Kyoto, Japan

A neighbourhood noodle shop near Nanzen-ji that has outlasted every trend. Thick, hand-pulled udon in a light dashi, served with a plate of vegetables on the side.

A tea house in Uji – the ancient tea-growing region just south of Kyoto – serving matcha in all its forms: ceremonial, as ice cream, folded into buckwheat noodles.

Three Michelin stars and a kaiseki tradition that traces back decades. Reservations are difficult and the expense is real. One of the finest expressions of the form anywhere in Japan.

A converted hundred-year-old townhouse in Karasuma serving teori-zushi – hand-woven sushi where around fifty seasonal ingredients arrive on a single platter and you assemble your own.

A record bar in Shimogyo-ku that seems, from the outside at least, to be operating on its own frequency. The kind of late-night room that earns its reputation by not trying too hard to have one.

Found on the third floor of an unmarked building above Elephant Factory Coffee in Kawaramachi – the kind of place you almost want to keep to yourself.

A vinyl bar down by Kiyamachi built around one of the finest sound systems you’ll find outside a mastering studio. Come early for the sweet spot at the centre of the room.

A specialty coffee shop in Nakagyo-ku. Precise, unhurried, worth finding on a slow morning.

A neighbourhood bar in the residential streets of Kitaoji, north of the city centre, that has been a local fixture for over a decade. Warm, unfussy, and frequented almost entirely by regulars.

A ryokan in continuous operation since 1818. Tatami rooms, yukata, kaiseki breakfast, and the unhurried rhythms of traditional inn life.

A boutique hotel in Nakagyo-ku where the design draws on Kyoto’s craft heritage without making a show of it.

Kengo Kuma’s conversion of the 1920s Shin-Puh-Kan building, a former telecommunications exchange. The lobby alone – washi-screened light, considered material palette – justifies a visit even for non-guests.

Sonya Park’s clothing and objects stores across Kyoto’s Nijo-dori carry her own seasonless line alongside craft collaborations and daily essentials.

A small shop stocking Paul Harnden, Guidi, Casey Casey, and a handful of others.

The Kyoto ceramics centre, adjacent to Heian Shrine. Rotating exhibitions and a shop stocking work from regional potters across a range of prices.

A canvas bag maker in Higashiyama operating since 1905, using the same construction and patterns refined over generations.

A Nishijin lacquerware house founded in 1661. Boxes, vessels, trays – objects built to outlast their owners.

A gallery and clothing store in a back alley of Gion, easy to miss behind an unmarked door hung with a white noren. Workwear-inspired clothing made with natural fabrics, alongside art installations and a traditional tea room.

The 1897 Meiji-era main building anchors a collection spanning sculpture, painting, ceramics, and metalwork. The Heisei Chishinkan wing by Taniguchi Yoshio is a lesson in how to add to a historic site without diminishing it.

Ten thousand torii gates winding up the wooded mountain behind the shrine. The lower section crowds early; the upper trails are quieter and the views over the city are worth the climb.

A stone canal path running north from Nanzen-ji through the Higashiyama hills, lined with cherry trees and flanked by small temples, cafés, and ceramics studios.

Fifteen minutes south by train, Fushimi has been one of Japan’s primary sake-producing regions for over four centuries. Nearly forty breweries still operate here in their original buildings along the willow-hung canals.

Hiroshi Hara’s 1997 structure is a deliberate provocation – a vast, angular glass-and-steel shed with a shopping complex, hotel, and elevated sky garden.

The anchor of the historic weaving district, surrounded by workshop buildings and narrow lanes that have produced silk fabric since the fifth century.

A fourteenth-century Zen complex notable for the Mirei Shigemori garden of 1939 – modernist geometry introduced into the most traditional of Japanese forms.

The Church of the Light is an hour away in Ibaraki, but the journey makes sense for those tracking Ando’s career. In Kyoto itself, the Time’s commercial complex on the Kamo River demonstrates his approach to water and concrete in an urban context.

A narrow alley running parallel to the Kamo River, lined with the back doors of restaurants and preserved ochaya teahouses. Best at dusk, when the lanterns come on.