Original…

Ikuokaya Kyoto

幾岡屋 Ikuokaya has been doing business in the world-famous Gion district (home to maiko and geiko and high-culture nightlife) for …

Lonely Planet Japan Launch Party

ローンリー・プレネット・ジャパン New Lonely Planet Tokyo launch at 300 Bar Next, Yurakucho, Tokyo Lonely Planet , the legendary guide book publis…

Kyoto Butoh-kan: One Year Anniversary of the Worldʼs First Butoh Theatre

舞踊館 Japan's only Butoh dance theater has recently celebrated its first anniversary. Yurabe Masami Perfoming The theater is …

Kyoto,Japan / The Gion matsuri festival / Deep culture and the Ark of the covenant

photolibrary photolibrary The Gion Matsuri of Kyoto is one of the biggest festival in Japan. Of course this festival is a Shinto…

Asahido

朝日堂 Asahido is one of the most famous of Kyoto's Kiyomizu yaki pottery stores, and had been a landmark for generations of vi…

Kyoto's Kiyomizu Ceramics

清水焼 Elegant shape, graceful design, and pure, intense colors - these are the qualities that have drawn generation after generatio…

Incarcerated in Kyoto

京暮らしはまるで京務所（けいむしょ）ちゃう？ Residents of Barcelona sometimes refer to their ultra-popular destination city as "Carcelona." …

Kuramaguchi Station

鞍馬口 Kuramaguchi is a station on the Karasuma Line of the Kyoto subway one stop north of Imadegawa Station and one stop south o…

Machiya Restoration

Kyoto is probably the only major Japanese city with so many standing wooden structures. And these wooden homes and offices called…

Kibune Restaurants & Ryokan

貴船 Kibune , just a bit north of Kyoto city, is one of Kyoto's most popular summer destinations for a number of reasons. It&#…

Kurotani Washi

黒谷和紙 Kurotani is well-known for its wagami ('rice' paper) production. Appreciation for this lifetime-absorbing craft ha…

Japanese Language Of Words and Women

Much has been written in praise of the Kyoto woman: her beauty, her grace, her charming and distinctive speech. Indeed, throughou…

Japanese Garden Stones

藤戸石 Stones are the most important feature of a Japanese garden. If the ground is the "flesh" of a Japanese garden, the…

Ajiro A Taste of Zen Near Myoshinji

阿じろ Shojin ryori , the vegetarian cuisine served in the Rinzai, Soto, and Obaku sects of Zen Buddhism, is one of the culinary del…

Unique Buddhist Sculpture Masterworks in Kameoka & Kyoto

Kyoto has more Buddhist statues than any other place in Japan. Some of them are National Treasures and a few are rarely open to …

The Kyocera Museum of Art Special Exhibition Rin/Ten

The Kyocera Museum of Art will host a new exhibition: Rin/Ten - Encounter of Fine Ceramics and Art  from June 9 - July 9. The exh…

Japanese Rain Words

雨 Tsuyu (梅雨) and uki (雨季) in Japanese both mean the rainy season. Literally, the kanji for tsuyu means "plum rain"…