Kyoto in Momiji,
Season.

The head shrine of the roughly 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan, wrapped around a wooded mountain south of Kyoto and threaded with thousands of vermilion torii gates.

A small independent espresso bar just outside Fushimi Inari Taisha that doubles as an informal information stop for visitors.

A hillside Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto whose main hall projects out over the slope on a huge wooden stage, with a waterfall of three streams below it.

A traditional yudofu restaurant near Kiyomizu-dera serving set courses built around gently simmered tofu, eaten in tatami rooms looking onto a garden.

Sannenzaka is a stone-stepped lane below Kiyomizu-dera lined with wooden machiya housing tea shops, sweet makers, and craft stores.

Kyoto's best known geisha district, a grid of wooden teahouses and restaurants between Shijo street and the Kamo River.

A long-running okonomiyaki and teppanyaki restaurant in Gion, cooking savory pancakes on a hot steel counter in front of the guest.

A walking path through a dense stand of tall moso bamboo in the Sagano area of western Kyoto, running between Tenryu-ji and the Okochi Sanso villa.

The head temple of its Zen branch in Arashiyama, best known for a pond garden that uses the surrounding hills as part of its composition.

A specialty coffee shop on the Katsura River in Arashiyama, part of the Kyoto-born % Arabica chain, with a wall of glass facing the bridge and the hills.

A soba restaurant beside the Togetsukyo bridge in Arashiyama, milling and cutting its own buckwheat noodles, with river-facing tables upstairs.

A Zen temple in northern Kyoto whose three-story pavilion, covered in gold leaf on its upper floors, stands at the edge of a reflecting pond.

A covered shopping street about a quarter mile long in central Kyoto, packed with food stalls, pickle shops, knife makers, and fishmongers.

A Zen temple at the foot of Kyoto's eastern hills, with a dark wooden pavilion, a moss garden, and a sand garden raked into a flat sea and a truncated cone.

A pedestrian path following a canal along the eastern foothills, running roughly two kilometers from Ginkaku-ji south toward Nanzen-ji.

A cafe from the American specialty roaster, set inside a restored Kyoto townhouse near Nanzen-ji with a garden courtyard and an open brewing counter.

A long-standing tofu restaurant on the grounds near Nanzen-ji, serving yudofu set courses in wooden buildings around a garden.

A red brick Roman-style aqueduct running through the grounds of Nanzen-ji temple, carrying part of the canal that brings water from Lake Biwa into Kyoto.

A Pure Land Buddhist temple at the foot of the eastern hills, built across a slope with halls linked by covered wooden walkways and surrounded by maples.

Pontocho is a narrow pedestrian alley running along the west bank of the Kamo River between Shijo and Sanjo, lined with restaurants, bars, and traditional teahouses.

The rail link between Kyoto and Nara, served by two competing operators, Kintetsu and JR, running roughly parallel routes south through the Yamashiro valley.

A Buddhist temple complex in central Nara with a five-story pagoda that dominates the skyline above Sarusawa Pond.

A vast Buddhist temple in Nara Park whose main hall houses a bronze Buddha about 15 meters tall, seated and cast in one piece.

The open parkland at the foot of Nara's eastern hills, where roughly 1,200 wild sika deer live among the temples and shrines and approach visitors for crackers.

A landmark kamameshi restaurant near Nara Park, serving rice steamed to order in individual cast-iron pots with toppings arranged on top.

Nara's principal Shinto shrine, painted vermilion and set in a sacred forest, approached along paths lined with thousands of stone lanterns.

A long-established kakinoha-zushi house in Naramachi, Nara's old merchant quarter, selling salted fish pressed onto vinegared rice and wrapped in persimmon leaves.

A small specialty coffee bar in central Kyoto, tucked into a courtyard behind a parking lot near Nishiki Market, serving coffee roasted by its own roastery across town.

A Shingon Buddhist temple just southwest of Kyoto Station, with a five-story pagoda standing over a pond in the temple garden.

The head temple of the Otani branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, a short walk north of Kyoto Station, built around two vast wooden halls.

A long-running ramen shop next to Kyoto Station serving the local style, a dark soy-based broth piled with sliced green onion and chashu pork.

Kyoto's main rail hub, a huge steel and glass building from 1997 that handles Shinkansen, JR local lines, subway, and Kintetsu services under one roof.