Kyoto is the quintessential traditional Japanese city, where many festivals and customs survive after having disappeared from the rest of Japan with the passage of time. In the Gion district, there are still nine working okiya, where maiko and geisha live. In the afternoon, they leave the okiya to work in a ryotei— luxury restaurant—or an ochaya, s

A million miles from the “love hotels” and the uncontrolled urban sprawl, tucked away in the back streets of Kyoto, one can find the Tawaraya Hotel, an oasis for the seeker of the quintessential expression of Japanese hospitality. One could be forgiven for not even noticing the low-level building, as there is little on the outside to suggest the hi

Walk there in 40 minutes from Arashiyama Station, via the equally lovely Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street, a scenic route lined by Meiji-era style machiya (town houses).