Japan Navigator

For 21 years now, the Kiyomizu Temple area has stood at the popularity pinnacle of Kyoto’s tourist destinations. But runner-up Arashiyama is coming closer, as the Kyoto Shinbun reports. This year has seen a surge in popularity of Kyoto’s western outskirts thanks to the extension of the Tozai subway line to Uzumasa-Tenjingawa, which makes a transfer to the Keifuku line at Randen-Tenjingawa easy. The area has therefore enjoyed a notable increase in (young) people staying later in the evening, as transport back into the city has improved.

21.2% of all visitors to Kyoto now visit Kiyomizu, and 15.9% visits Arashiyama. The gap was double as large only five years ago, so Arashiyama may be on the way back to glory – before Kiyomizu took the crown in 1987, Arashiyama was the most popular destination. The number of visitors to Arashiyama is expected to reach 7 million this year. Other reasons for the popularity, besides the better transport, are the light-up of streets in Arashiyama in the middle of December (Hanatoro) and the opening of an Onsen (hot spring) in the area (by boring 1,200 meters deep) in 2004 – the onsen can be enjoyed in a number of ryokan in Arashiyama, and also as a footbath (ashiyu) in the Keifuku Arashiyama Station. The Hanatoro lightup last year alone was good for one million visitors.

Both Arashiyama and Kiyomizu are excellent for either cherry blossom viewing or enjoying the maple leaves.