The “must-see” sites of Kyoto for inbound tourists were established early. 

Yamamoto Kakuma’s Guide to the Celebrated Places in Kiyoto and the Surrounding Places, the earliest English-language guidebook to the city, noted that the “pleasant places are devided [sic.] into two parts, as Higashiyama [east] and Nishiyama [west]”  (1873, 1). In the order listed, these included the “Goshio” (the Gosho former imperial palace), Gion (Yasaka shrine), Chion-in, Nanzenji, Eikando, Ginkakuji, Kiyomizu-dera, Sanjusangendo, Inari (Fushimi Inari Taisha), Honganji (Nishi Honganji), Toji, Arashiyama, Ninnaji, Daitokuji, Kinkakuji, Kitano (Kitano Tenmangu), Kamigamo shrine, Shimogamo shrine, and so on. While the names, appearances, related practices, and meanings of these places have, in many cases, undergone significant changes over the intervening decades, many of the shrines and temples recommended by Yamamoto can still be found on tourist itineraries today. 

Yet other entries are more unexpected. Out of a list of just forty-five places in and around Kyoto, the guide directed visitors towards “Niyakuoji” (Nyakuōji), an area to the east of Eikandō known for its “three waterfalls to which many people go to cool themselves in summer” and “Shinniodo” (Shinnyōdō or Shinshō Gokuraku-ji), one of the “most celebrated [places] for the fine flowers and the beautiful maples in Kiyoto.” If far from unknown today, either site is unlikely to be named on a “must-see” list in a modern English-language guidebook.

Other temples and shrines are notable by their absence — most especially, perhaps, the now-famous rock garden at Ryōanji, whose present-day fame as the preeminent Zen spot in Japan (perhaps the world) is a twentieth-century construction (cf. Yamada 2011). 

Yamamoto’s guidebook demonstrates the continuing influence of earlier travel modes predating the Meiji period. In the guide, Edo-period leisure practices (of domestic travellers to Kyoto as well as residents) and systems of representation (popularized through the meisho-zue guides to famous places) typically provide the basis for a site’s appeal, as in the quotations given above about Nyakuōji and Shinnyōdō. In addition, Yamamoto followed convention in situating Sanjo bridge — the final stop on the Tōkaidō highway that brought travellers from Edo (Tokyo) in the east — as the locus of Kyoto tours, the point from which all other distances are measured.

Off-script in the old capital

Temples, shrines, and (increasingly through the 1920s and 1930s) historical sites connected with the imperial family dominated the itineraries given in guidebooks, tourist pamphlets and magazines. Travelogues suggest, however, that such places were not always the most appealing places for tourists on the ground.

As shown in the quotes below, many travellers reported feeling exhausted after a day of sightseeing. Others complained about the “great sameness” of temples in the city (Bridges 1879, 76); while other travellers found them wanting compared to other destinations in Japan. A few even acknowledged (or were overheard doing so, at least) that the difficulty of making sense of such spots might arise from their own lack of knowledge. Although guidebooks were more generally positive, giving key details about each site in a neutral tone, Lucian Swift Kirtland’s idiosyncratic guide to Finding the Worth While in the Orient (1926) broke with common practice to warn visitors about the "insidious infliction" he called “temple-itis” (1926, 70).

Expressions of boredom or indifference to the well-known sights lionized in guidebooks and official promotions might be read as a performance, intended to differentiate travel writers from the "common tourist." Nevertheless, there is no doubting the elevated tone in which shopping adventures, rickshaw rides, and white-water boat trips were often described in travelogues. Such passages are arguably the most compelling for readers, conveying a sense of excitement and bodily pleasure lacking in many descriptions of visits to temples and historical sites. 

To find out more, follow the links below, which pick up a selection of sightseeing spots from the period in more detail.  Special attention is paid to sites that no longer exist, are less well-known today, or completely dropped off itineraries over the postwar period. Readers may also be interested in the kind of activities that often fell under the headings of “amusements” in guidebooks, about which some details are also given.