The word overtourism has been used a lot in the Japanese media this year with Kyoto always the city which seems to be the most affected. People taking advantage of the weak yen and coming to Japan for their first visit are likely to hit the major sights though so when my wife suggested going there in August I really wasn’t so enthused.

However, this was for a family visit to see her brother’s family so would probably be a bit different. Admittedly, I was curious to see how crowded some of the busier tourist spots  were but not enough to actually bothering with them, particularly in the tense August heat. Instead, we did some less popular sights which is possible as I did it just seven weeks earlier when I was in Kyoto to see a football match as well as some other fairly niche things.

Apart from my time at Kyoto station, I barely saw another foreigner anywhere but this time would be a little different. After five nights at my parents-in-law’s apartment in Hiroshima, it was time to move on to Kyoto to for a few nights and our dog was very excited to see my wife’s nephew in particular.

A short time after arriving, we went out to explore some of the Nakagyo-ku area and this was quite an eye-opener for us as there really were so many people from other countries, which we had never really experienced on previous visits to Kyoto.

I saw one restaurant that looked pretty nice before then realising it was just Matsuya; the gyudon (beef bowl) chain which usually has vivid yellow signage but in Kyoto it’s designed to blend in with the environment a bit more.

We eventually found a Japanese izakaya (Japanese style pub) which had a wide range of tasty food on offer at reasonable prices. It sure did the job of filling us up.

It’s always nice to play games with my wife’s nephew, and he just loves to win and see me fail miserably as I did at both Uno and another far more complicated board game.

Avoiding the crowds in Kyoto is pretty obvious. Stay away from the main station as best as is possible and don’t go to the really famous areas like Gion and Arashiyama as well as places of worship like Kinkakuji, Kiyomizudera, Fushimi-Inari and so on. Not easy to do though if you’ve never been to Kyoto! Admittedly, Nanzen-ji is a quite popular temple too but it isn’t on the level of those previously mentioned ones so we all went there first thing the next morning by bicyle.

Lunch followed at Mameda; a kaiseki restaurant set in a stylish wooden building with fish tanks and Japanese gardens all part of the interior decor.

I opted for the zaru soba set meal with tempura for 1990 yen. It was pretty good but not enough to justify what was a higher than usual price for me.

After that I switched from my pedal-power rental bike to my wife’s electric assisted bicyle which was a new experience for me. It certainly took me by surprise the first time I pedalled and it sped along. It was quite fun to ride it but defeats the object of cycling for me!

I headed north to check out a little shrine that I wanted to see. The journey there was quite nice with wide open roads and some beautiful scenic views at times.

Back in central Kyoto later, there was a final short stop to see the western-style facade of Kyoto City Hall which I’d spotted in passing the day before.

When I returned we all went out for ice cream at Nanaya which is a place we’ve visited a couple of times in Shizuoka. It’s famed for it’s seven levels of flavour with the deepest, most intense green one being the world’s richest matcha ice cream.

The following day began at Kyoto University as my wife wanted to visit the small museum there.

A local place provided our lunch. The picture menu for my bowl made it look far bigger than it was in reality but I always love this type of ramen and wolfed it (and all its chashu meat) down in no time at all.

After lunch we all parted ways, with my wife and I heading to a nearby shrine but along the way we came across what claims to be the world’s first ever cactus vending machine! There really isn’t anything that can’t be sold in such a machine these days it seems!

Shimogamo Shrine was one that I had never heard of but it turned out that it was in eaxctly the same area I’d been the previous day.

This was a vast and spacious shrine with a long entrance walk to it along a gravel path slighly shaded by the towering trees on both sides.

A little further north from there was the Garden of Fine Arts Kyoto which is something of a hidden gem costing just 100 yen to enter.

It’s a modern open-air museum exhibiting large murals and paintings on the cement walls surrounded by various water features.

The building itself itself is an architectural wonder and my main reason for going as it was designed by prominent Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

Early evening I took the dog out by myself on a final walk of Kyoto which always seems to surprise many people. The Japanese always assume I’m a tourist (which I am when in Kyoto!) so wonder why I have a dog with me. The other foreigners think likewise and maybe think I’m travelling around the world with a dog! The two places we visited both featured in my ‘alternative tour of Kyoto‘ post from 2018. First up was the expressionless face of Shokupanman (a Japanese superhero character); a kitsch 50 year old three-storey studio  design with an entrance at the mouth and windows representing both eyes.

The unique golden torii gate of Mikane-jinja Shrine was next. Many shrines are believed to be lucky when it comes to praying for cash but this places name literally means money shrine!

We were supposed to be heading back to Tokyo the previous evening but the Shinkansen (bullet train) services were all cancelled due to an approaching typhoon. Instead, we made a reservation to take one very early the next morning where I would go directly to work whilst my wife took the dog home. Not ideal but the extra time in Kyoto had allowed us to see and do a few extra things. No pain, no gain as they say!

Click here to read ‘The Alternative Tour Of Kyoto’

Click here to read ‘Try Not To Wet Yourself With Excitement At This Ladder Temple In Kyoto!’

Click here to read ‘Unstaffed Stations of Japan #17 – Hozukyō (a.k.a. The Best Platform View In Japan?)’

Click here to read ‘#WeStopAtNothing! Visiting All The Platform Zero Stations In Kyoto & Aichi’