Overview
** KYOTO TOURS, JAPAN **
Read travel tips for Kyoto from our amazing community of BLACK AND BROWN TRAVELERS that will help you find some of the best places to visit in Kyoto. Our variety of travel tips will definitely help you plan your next trip. Our tips range from best places to visit in Kyoto, affordability, nightlife, local food, where to stay and even what it is like Traveling While Black. Lastly, we are working diligently to create a comprehensive city guide for Kyoto tours. Stay tuned! But in the meantime, scroll down to read the tips below!
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Kyoto is a big city with a small town feel. It’s a great place if you love old world, traditional culture, history, beautiful architecture, gardens and the “zen” style of life. Food is excellent here and you have a variety of price points that make the trip as affordable or as luxurious as you want it to be. If you’re a nature lover it’s close to the mountains. It was my favorite city in Japan.
Traveling while black: Yes, you’ll get stares — especially if you have big natural hair like me. People are curious and interested because they don’t see many black people. Don’t expect the few black people you encounter to give you the universal head nod — most likely they won’t. Speaking of hair definitely do a protective style if you’re visiting during the hot, humid summer. The extreme cultural politeness of Japanese people makes it difficult to know when someone is subtly throwing shade or being genuine sometimes. But people are very helpful, they go above and beyond to help, and give the best customer service! A pharmacist didn’t just sell me antiseptic and bandages, she took time to put them on my cut hand for me.
Things for culture lovers to do:
– Stay at a ryokan (traditional inn) use booking.com and search ryokan. Try to find one that is foreigner-friendly e.g. has English speakers. Hotels charge per person not room. Solo travelers pay less.
– Kyoto Tower/Kyoto Station (Book your city tours here to get an English-speaking tour guide). Get a great view of the whole city. Shop underground.
– Stay in Kyoto and visit the bamboo forest and Monkey Park in nearby Arishiyama. And the deer park in Nara.
– Manga Museum
– Gion district and Higashiyama district: Geisha, Maruyama Park
– Rent a yukata/kimono and visit one or two in traditional dress for photos.
– Hike in the mountains.
– Visit an onsen. A private one outdoors if your budget allows!
Tips:
– Go to temples and shrines early in the morning for best photos, less crowds.
– Festival season can be great for fireworks and events, but shops may be closed. Check the Japanese national holiday calendar before you go.
– It’s hilly. Be prepared to walk a lot. I like to just wander around and happen on stuff.
– Buy a Japan Rail pass before you go to ride bullet train (Shinkansen) and other local trains, subways. https://japanrailpass.net/en/
– Learn some Japanese phrases — I’m sorry and thank you go a long way!
– On a budget, eat at the convenience stores and choose one main meal at fancier places.
– In tourist areas some people will try to speak English but don’t expect it. I had one cab driver who wanted to practice his English and two that couldn’t speak any.
– Get someone at your hotel to write down the name of the hotel and phrases you might need in Japanese characters. Then you can show a driver if necessary.
Kyoto, Japan! What a beauty she was. For me, Kyoto is where I experienced the most culture during my trip to Japan. (Full disclosure, I’ve been to Tokyo, Osaka, Saga and Kyoto). Kyoto is just breathtakingly beautiful, especially when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Kyoto also has very many temples to visit, all of which are a window to different aspects of Japanese culture and religion.
My favorite sites and places to visit in Kyoto were:
Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine
Kiyomizu-dera Temple
Kyoto Imperial Palace
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
Gion
There’s many other temples worth seeing, but I don’t want to have a whole list of just temples. Although I will point out this fun fact –the Byodo-In Temple in Kyoto has a sister temple on Oahu (and they look pretty similar).
Anyway, local food. The best food I had in Japan was in the Gion district in Kyoto — some of the best places were little hole in the wall joints that only seat about 6 people. In particular, if you’re a big ramen or sushi person, then Gion district is basically heaven on earth for you. Another thing I want to point out is the excellent whiskey selection in a lot of the bars and restaurants in Gion. If you are a whiskey drinker and you’ve not started drinking Japanese whiskey, you are missing out. Yamazaki is some really good ish! Finally, Sake! Honestly, until I went to Japan, Sake wasn’t really my thing (and since I’ve left, I can’t say it’s my thing now either). However, the Sake in Kyoto was really really good. A lot of the restaurants there will do Sushi and Sake pairings. You may be hesitant if you don’t feel sake like myself, but trust me on this, agree to it. Oh and I almost forgot, one of my favorite things about Japan is that basically all beef they serve is Wagyu — so you’re always eating high quality ish!
Kyoto is relatively expensive and most of the hotels are pretty pricey. When I went I stayed at the Four Seasons in Kyoto and it was unreal. The room feng shui was out of this world and the whole experience felt uniquely Japanese — they didn’t do what other hotels typically do and just have the same looking hotel in every location. Kyoto is safe and quiet, but there are not a lot of black folks out there, which is usually uncomfortable– you definitely get a lot of the stares and shock. But other than that, nothing seemed particularly threatening. don’t go to Kyoto for nightlife — this ain’t the spot for that.
