Kyoto – 京都

Visit on the Taste of Japan Tour

October 15–18, 2026

The Old Capital

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Culture & Local Life

The tour arrives in Kyoto on October 15 — exactly one week before the Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages), one of Kyoto’s three great festivals, where 2,000 participants parade through the city in period costumes spanning 1,200 years of Japanese history.

The city is quietly preparing: rehearsals happen in temple forecourts, costume workshops hum in the backstreets of Nishijin, and there’s a palpable sense of living tradition. The Gion district is extraordinary in the evenings — occasional maiko (apprentice geisha) transit between appointments through lantern-lit stone alleys.

Culinary Specialties

一 Kyo-ryori 京料理 · Kyoto imperial cuisine

Refined vegetable-forward cooking shaped by 1,000 years of imperial patronage and Buddhist temple cooking. Subtlety is the point — delicate dashi, pickled vegetables, tofu preparations of extraordinary sophistication. The Nishiki Market is the pantry for this cuisine.

二 Matcha & Wagashi 抹茶・和菓子 · Whisked green tea & sweets

Uji, 20 minutes south, is the matcha capital of the world — the tea grown here has a deeper, less bitter character than any other region. The wagashi (seasonal sweets) served alongside are edible sculpture: autumn editions feature maple-leaf shapes and chestnut fillings.

三 Kyoto-style Pickles 京漬物 · Tsukemono

Nishiki Market is lined with tsukemono shops offering samples of dozens of varieties — shibazuke (purple brine pickled cucumber), suguki (fermented turnip), senmaizuke (thin-sliced turnip in sweet vinegar). These are as integral to Kyoto’s food identity as any restaurant dish.

四 Nishin Soba にしんそば · Herring soba noodles

A Kyoto signature — soft buckwheat noodles in clear dashi with a piece of sweet-braised dried herring on top. Deeply unfussy and warming on an October evening. Order it at one of the small shops lining the Pontocho riverside.

Off The Beaten Path

一 Nishijin textile district at dawn

Kyoto’s traditional weaving quarter wakes early. Walking through before 8am, you can hear the mechanical looms of small ori-mono (weaving) workshops through shuttered doors — a sound that has defined these streets for 600 years.

二 Fushimi Inari at 5am

Yes, it’s famous. But 10,000 vermillion torii gates in absolute silence, with foxfire-coloured early light and autumn mist between the cedars, is genuinely otherworldly. By 8am, tour buses arrive. Come first.

三 Sake tasting at Fushimi

Kyoto’s southern sake district has a cluster of 35 breweries producing elegant, rice-forward fushimi-style sake known for its soft water character. Several offer free tastings on weekdays.

四 Pontocho evening stroll without dining

The narrow alley is famous for restaurants, but simply walking its length after 9pm — the paper lanterns, the distant sound of shamisen, glimpses through sliding screens — is its own experience. No booking required.