My reply was too quick. Let me clarify. I tend to sightsee early in the day so I do actually beat the crowds in many cases. In Gion, for instance, I wandered the streets with few others. At Fushimi Inari, it was very crowded at the entrance, but the gates go on for over two miles so at a certain points the crowds things. So a better answer is it was a mix of cropping and genuinely quieter moments. 🙂
Quite lush and beautiful. A true mixture of ancient and modern. Fascinating really. The tiny streets mesmerized me. How can they function in today’s world with that infrastructure?! Where to next?
1) There are some wide avenues around but these were created deliberately during WW2 as fire breaks by requisitioning houses (although the bombing never properly came).
2) There is an extremely long-term plan to widen streets by forcing many properties to have "set backs" -- i.e., when a house is rebuilt because of age deterioration, you must reduce the square meterage by a certain amount (varies on the property). You can easily see this on newly-(re)built properties which are slightly set back from the street.
what a journey we're sharing with you ...fascinating culture & sights...our family is traveling there this summer & appreciate this information!! We're moving this to the top of our list !
I loved your non-touristy and uncrowded photos … looks like you had a pretty lovely experience there!
Thanks. :) Selective editing, to be sure. Crowds abounded.
Ah, of course they did. Well, I lived in the fantasy for a few hours, at least.
My reply was too quick. Let me clarify. I tend to sightsee early in the day so I do actually beat the crowds in many cases. In Gion, for instance, I wandered the streets with few others. At Fushimi Inari, it was very crowded at the entrance, but the gates go on for over two miles so at a certain points the crowds things. So a better answer is it was a mix of cropping and genuinely quieter moments. 🙂
Good stuff! Thanks for this.
Very beautiful. One of the places I would have enjoyed visiting with you.
Def one of my favorite stops.
Quite lush and beautiful. A true mixture of ancient and modern. Fascinating really. The tiny streets mesmerized me. How can they function in today’s world with that infrastructure?! Where to next?
A couple points about Kyoto's narrow streets:
1) There are some wide avenues around but these were created deliberately during WW2 as fire breaks by requisitioning houses (although the bombing never properly came).
2) There is an extremely long-term plan to widen streets by forcing many properties to have "set backs" -- i.e., when a house is rebuilt because of age deterioration, you must reduce the square meterage by a certain amount (varies on the property). You can easily see this on newly-(re)built properties which are slightly set back from the street.
I had no idea about either of these. Assumed the wides roads went back further. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure!
Thanks. There are enough wide avenues around. They make it work. Currently in Osaka, leaving for Hiroshima today.
what a journey we're sharing with you ...fascinating culture & sights...our family is traveling there this summer & appreciate this information!! We're moving this to the top of our list !
How exciting for you! Loving my time in Japan. Kyoto is a must. Happy to chat about your plans with you if you'd like. Just let me know.