What most visitors miss on Kyoto’s bucket-list trail

Kyoto could easily entrap you in bucket-list busyness. Rush and you’ll wonder what the fuss is about.

• by Brian Johnston

Sightseeing in Japan wasn’t enough for me, so I tried this

Taiko-Lab is up a narrow flight of stairs inside a scruffy office building on a scruffy back street in Kyoto.

• by Brian Johnston

The only (ballsy) temples you need to see in Japan’s culture capital

It’s easy to get templed out in Kyoto but you can find illumination at the lesser-known dragon and scrotum temples.

• by Keith Austin

Do I like this train station? I could happily live in it

Most of Japan’s train stations are great, but if this was like that movie The Terminal, and I was stuck living my entire life here – honestly, I’d be pretty happy.

• by Ben Groundwater

Endless delight: The 15 destinations we never get tired of revisiting

The point of travel is often to go to new places and have new experiences, but the chance to revisit favourite locations can be like reuniting with an old friend.

Sipping the world’s oldest (and most expensive) sake

He pours small samples of this deeply yellow, treacle-like liquid and we raise it to our lips to experience the wonder. This is like a poem, written almost 50 years ago, that is only just being read.

• by Ben Groundwater

Achingly-hip US brand brings famed tacos and coffee to Japan hotspot

Mirror mirror on the wall, where’s the fairest Ace of all? With its warm, inviting design, and so much great dining in-house, it’s Ace Kyoto.

• by Kylie McLaughlin

Kyoto, Japan, travel guide and things to do: Nine highlights

Historic Kyoto is home to some of Japan's most magnificent gardens.

• by Ute Junker

The intimate details of Kyoto's intriguing and beautiful geisha culture

Originally, it was thought the kanzashi’s long single pin could ward off evil spirits. There’s even a theory that the pins could be used in self-defence

• by Katrina Lobley

The Thousand Kyoto hotel review: Sophistication meets Japanese sensibility at new luxury hotel

Kyoto's new hotel is so fresh you can still smell the pale paint.

• by Brian Johnston