A Non-tourist Guide | Kyoto
京都探游
Recommended places to visit in Kyoto
Kyoto, a feminine city, needs to be admired as a woman. Don’t send her flowers, don’t write a poem to her; but visit her as frequent as you can.
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長樂館 | CHOURAKUKAN
Chourakukan was built in 1909 during the Meiji Era by Murai Kichibei, an industrialist who was the first to invent untipped cigarettes. It was built for the purpose of hosting dignitaries from home and abroad. Japanese key figures, who brought Japan from the last chaotic days of the samurai into the modern Meiji era, as well as the Prince of Wales, American mogul Rockefeller, and many other dignitaries visited Chourakukan, spending a peaceful time here. Chourakukan is the representative western building of the Meiji era which beautifully blends the styles of the UK, USA, France, China and Japan. Nowadays, Chourakukan welcomes many people to its restaurants, hotel and cafe. But you are still sure to feel the vivid history there.
Very pleased with his stay here, Japan’s first Prime Minister, Hirobumi Ito (伊藤博文), named it Chourakukan. Wishing that guests would spend a long, enjoyable time, reflected in the meaning of the Chinese characters that make up its name.
Besides the often fully-booked Rococo style afternoon tea room (named Geihin no Ma) on the first stage, there are another five tea rooms on the second floor, in case you come without any reservation or just in favour a rather private environment. Each of those rooms is decorated in slightly different styles.
address
〒605-0071
京都市東山区八坂鳥居前東入円山町 604
Tel.075-561-0001
〒605-0071
Kyoto 604 Maruyamacho, Higashiyama-ku
山崎書店 | YAMAZAKI ARTBOOKS
Kyoto is a city of art. Besides many museums and galleries, here you can also find japan’s oldest art university — the Kyoto City University of Arts and the globally influential Kyoto Costume Institute.
To understand Kyoto people’s sophisticated aesthetic, visiting a local artbook store can be a good idea.
Yamazaki Artbooks is a second-hand artbook shop hidden in residential areas in Kyoto. The shop owner Yamazaki Sumio (山崎純夫) has been in the business for 40 years — his very first Yamazaki Bookstore was founded in 1979 near Ryukoku University in Fushimi.
Exploring old Japanese books from different local publishers is a unique experience. Japanese publishers, various from Western media conglomerate, are primarily family run independent firms. Their businesses are based on corporate philosophies an extensive public interest since their founding, and they are mainly confined to the domestic market. Moreover, these public-interest-oriented philosophies are shared by not only publishers but also by wholesalers and retailers in the industry.
