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James Kent, International Marketing Coordinator of the Kyoto Convention Bureau, KCB
My favourite spots: Top three restaurants:
Kyoto is the ultimate place to dine in Japan. For those wishing to try the pinnacle of the Japanese dining, you must seek out a ryotei-style luxury restaurant. The key to a ryotei dining experience is to take in every detail around you: the layout of the room, the garden beyond the window, the attentive service, the carefully chosen table ware, the fastidious arrangement of the food, the perfect timing of the dishes arriving at your table … everything. Tempura no Yoshikawa is one of the most highly rated ryotei amongst Kyoto visitors.
At the other end of the spectrum I insist that everyone has at least one experience of an izakaya, which is very informal and the food tends to take second place to the drink and conversation. Izakayas are somewhat like the local tavern or pub in Europe where they serve as a place to meet and get the gossip. Izakayas are a noisy and lively hive of activity and can be found everywhere throughout the city. Personally, I like Kushihachi on Shijo, but there are many many more that I could choose from.
Recent years have seen a new appreciation for the traditional and historic buildings that Kyoto is blessed with. One of the popular uses of these timber constructions is to open a restaurant, which is a great opportunity for visitors to get inside and imagine what life in Kyoto was like for the last few hundred years. Each building tells a story. It is difficult to narrow down to just one that says it all. Ganko Takasegawa Nijoen is very popular with visitors from around the world for its great food, great pricing, central location and beautiful garden.
Top three bars:
Kyoto station is the gateway to the city and the Southern Court bar on the 15th floor of Hotel Granvia Kyoto here is a great place to plan your next move as you sip a refreshing drink overlooking the entire city. You’ll probably even be able to see your next stop from this bar.
Another great place to enjoy an evening is amongst the books, door handles and train parts that make up the walls of the Touzan Bar, designed by Super Potato (http://www.superpotato.jp/) and located underneath the Hyatt Regency.
And there is perhaps one bar experience that can only be had in Kyoto. Imagine meditating over a Zen raked garden while you enjoy your favourite tipple? Well this is one of the joys of drinking at the Kanga-an Zen Buddhist temple bar.
Top three hot spots:
Visitors to Kyoto often come in search of Japanese history and the Higashiyama quarter in particular gives this opportunity. Here you can walk the narrow cobbled streets that are free of motorized traffic and take you back to the way Kyoto looked for hundreds of years. You are likely to see many enjoying their visit to Kyoto by wearing kimono. This area is also a great place to take a rickshaw ride and hear a few stories about the area. Higashiyama boasts a concentration of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, including UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site Kiyomizu temple. A morning or afternoon can be pleasantly whiled away in the curiosity shops and restaurants here.
Shopping is often high on the list of priorities in Japan and the compact Nishiki-Teramachi-Shijo area is the centre of it all. This small geographical area packs in the centuries-old Nishiki market with its ornate crafts and fresh produce, as well as the main department stores in the city. Drop in on entire shops dedicated to a single product such as chopsticks, which make great souvenirs.
Personally I recommend taking every opportunity to dig a little deeper in to Kyoto. Taking part in a hands-on culture experience is one highly rewarding way of doing this. The Waku-Waku Kan is an historical Kyoto machiya (all-timber merchant house) just off the main Karasuma-dori thoroughfare that takes visitors on a journey through Japanese cooking, tea ceremony, kimono, flower arrangement and a great plethora of Kyoto-born traditions in your own language be it English, French or whatever.
Kyoto Convention Bureau (KCB) is an independent not-for-profit public organisation that operates in support of convention events in Kyoto. Its goal is to provide services at no or minimal cost to those people who intend to hold their event in Kyoto, those who work in the MICE industry, and those who participate in conventions in Kyoto. KCB experts provide information on conference facilities, accommodation, conference organisation companies, reception venues, entertainment and all other aspects of MICE planning. http://hellokcb.or.jp