TRAVEL

In a city where some traditional inns are more than 400 years old, the Westin Miyako Kyoto, which celebrates its 120th anniversary this year, is a relative newcomer to the world of Kyoto lodgings. But since the Meiji Era, the hotel now known as the Westin Miyako has greeted a long line of visiting royalty, heads of state, Hollywood stars, artists and musicians, and all manner of Japanese dignitaries. In the lobby are photos of past guests ranging from Charlie Chaplin and Helen Keller to Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President George H.W. Bush. Located in eastern Kyoto, at the edge of the Higashiyama mountain range and not far from Heian Shrine, the Westin Miyako was, from the time it opened, an unofficial state guesthouse for visiting foreign dignitaries at a time when Japan had just opened itself up to the West after centuries of isolation. (Japan Times)

A Zen Buddhist hall in Nara is the oldest wooden structure still in use and a century older than famed Horyuji temple previously thought to hold the crown, according to an expert in tree-ring dating. Research by Takumi Mitsutani, a visiting professor of dendrochronology at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, reveals that Japanese cypress wood in the roof of the Zenshitsu (zen room) building of Gangoji temple was logged around 586. Mitsutani argues that his findings indicate that the structure of the hall was made 100 years before Horyuji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, hitherto thought the world's oldest, which was built between the late seventh and eighth centuries. (Asahi)

Ramada Osaka offers an accommodation plan that encourages guests to see historic sites in Osaka and Kyoto and visit trendy, faddish "power spots." Going to so-called power spots - places believed to give visitors some special energy, healing or refreshing, spiritual feeling - has been a popular activity among some Japanese of late. The places are usually religious, historic or natural. The accommodation plan at the Ramada Osaka for guests wishing to join this fad comes with a one-day tourist ticket, which allows unlimited use of local subways, city buses and some trains, as well as free entrance to 26 tourist spots and facilities, such as Osaka Castle. (Japan Times)

Popping out of an alleyway to see a white-faced geisha shuffling along in her clogs was undoubtedly a Kyoto highlight. But you have to be quick to get a good photo; those slender Japanese girls can work up a real pace flitting around the narrow streets of Gion. You might get two at once or two in quick succession but, more likely than not, one will just pop out unexpectedly and disappear just as quickly, so you have to keep your eyes peeled. The best time to catch them is 6pm to 8.30pm daily. But Kyoto is full of unexpected delights. Who would have thought a city renowned for its temples and known as "traditional" Japan would greet its train passengers with a huge Astro boy atop a Kyoto sign? (news-mail.com.au)

Japan changes the way you think about life. It's like being beamed into an alternative reality, where optimism and respect permeate life, and modernism is fused with tradition to create exciting new possibilities of how to live. I'd organised my trip in and around Kyoto and Tokyo to explore Japanese food, but found myself captivated by the latest fashion in ryokans - Japanese inns. My revelation came in the form of Miyamasou, an idyllic new ryokan high up in the Northern mountain forests of Kyoto prefecture, famed for its wild herb food. Once our bus passed what looked like a beware-of-bears-crossing-the-road sign, deep in the dark cypress woods, the driver put on Greensleeves to announce its arrival to the mountain hamlets. (guardian.co.uk)

Several hundred thousand people climb Japan's Mount Fuji every year, many of them in the peak period of July and August. But for an altogether more secluded and spiritual hiking experience, the Kumano Kodo region four hours south of Osaka offers an ancient network of pilgrimage trails and majestic shrines set among the densely forested mountains of the Kii Peninsula. The Kumano Kodo - meaning "Kumano old roads" - includes the Buddhist retreat of Mt. Koya and the temple area of Yoshino, sites that are relatively well-visited because of their proximity to Kyoto and Osaka. It also includes the three grand Shinto shrines, or "sanzen," near the southern tip of the peninsula - an appendage of the main Japanese island of Honshu - and the pilgrimage pathways that link all these locations. (Wall Street Journal)

Barely an hour north of Tokyo by road or rail, Ibaraki Prefecture is a place few people may consider for a day trip or an overnighter. But with its wealth of history and natural appeals, it's surely time it took its rightful place on the traveler's map. Lake Kasumigaura, with a surface area of 220 sq. km and a 252-km shoreline, is Japan's largest lake after Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, near Kyoto (674 sq. km). The greatest attraction of the lake, besides the sport fishing it offers for alien species such as channel catfish and large-mouth bass, are its hobiki-sen trawlers with their gorgeous and unusual sails. (Japan Times)

