Kyoto is seldom in the news but,in the past couple of years,has been making newspaper headlines for its tourist overcrowding. With tens of millions of visitors descending on Japan's former capital each year there are certainly places – though seldom in winter – swamped in an avalanche of visitors. Temples are taking a pounding,locals have started protesting about the disruption to their neighbourhoods,leaflets have been distributed that offer polite Japanese advice on how to behave.
Overcrowding doesn't,though,have to be your Kyoto experience. For every tourist-crammed temple,there are several others with scarcely a soul,and often just around the corner. For minimal effort such as a 20-minute train ride,you can find peace on hillsides that have resounded for a millennium with little more than monks'chanting and the sob of wind in the trees. Today I've encountered no queues,few tourists and only a few more locals,consulting their fortune sticks and throwing snowballs.
At the foot of the mountain,I pop into a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant,half empty. A giant metal kettle hangs over the old open fireplace in the centre of the room,which has low beams and farmhouse comfort. My starter of wild yam soup is warming and delicious,and is followed by sesame tofu and vegetables and steamed rice with barley. When the lady of the house pours me tea,the sound of the water gurgling into the cup is like a meditation,unsullied by tourist chit-chat.
After lunch,I take the train a single stop back towards Kyoto,alighting to follow a prancing river upstream and into a forested valley to Kibune,a rustic village of wooden ryokans and restaurants. In summer,you can hardly move here as visitors seek respite from the heat by packing dining platforms built out over the river. Now I count visitors only in the scores. They come to Kifune-jinja Shrine,dedicated to the Shinto goddess of wind and water,and float omikuji papers on its sacred spring to make their inked fortune forecasts appear like espionage letters under lemon juice.
Even further into the valley is overlooked Okunomiya,the shrine's original site and still its inner sanctum. It sits amid towering trees. Snow sits atop its stone lanterns like pixie caps. Icicles drip on its eaves. Like many Shinto shrines,it's a tranquil and strangely moving place and,today,I have it almost all to myself.
FIVE KYOTO WINTER WARMERS
TAKESHIGERO RESTAURANT
Food shops and restaurants offers discounts throughout February under the Kyoto Restaurant Winter Specials scheme providing an opportunity to experience the city's renowned high-end kaiseki cuisine at reduced prices. Savour a multi-course lunch for ¥10,000 at Takeshigero,flagship of a restaurant group founded in 1719 and renowned for its traditional Kyoto kaiseki style,which blends imperial,Zen vegetarian and tea-ceremony influences. Seekrws.jp;minokichi.co.jp
RYOSOKU-IN TEMPLE
Each winter a select few temples,shrines and other important cultural properties normally closed to the public throw open their doors to lucky visitors. This winter Ryosoku-in,a sub-temple of grand Kennin-ji,Kyoto's oldest Zen temple,allows visitors to see its lovely gardens and architecture,and is featuring a special exhibition of its venerable Buddhist art matched with contemporary additions by famous Japanese artists. Seeryosokuin.com
KITANO TENMANGU SHRINE
Towards the end of winter and long before vast crowds arrive for the more famous cherry blossom season,plum blossoms provide delicate colour across Kyoto. Kitano Tenmangu is one of the best places in all Japan to admire them,since its grounds feature 2000 plum trees. The thousand-year-old Shinto shrine hosts a blossom festival tea ceremony on February 25 attended by maiko (apprentices) and geisha in splendid kimonos. Seekitanotenmangu.or.jp
HANATOURO FESTIVAL
Arashiyama in western Kyoto is the scene for a 10-day light festival in December,which then moves to the Eastern Hills temple district for 10 days in mid-March. Expect rows of lanterns and flower arrangements,light-draped trees,light projections on to building facades and temples and shrines with special evening opening hours. Arashiyama's famous bamboo forest,with five kilometres of its pathways illuminated,is magnificent. Seehanatouro.jp
TAIKO DRUMMING
No better way to be get warmed up and be introduced to a still-living and very active part of Japanese culture than over lessons in taiko drumming. Beating a rhythm on the large drums is surprisingly vigorous exercise and works up a sweat. You can drop in for a class at Taiko-Lab for an hour for ¥6000 and if you're hooked,sign up for private lessons. Seetaiko-center.co.jp
TRIP NOTES
MORE
traveller.com.au/japan
kyoto.travel
FLY
Japan Airlines flies from Melbourne and Sydney to Osaka,an hour by train from Kyoto. Seejal.com
TRAIN
A Japan Rail Pass makes getting around on Japan's outstanding train system easy. Rail Europe offers passes from $390 a adult. Seerailplus.com.au
STAY
Ryokan Yoshida-Sanso overlooks the Eastern Hills temple district and has three main-house tatami rooms and a garden annexe. Rooms from $447 a person including breakfast and kaiseki dinner. Seeyoshida-sanso.com
Brian Johnston travelled as a guest of Japan Airlines,Rail Europe and Kyoto City Tourism Association.