Stray Notes on Kioto and Environs (1878)

A one-day itinerary, circling clockwise around the city from Higashiyama to Kinkakuji and back

Satow and Hawes, A Handbook for Travellers in Central and Northern Japan (1881)

Ernest Satow and A.G.S. Hawes, in the first of what would become the Murray's Japan handbook series, start their recommended tour in what they call the "N[orth] part of the city," at the Gosho former imperial palace. No information is given on how long a tourist should spend on the tour

Chamberlain and Mason, A Handbook for Travellers in Japan, 4th ed. (1894)

An eight-day itinerary, beginning at the Gosho, and including Lake Biwa and Nara

Chamberlain and Mason, A Handbook for Travellers in Japan, 7th ed. (1903)

An one-day itinerary, rushing the visitor from one of the Honganji temples to Higashiyama then across town via the Gosho to Kinkakuji

"Guide to Kyoto," Tsūrisuto (Dec. 1914)

One of the first “official” itineraries for Kyoto was produced by Japan Tourist Bureau and printed in an early English edition of Tsūrisuto. For those visitors who come to the city for “mere sightseeing” (rather than “to study the place”), it put together this five-day itinerary

Japanese Government Railways, Official Guide to East Asia, vol. 2 (1914)

Also in 1914 , Japanese Government Railways released volumes of its first full-length guidebook to the Japanese empire, in which this ten-day itinerary for Kyoto was provided. The tour began in Higashiyama, and covered many of the same sites as the above Tsūrisuto article, but also included Mount Hiei, the southern Lake Biwa area, and Uji or Fushimi Inari

Japanese Government Railways, Official Guide to Japan (1933)

From the 1930s, until the very eve of the Pacific War, the recommended sites for Kyoto showed little change. Both the 1933 and 1941 guidebooks produced by Japanese Government Railway gave the same ten and three-day itineraries

Back to Places of Interest

Inbound Tourism in Kyoto Home

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse