In search of the authentic in Kyoto

Jul 28, 2022 | News On Japan

Jul 28, 2022 (Nikkei) - In post-pandemic recovery mode, Japan's former capital is more like itself again

Recently, I boarded an almost empty shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to spend a few days in Kyoto, Japan's former capital. I was excited because the city's historical, artistic and spiritual locations have always given me reassurance in a changing world.

Kyoto boasts about 20% of Japan's cultural treasures and a vivid gastronomic scene that always delights. Before the COVID-19 pandemic it was plagued by busloads of free-spending tourists consuming the city in Instagrammable moments. The hordes largely kept me away. But now was the time to return, to soak in the city's new, peaceful calm.

In 2019 spending by foreign travelers in Japan hit a record high of 4.8 trillion yen ($35.2 billion). But by 2021, spending had fallen to 120.8 billion yen thanks to draconian entry restrictions for foreigners during the pandemic.

The fallout struck me as soon as I disembarked at Kyoto Station. I had not seen an obviously foreign traveler during the entire journey. Soon I was gliding through my hotel's usually bustling and now-deserted lobby to head into the idyllic spring weather clutching a list of landmarks I wanted to revisit without the crowds.

British novelist and avid Japan traveler Pico Iyer recently observed that Kyoto has been "allowed to be private and itself once more," due to the pandemic. This much-praised 1,000-year-old city seems to resist change -- but I wondered what this period of "privacy" had brought to the city. ...continue reading

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