Kyoto is arguably the most historically rich and interesting city in Japan. In 794, with the establishment of Heian-Kyo ("capital of tranquility and peace"), it became the seat of the imperial palace and continued to perform the venerable function until the Meiji Restoration starting in 1867. During World War II, Kyoto was spared from the American air raids in consideration of its rich cultural tradition. Today, the ancient temples and shrines in the city attract tourists from all over the world. Among the countless places of interest in the ancient capital, Ryoanji temple holds a special significance. (Mainichi)

In a geographical battle for the hearts and minds of Japanese people, Kyoto would win hands down as the wellspring of so much of their culture for which they feel such reverence. But while Kyoto certainly has its magnificent fistfuls of historical treasures, it also happens to be Japan's seventh-biggest city, and a journey from one of its celebrated sites to another often involves a long bus ride through cityscapes of spectacular drabness. (Japan Times)

A dolphin pool, a penguin park and a giant wave pool could soon join the imperial-era townhouses and ancient Buddhist temples in Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan. As early as June, work will begin on a mammoth aquarium complex in central Kyoto, in leafy Umekoji Park at the center of the city. Developers say the project, a brainchild of Orix Real Estate, will breathe life into Kyoto's tourism industry by attracting more than two million visitors a year. But to opponents, the proposed aquarium, set to open in 2012, is misguided and threatens to destroy the city's historic ambience. (New York Times)

You need a strategy when you're visiting a city the size of Kyoto. Ours was simple: No tourist spots, no taxis and no traipsing around. We were there to eat. We had a day and a half, just time for three good meals (not counting breakfast). So, instead of zooming from one side of the city to the other - we've seen the main sights many times over, anyway - our plan was to relax, explore on foot and stick to a single neighborhood. Our focus was the quadrant to the southeast of the busy Shijo-Kawaramachi Crossing. (Japan Times)

Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan, is a vibrant mash-up, an ancient city electrified by the breathtakingly new. Cruise the futuristic food halls of a department store, gaping at the perfect fruit and glistening sea creatures, before zipping up to the traditional floor, with its kimonos and tea ceremony implements. See 2,000 ancient temples and shrines, then dine at a sleekly modern restaurant. Glimpse a geisha gliding down a cobblestone lane, bracketed by wooden machiya houses, and feel yourself catapulted to the 18th century - until you see her duck into a very 21st-century taxi, with a passenger door that opens and shuts automatically. (New York Times)

After exploring the finest eateries of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, the Michelin Guide has set its sights on three more Japanese cities, publishers of the French food guide said Thursday. Yokohama and Kamakura, both south of the capital, will be added to the 2011 edition of the Michelin Guide Tokyo to be released in November, while Kobe will be added to the Kyoto-Osaka guide. Michelin last year anointed Tokyo as the world capital of three-star restaurants, scoring 11 such prizes in the 2010 edition, against 10 in Paris. (AFP)

Kyoto is renowned for its historic temples and shrines, but let's not forget its great drinking establishments. The bar with the biggest reputation in Kyoto is K6. It's where other bartenders go to drink. It has several hundred Scotches, good food, plenty of space and lousy hospitality. On my first visit, the bartender barely acknowledged me until he learned of my job, when he suddenly became most attentive to me and blanked his other guest. He mixed a weak sidecar, then a good Manhattan, but lied about the ingredients. Better bets for malt lovers are Cordon Noir and K'Ya, both run by young, friendly bartenders with colossal collections of rare Scotches. (Japan Times)

Travelers to Japan may never stray from the urban comfort of Tokyo and Kyoto, deeming the back roads too mysterious and awkward. But I wondered how an American would fare off the beaten path, where road signs are in Japanese characters and driving is done on the left. The answer came with the exploration of the Tango Peninsula in the Sea of Japan due north of Kobe, when I was offered a chance to ride with three Australians. They planned to sleep in two remote fishing villages, including one night on a Japanese houseboat. As an extra treat, we might visit the seaside village of Obama. (Chicago Tribune)

Kyoto was once the imperial capital of Japan, and it is here that many of the country's finest gardens are to be found. 'Throw nothing away' must always have been the motto of Japanese garden designers, for old and new co-exist in the country's gardens, which have much to tell us about the history of Japan. The oldest surviving gardens belong to the Heian era (794-1185), and they are known in Japanese as chisen shuyu teien, or 'pond-spring-boating-gardens'. The pond was at the heart both of the garden and of the wonderfully leisured, light-hearted and sensuous lifestyle of the aristocracy. The chisen shuyu teien garden was designed to be seen from the water, and the boating parties that took place in it were highly theatrical affairs. Guests drifted about in beautifully carved and painted boats to the accompaniment of music played by an orchestra that floated in the pond on a boat of its own. (telegraph.co.uk)

