How to spend a gardener’s holiday in…
Kyoto, Japan
Explore Japan’s cultural capital in June and take in luxuriant displays of moss and hydrangeas in world-class gardens, with art, temples and food markets along the way
Insider tips
Best organic plant-based breakfast Tan, Higashiyama ward
Best vegan set lunch Kousagisha, Sakyo Ward
Best food tasting Nishiki market
Best place for the hydrangea season Yoshimine-dera
Best matcha Ippodo Tea Co
Japan’s former capital gives meaning to the word ‘historic’, with ancient temples at every turn and an ongoing appreciation of traditional ways.
Kyoto is so laden with heritage sites and world-class gardens that the volume of tourist imperatives could work against those seeking zen-like calm. June is a good time to visit: hydrangeas are having their moment, it’s post-cherry blossom time and there are pre-autumn colours to enjoy.
Flea markets and food stops
Taking time to properly explore a neighbourhood can be very rewarding, seeing how people live now, while surrounded by the rich offerings of past millennia. Lunch could be a focal point, for instance at well-named Monk, located near the string of temples connected by the Philosopher’s Path, where the chef tries to ‘express the beauty and the life of the vegetable’. Temples are cheap to enter; and they are also the focal points of monthly markets, such as the Toji-Temple flea market, Chionji Temple craft market and the Tenjinsan market held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine with a focus on textiles. All of these places are good for eating, as well as the 700-year old Nishiki Market, known as Kyoto’s Kitchen.
You’ll leave with a better grasp of fermentation and a respect for tofu (a Kyoto speciality).
Micro-season treasures
In mid-June the rainy season begins, followed by high humidity. Going by the traditional Japanese calendar of 72 micro-seasons, visit just before ‘plums turn yellow’ (16 June).
Aided by mild winters, the climate is perfect for luxuriant displays of moss, which every gardener should see. The most famous temples are in complexes with sub-temples, and separate gardens around the different buildings. At Tofuku-ji, moss abounds, particularly on the north side of the abbot’s residence, luxuriating over a pattern of paving stones. For westerners, it’s a readable mix of modernism and classical Japanese, having been designed in the 1930s.
The garden at Saiho-ji is an emerald universe, moss flowing into water and around trees. By contrast, Ryoan-ji is a very different Zen Buddhist garden, famed for its dry landscape of raked gravel around 15 boulders.
Take the slow train
Kyoto’s layering of old and new can be combined by travelling on the old Sagano Scenic Railway along the Hozugawa River and past Arashiyama Bamboo Forest to the end of the line, where the fast train will rush you back to town. In Arashiyama, see mossy Gio-ji Temple, plus the Okochi-Sanso Villa, built for a Japanese silent movie actor, and an inspiring synthesis of interiors and exteriors. Kyoto is a region as well as a city; it also covers Miyama, 30 miles to the south. This is a different experience, a retreat into the prefecture’s villages and countryside, as well as large tracts of primary woodland. Managed by Kyoto University, Aishu Forest can be explored with a guide. Closer to the city, the exquisitely conceived and executed Keihanna Commemorative Park is based around ‘nostalgic countryside scenery’.
Art and zen
A hydrangea festival at the very ancient Sanzen-in Temple (founded at the end of the 8th century) can be found in Ohara, north of Kyoto, in mid-June. History sits well with a younger generation of artists and artisans, and it is worth putting aside time for full immersion into historic districts in Higashiyama ward. Kyoto is known for textiles, paper and ceramics and there are wonderful museums inside machiya (wooden houses), the former homes of decorative artists with perfect taste, at the Namikawa Cloisonné Museum, and Kawai Kanjiro’s House. The newly reopened KYOCERA Museum is causing ripples in the Okazaki district, with weekend markets and a revival of performing arts. And, for zen-like serenity, try the Relaxation Space on the fourth floor at National Museum of Modern Art.
