"ancient capital of japan" a Kyoto Travel Page by chaistarr

Kyoto has preserved a lot of buildings from old times. unesco has made alot of them world culture sites.
With an astonishing 1600 Buddhist temples, 400 Shinto shrines, a few palaces, sculptured gardens and museums housing some 20% of Japan's National Treasures, Kyoto ranks as one of the most culturally rich cities on the planet.

just do remember one must look.......err......hunt for these cultural relics. population and modernization pressures have made kyoto a very modern city complete with many highrse buildings, traffic, polution, crowds, noise......hard to find peace and solace buddhists love when the temple you visit is literally inches away from a department store, main street, and housing complex. also many love kyoto so the "peaceful" areas are often anything but. so if you can find peace and solitude among throngs of giggling schoolgirls, bus loads of elderly tourists, and confused gaijin tourists, then i commend you highly!!!

view of kyoto city from kiyomizudera castle/temple.

Famous haiku poet Issa sums up Kyoto well...
yuku na hotaru miyako wa yoru mo yakamashiki

stay away, firefly!
Kyoto even at night
is noisy

if you've ever read memoirs of a geisha, or read some history, geishas werepopular in gion, park of kyoto. here is a july festival. (this is a postcard)