A teenage girl walks gingerly with her eyes shut, carefully measuring each step. Her arm extends in front of her, fingers stretching toward the target. Off to the side, three companions watch with wide eyes and stifled giggles. After a few more paces, the girl reaches down and touches a picnic cooler-sized rock. Instantly, they all scream and jump about in celebration: her fate (and, presumably, the fate of some young man somewhere) is sealed. The rocks, and the gods, have spoken at the Jishu Shrine, Japan's temple to love. (The Star)

Even for tech-savvy Japanese teenagers, the path to love can still be a time honoured low-tech journey that starts at the ancient Jishu Shrine in Higashiyama, a district of Kyoto. Built by a shogun in 1633, the shrine has been attracting the lovelorn up through its gate ever since. Legions of unattached Japanese make pilgrimages to the home of Okuninushi-no Mikoto -- the god of love, matchmaking and marriage. But finding true love is not without risk, says guide Mark Amano. Visitors who appeal to the love god for help must first shut their eyes and navigate the 10-metre distance between two "love fortune-telling" stones. (Toronto Sun)

A journey to 33 restaurants in Osaka and three nearby prefectures to enjoy thick "sanuki udon" is under way to give momentum to a boom in the pastalike noodles that originated in Japan. Organizers call the journey "Kansai sanuki udon pilgrimage rally." It involves participants slurping up noodles at one restaurant after another until they complete visits to all 33 eateries on the itinerary in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara prefectures. They will collect a stamp at each stop. (Japan Times)

If you are in the Kyoto or Kansai area and missed the chance to have nanakusagayu (seven-herb porridge) on the seventh day of the new year, Jonangu Shrine should be your main destination on Japan's National Foundation holiday. Traditionally, Japanese people eat the rice porridge with seven specific spring herbs on Jan. 7 in order to live healthy throughout the new year. (Japan Times)

Nara Prefecture, which once prospered as home to the ancient capital of Heijokyo (710-784), has been sidelined by neighboring Kyoto as a cultural heritage and tourist destination. Hosting a plethora of historical buildings, Buddhist statues and spacious Nara Park where more than 1,000 deer roam free, Nara has long been a place for a day trip either before or after a longer stay in Kyoto, especially for first-time visitors to the area. But a wide variety of activities commemorating the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Heijokyo, which started Jan. 1, hopes to change all that. (Japan Times)

Horrid slimy things, mushrooms. I've never liked them. So I'm not tempted by a box of three pale brown fungi on sale at a stall in Kyoto's food market. That's just as well, because they cost 37,000 yen. Fans of Japan often say its reputation for emptying a tourist's wallet faster than you can say "konnichiwa" is exaggerated. What's certainly true is that if you spend a lot in this land of high design, delicate aesthetics and unfailingly polite service, you're spoilt silly. (independent.co.uk)

This former imperial capital with national treasures and cultural assets now seeks help from young women with white painted faces to reinvigorate tourism. Maiko (apprentice geisha) and geisha in elaborate kimono perform traditional dance, sing a song, and serve sake at a place called ochaya, or a tea house, where the average customer spends around $500. Kyoto, however, started a campaign last month in which tourists pay 500 yen ($5.50) for a tea ceremony with maiko and geisha and a chance to pose for pictures with them. (csmonitor.com)

The ancient city of Nara has lived in the shadow of its neighbor, Kyoto, for centuries. So this year, as Nara marks the 1,300th anniversary of its ascension as Japan's imperial capital, the city might be forgiven for going over the top. Nara was a splendor in its time - a world of silks, Chinese scripts and Buddhist culture set in a sleepy landscape. Built by the emperor Shomu, a convert to Buddhism, Nara played an important role in the spread of that religion in Japan, as evidenced by the ancient temples that still dot the city. Now it is celebrating that history in style. (New York Times)

Recalling the glorious Heian Period in Japan's history from 794 to 1185 at once conjures up images of a world of courtiers, 12-layered kimono, elegant poetry competitions beside winding streams - and secret trysts in scented chambers. At its heart, the immensely priviledged Heian court cultivated an intensely self-preoccupied culture - one in which the clumsy composition of a single line of poetry could doom a promising romance. For members of the Imperial court in Kyoto, Uji - now a Kyoto Prefecture city just 30 minutes by rail from the former Imperial capital - must have felt to be a world apart. (Japan Times)