If you’re a content creator, Kyoto is an amazing place to visit!
Go to Kyoto japan when you want to also things down and just enjoy an old city with amazing ancient architecture and temples. Make a wish at the famous fushimi shrine ( make sure to get there early ), this city is also home to 17!! Unesco world heritage sites, so if you are really an explorer, you can visit all the site. Stay in Kyoto for so long as you can because you can’t run out of things to do.
I made Kyoto a day trip while I was visiting Tokyo. I took the high speed train which was very expensive but the fastest option. I would recommend it as a day trip if you just want to take some time to explore in the quiet and get away from the busyness of Tokyo or any other big city in Japan. I think the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest was the best part but it’s better to go in the early morning before everyone starts showing up.
Sorry, I could only choose one category but if I could list all the categories Kyoto, Japan can be listed under it would be: Things To Do, History, Relaxation, Food, and Where to Stay.
Things To Do: If you love art and history, then you will appreciate Kyoto. A big but simple city. I loved the houses and aesthetics of the city, “classics.” My time spent in Kyoto was great and I def would and want to go back. I went to visit the Fushimi Inari Taisha, Sumeria Museum( a small museum at the end you watch a Sumeria fight show), Yasaka Pagoda(very good Instagram worthy, has a lot of traditional shops and you can wear a geisha here), Famous Japanese style Starbucks in Yasaka Pagoda( you can sit on the floor and drink tea and coffee), Gion, Iwatayama Monkey Mountain( the first place I went when visiting Kyoto, you can’t pet the monkeys but can feed them), Nishiki shopping market (I spent most my time here, the market is SO big and full of many stores and eateries).
History: Kyoto has such a rich history. This is the location the African samurai Yasuki lived. If you visit the palaces and museums you will have a better understanding of Japanese culture and beliefs.
Relaxation: Kyoto is a very chill city, not fast pace but also not slow. Slower than Tokyo and Osaka. I love the style of the city. The taxi cars are classic box Toyota cars, I used the Japan Taxi app. I recommend you download this app before living you’re home It’s a quiet city.
Food: I really enjoyed the food especially the ramen. Since living in Asia I’ve discovered I am a picky eater, but with food from Kyoto, it was all satisfying. No issues at all.
Where to stay: I stay in Airbnb Hostiles in the Gion district. They were all friendly.
Apps I used: GoogleMaps, Pinterest, and Japan Taxi. Taking the subway was English friendly, they also have people who work at the station to assist you.
Overall I really really enjoyed my time in Kyoto. I was sad to leave. Being black in Japan was fine, no one was rude instead everyone was really nice and helpful. You will see some Japanese girls wearing box braids.
I flew into Osaka airport and caught the train from the airport to Kyoto, everyone knew English at the airport and directed me to where I needed to go. I chose to purchase a wi-fi box at the airport because I am a solo traveler, though the bus offers free wifi and also so other places.
I took a day trip to Kyoto from Osaka on the tran and my experience was amazing. I saw many shirne but the Fushimi Inari Taisha was the main reason I wanted to visit Kyoto and it was beautiful. I had a nice walk about the Shirne and I saw many people going to give their offering. You can enjoy the peaceful walk around the park as you walk from one stop to the next. I like history learning about Kyoto and seeing buildings that were old Japanese style and not westernized was super cool. I have had sushi but eating Japanese food and sushi was on a whole other level. Seeing geisha walk through the streets as well as other Japanese in their traditional clothes made me feel apart of the culture and you could rent one if you needed. The train was so convenient from traveling from 1 city to the next. I was able to see Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto in 3 days. Japan is by far one of the cleanest country I’ve traveled to.
Kyoto oh the memories. I loved Japan and everything about Japan. After spending a few days in Kyoto I was sold on Japan. The history and culture in Japan is amazing. You must get the Japan rail pass. This will save you hundreds if you are planning to visit more than one city.
Kyoto is home to so many temples all of them impressive in their own right. Kinkakuji was quite a stunner. I loved the moss covered ground in Ginkakuji and walking into what felt like a time warp. Spotting geishas in Gion was also a thing to do in Kyoto. The Arishiyami bamboo forest is a mist, go early to avoid the crowds. Also make sure you visit the torri gates which were fun to walk in. Venture further to get away from the crowds. Also if you have time take the train to Nara park and hung out with the deers and also visit big Buddha. You could spend days just walking in Kyoto, eating street food, hunging out in Gion or even find a corner at Kyoto train station and people watch.
From the beautiful Buddhist Temples, Shinto Shrines, and traditional wooden houses, Kyoto is full of history with a so much to see. Take a walk down the Gion area to see the Geishas or eat at the many Japanese restaurants. Kyoto is so beautiful. You will be in awe the whole time there! I was only there for a day, but I was able to go to Fushimi Imari Taisha Shrine, Kinkaku-ji ( The golden Temple), Arashiyama (bamboo forest) and walked around Gion area. To get around is super easy by train. There are people that are set up in the tourist area at the train station that speaks English. You can easily go to this city for a day or two if you’re traveling to Japan and plan on seeing everything Japan has to offer!