Title: Wallpaper City Guide: Kyoto
Publication Year: 2008
Publisher: Phaidon
Pages: 103
I love Kyoto. I really, really do. I don’t understand why anyone would choose to live or vacation in Tokyo. The only places worth going in Tokyo are the Maruzen above Roppongi Station and the Tsutaya/Starbucks right outside of the Hachikō exit of Shibuya Station. Other than buying beautiful books, eating strange matcha-flavored pastries, and people watching, the best thing to do if you’re ever in Tokyo is to get on a train and go to Kamakura. Seriously. To all the Americans who think they want to fly to Tokyo: Save yourself some money and fly to New York City. The fact that going to New York will save you money should give you a hint about what sort of place Tokyo is.
In any case, Kyoto is an amazing city. Many people seem to think of Kyoto as a center of traditional Japanese culture. Of course it is, but it’s not as nice as Kamakura, if that’s what you’re looking for. I would argue that the best part of Kyoto is its secret identity as an enormous college town. There are dozens of universities (many of them on par with the great universities of Tokyo) in Kyoto, and they have attracted the requisite population of intellectuals, students, hipsters, yuppies, and so on. Also, unlike Tokyo, Kyoto is a pleasant and affordable place to live, so a lot of surprisingly big-name Japanese companies have their headquarters there. As an added bonus, because of the city’s convenient location, the best beef, fish, vegetables, tea, and sake in Japan are to be found in Kyoto.
That’s why I am so happy that Phaidon published one of its Wallpaper City Guides on Kyoto. This is not a travel guide for old fogies looking for temples and gardens; this is a guide for rich young trendy hipsters and jetsetters in search of fancy bars and architourism. There are about ten pages of this guide devoted to temples and shrines, and the remaining pages are filled with the best postmodern architecture Kyoto has to offer. Cool music venues, ultra-modern hotels, fusion restaurants, and alternatives to IKEA also abound. In short, this is not the guide for students on a budget but rather for those who can afford to bring a full selection of fabulous shoes with them when they travel.
I suppose, for the rest of us, this guide is all about the amazing photography. Not only are the gorgeous lighting and subtly off-center angles worth noting, but the absence of people in any of the photos should be mind-blowing to anyone who’s visited Japan before. Everything in the guide is, without exception, full color, a fact that makes the $10 price tag seem less ridiculous for such a small guide. Also, it’s nice to flip through the guide and learn that there are a plethora of locations in Kyoto that have nothing to do with traditional culture and everything to do with a contemporary sophistication on par with that of the other great cities of the world.
I’m surprised you’d say that Kamakura is nicer than Kyoto…
But, in any case, I can imagine Kyoto as hiding a secret city of hipsters, intellectuals, independent coffee (tea) houses, etc. And in a far more pleasant environment than the zoomzoom & cold steel of Tokyo.
I for one love Tokyo, and as I’ve said many times before, I feel like living away from Tokyo or NY is missing out on something. There are things going on, and you’re not there to see it.
But I really would like to explore life in Kyoto; to get a feel for the city in the way you cannot do as a weekend tourist. They do sell this guide at the Japan Society Shop; maybe I’ll pick it up.
You should definitely pick it up! It’s a wonderful use of $10, and it will make you feel cool just to read it. Besides, the photography is really something.
I grew up in a small, rural town, so I am not happy unless I have lots of trees. Still, I think Tokyo is very cool – if you happen to live inside the Yamanote circle. When I was living in Yokohama, a lot of going to Tokyo was riding the train there, which was fun, but still. Being in Tokyo is absolutely exhausting, and there aren’t many places to just sit down and chill out. Also, everything is so expensive! And it doesn’t help that everything you could ever want to buy is right there waiting for you, looking at your wallet with puppy-dog eyes. I understand that there are innumerable small, backstreet neighborhoods in Tokyo, and, although I think it would be a wonderful experience to live there and gradually explore the city, visiting Tokyo is what I imagine smoking crack would be like. Kyoto is a lot more laid-back, and besides, you can bike everywhere, which is lots of fun.
I think Kamakura is better than Kyoto as an “old-Japan” tourist attraction because, while Kyoto is a real city, complete with pachinko parlors and concrete apartment blocks, Kamakura (especially northern Kamakura) is an *incredibly* wealthy suburb (of Tokyo and Yokohama). The people who live there have money, and they aren’t going to let developers (or UNESCO) ruin the atmosphere of their town. The temples of Kamakura are much more interesting and tourist-friendly than the temples of Kyoto, which is probably because they don’t get that many tourists. Unless you go way off the beaten path, Kyoto is very much “Kyotoland,” while Kamakura feels much more authentic, for whatever that’s worth. So, even though Kyoto is a great place to be a student or a hipster, Kamakura is a much better place to be a tourist.
At least, that’s my impression. Now I’m going to go off and daydream about living in Tokyo. (^_^)
Ohmygodssssss, I want it! Must get this for myself, where did you get this?
PS. I totally agree that Kyoto is hiding things as a college town of hipsters – some of the best things that I have done while there is participating in an international poetry reading held at a cafe by a Kyodai student from Okinawa. I read the beginning of Book 6 of The Iliad – in Ancient Greek complete with the correct chanting style/meter – and gave an explanation of the story in Japanese. Then I saw one of the KCJS girls (Emi Meyer, she is becoming quite the jazz person in Japan she is on Japan iTunes!) perform at Cafe Independants. And then you have the independent yarn shops, all the other cute cafes, the tedukuri-shi across the street from Kyodai…oh dammit. I want to go back.
Maria! How lovely to hear from you. (^_^)
They don’t carry this guide at many bookstores, so you might have to get it from Amazon. It’s totally worth it, though. And, while you’re on Amazon, run a search for “Kyoto.” They have a million and one beautiful books, many of which have to do with Kyoto gardens.
Yeah, I love that city. Tell me what cafe you went to in Kyoto – I think I might want to drop in there this summer. And I will definitely look up Emi Meyer!