Kyoto contains 1,600 Buddhist temples, 400 shrines, and more than 200 gardens, serving as a repository of classical arts and crafts where traditions continue to thrive. The city balances preservation with innovation: locally harvested bamboo helped Thomas Edison shape the lightbulb filament, Japan's first streetcar began on Kyoto avenues, and Nintendo evolved from a playing-card company into a global business. Popular sites like Arashiyama's bamboo grove, Pontocho Alley, and Kiyomizudera have become overcrowded, straining neighborhoods. Quieter destinations across the city reveal layered cultural history and offer more authentic, sustainable experiences that reflect Kyoto's multifaceted spirit.
But the best things to do in Kyoto represent not only a city of preservation-this has also long been a place of innovation: bamboo harvested here helped Thomas Edison fashion the filament for the first light bulb; Japan's first streetcar rattled to life on Kyoto's avenues; and Nintendo grew from a small playing-card company into a global powerhouse in its backstreets.
If Tokyo is Japan's heart, Kyoto is its soul. Once the imperial capital, the city is home to 1,600 Buddhist temples, 400 shrines, and more than 200 gardens; a living repository of classical arts and crafts where traditions continue to thrive. Visitors often come chasing cherry blossoms and the golden shimmer of Kinkakuji Temple, but in recent years some of the most iconic sites here-Arashiyama's bamboo grove, Pontocho Alley, and Kiyomizudera-have become magnets for overwhelming crowds, straining the neighborhoods around them.
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