Kyoto 2024 - Trendstefan

Last report from Japan was about Tokyo, but just over two hours away from the capital you will find the old capital Kyoto. Here is a trend and design report from Japan’s old capital.

The city is lovely – and do I dare to say that I like it more than Tokyo? I was rewatching old tv shows that had been to Japan and apparently a tv host like “Somebody please feed Phil” is also in love with this old, small city.

Small?? Well the city is about the size of Stockholm at 1,5 million inhabitants but compared to large cityies like Tokyo this is of course a small town. But perfectly fine for me. This is a city where you find history but also small design shops.

I read somewhere that Kyoto have about 1 600 temples. Yes. That’s a lot. Did I see them all? Absolutely not. Kyoto have 17 world heritage sites and that is a good way to have a list to work from. Here is the complete list.

One of the major sites is Fushimi Inari. It’s a proper photo installation sites. I mean – look at these pictures. It’s lovely. The only thing is that EVERYONE ELSE thinks that too. It is sooooo crowded that it is rediculous. And everyone is trying to get a clean shot with no people in the background. Very hard.

But it is a lovely place. Go see it. But expect one million visitors.

The girl above is photographed at Fushimi Inari. When you see girls like this – realise that they are just dressed up tourists. It cost about 30 euro to rent a geisha outfit for a day – and many do. I don’t hate it. It is pretty. But realise that they are also tourists.

Kyoto is the geisha city of Japan. And there are real geishas here. But they avoid being photographed. However you can still wander around the old neighborhood and have a look.

The area in Old Town had some fun vintage shopping.

Moving along in history. Kyoto is also the birthplace of Nintendo. Yay. 1889 Nintendo started selling what is called “playing cards” in Kyoto and one of their factories/shops is now turned into a hotel called Marufukoro. Super unfriendly. Great story, but terrible staff. Don’t go.

Instead you can go to Takashimaya which is a department store on the “Oxford street” of Kyoto. They have a fun selection and some unique pieces you can’t find anywhere else.

This department store also have a shop-in-shop with Mandrake, a vintage store for toys.

A Japanese favourite is D&Department. This is a design studio and store. I have been to their other stores before and they work on design and sustainability. Very clever, very smart and very inspiring. This store is just next to one of the temples in Kyoto.

They work a lot on upcycling in general. Picture above is just plain plastic stuff upcycled and just above are spare plates noone wants – but with a logo added.

They just have lovely things.

Another space and more proper design gallery is Mon Gallery (also a wine bar…)

In the Old Town I found Books & Things, a book shop with posters and graphical design. Really fell in love with Shigeru Fukuda.

But walking around in Kyoto is very easy – and nice.

You stumple across architecture like this. A house from 1927 and apparently one of the first concrete houses in the world.

But the city is full of contemporary design and architecture. Here at a fashion store that has been written about. It’s called Graphpaper.

Of course Issey Miyake have a nice store.

The street marked or food hall in Kyoto – Nishiki – is pretty wellknown for is’s food. But they also have some nice design shops. A lot is focused on sustainable design. This is a shop with several brands. Called Muokuteki.

OK. Coming to a conclusion. I stayed in Kyoto two nights. So worth it. Don’t do it shorter. It also has a great food scene. I stayed at Ace Hotel and this is interesting for plenty of reasons. First of all it is newly renovated by one of Japan’s leading architects Kengo Kuma. And it is really nice.