Kyoto was Japan's imperial capital for a thousand years, the stage of samurai betrayals, assassinations and wars. In 1945 it topped the atomic bomb target list, and a single man took it off. Twelve stops through the bamboo grove, the rock garden, the golden pavilion burned by a monk, the castle of singing floors, the temple of the 1582 betrayal, the inn of the Shinsengumi raid, the teahouse of the 47 ronin, the grave of Sakamoto Ryoma and the ten thousand torii of Fushimi. Approximate audio duration: 23 minutes.
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Kioto: los samuráis y el Japón que casi desapareció
Kioto fue la capital imperial de Japón durante mil años, el escenario de las traiciones, los asesinatos y las guerras de los samuráis. En 1945 encabezaba la lista de blancos de la bomba atómica, y un solo hombre la sacó de ahí. Doce paradas por el bosque de bambú, el jardín de piedras, el pabellón de oro que quemó un monje, el castillo de los suelos que cantan, el templo de la traición de 1582, la posada del asalto de los Shinsengumi, la casa de té de los 47 ronin, la tumba de Sakamoto Ryoma y los diez mil torii de Fushimi. Duración aproximada de audio: 23 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~23 min of audio · 8 km on foot (~2 h walking) · about 2 h 30 min in total
You are in Arashiyama, on the bamboo grove path, next to Tenryu-ji temple. Look at the green stalks rising until they close off the sky, and listen: when the wind blows, the bamboo creaks and knocks like hollow wood.
Kyoto was the capital of Japan from 794 until 1869. More than a thousand years. The emperor lived here, descended according to tradition from the sun goddess. But for most of that time real power was held by warriors: the samurai and their leaders, the shoguns.
The temple next door was born of a betrayal. In the fourteenth century Emperor Go-Daigo tried to take power back from t…
2
The Stone You Never See
You are at Ryoan-ji temple, in front of the rock garden. Sit on the wooden veranda and look: a rectangle of white gravel raked into lines, and on it fifteen stones grouped in five islands of moss. Nothing else.
It is the most famous Zen garden in the world. It was made around the end of the fifteenth century. No one knows for sure who designed it or what it was meant to say.
Count the stones. From any point on the veranda you will see fourteen. There is always one hidden behind another. The most common explanation is that only through enlightenment can all fifteen be seen.
This garden was m…
3
The Monk Who Burned Beauty
You are in front of Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion. Look at the three-story building covered in gold leaf, reflected whole in the pond, with a golden phoenix on top of the roof.
It was built in 1397 by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, grandson of the Takauji of the bamboo grove, as a retirement villa. When he died it became a Zen temple.
It survived the Onin War, which burned half of Kyoto around it. It survived the Warring States, earthquakes, fires. More than five hundred and fifty years standing.
And in the early hours of 2 July 1950, a young monk of the temple itself, twenty-one years o…
4
The Floor That Sings
You are at Nijo Castle. Look at the Karamon gate, covered in gilded carvings, and behind it the Ninomaru palace: low wooden buildings joined by corridors, with curved roofs of dark tiles.
It was built in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord who ended the Warring States and unified Japan. He had himself named shogun. His family ruled the country for more than two hundred and sixty years.
The Tokugawa lived in Edo, today's Tokyo. This castle was their home when they came to Kyoto: a way of showing the emperor, a few kilometers away, who was really in charge.
When you go into the palace, walk …
5
The Enemy Is at Honno-ji
You are in front of Honno-ji temple. Look at the gate and the main hall, tucked in among the shops of Teramachi street. It looks like a quiet neighborhood temple. Its name is a byword for betrayal in Japan.
At the end of the sixteenth century the most powerful man in the country was Oda Nobunaga. He had begun to unify Japan with fire and sword: he burned whole temples with their monks inside, crushed his rivals, used European firearms like no one else.
In June 1582 Nobunaga was staying at this temple, which then stood a few hundred meters from here, with very few guards. One of his trusted g…
6
The Wolves of Mibu
You are on Sanjo street, in front of the spot where the Ikedaya inn once stood. Look for the small inscribed stone beside the entrance to a restaurant. Here, one night in 1864, much blood was spilled.
In the mid nineteenth century American warships forced Japan to open up to foreign trade after more than two centuries of isolation. The shogun gave in. Many young samurai considered it a humiliation.
Those samurai rallied under a slogan: revere the emperor, expel the barbarians. Kyoto, the emperor's city, filled with conspirators, political murders in the streets and heads displayed on the bri…
7
Kyoto's Kitchen
You are in Nishiki market. Look at the long, narrow street under a colored roof, with more than a hundred stalls on both sides: fish, pickles, tofu, sweets, knives, tea. Kyoto people call it the city's kitchen.
Food has been sold on this street for more than four hundred years. It began with fishmongers, drawn by the very cold groundwater that wells up here and was used to keep fish fresh in a city far from the sea.
Kyoto is surrounded by mountains and far from the coast. That is why its cooking specialized in what could be kept: pickles, dried or salted fish, tofu, vegetables from the surro…
8
The Teahouse of the 47 Ronin
You are in Gion, at the corner of Shijo avenue and Hanamikoji street. Look at the teahouse painted deep red, with curtains at the entrance: it is the Ichiriki Chaya, the most famous in Kyoto.
Gion is the district of the geiko, as geishas are called in Kyoto, and of the maiko, their apprentices. The teahouses are private: you only get in by invitation from a known client.
In 1701, at the shogun's castle, a lord named Asano drew his sword on an official who had humiliated him. For that he was sentenced to take his own life. His samurai were left without a lord: they became ronin.
Forty-seven …
9
The Festival Against Plague
You are in front of Yasaka shrine. Look at the great orange-painted gate at the end of Shijo avenue, and behind it the pavilion with hundreds of paper lanterns that light up at dusk.
It is the shrine of the Gion district, and from it comes the most famous festival in Japan: the Gion Matsuri, which takes up the whole month of July.
Its origin is an epidemic. In the year 869 a plague killed many people in Kyoto. It was believed to be caused by angry spirits, the same kind that had to be appeased with temples like the one in the bamboo grove. Sixty-six halberds were raised, one for each provinc…
10
The Samurai Who Did Not Live to See the End
You are in the cemetery of Ryozen Gokoku shrine, on the slope of the eastern hills. Look for the grave of Sakamoto Ryoma: it usually has flowers, bottles of sake and messages. From here you can see all of Kyoto.
Ryoma was born a low-ranking samurai on the island of Shikoku. He abandoned his lord, something that could cost him his life, and became a political agitator.
But he was not a fanatic. He understood that Japan could not drive out foreigners with swords: it had to modernize. He founded a shipping and trading company. And he achieved something that seemed impossible: a secret alliance …
11
The City That Lost Its Emperor
You are on the Philosopher's Path. Look at the stone path beside a narrow canal of clear water, lined with cherry trees that in spring form a white and pink tunnel.
It is named after the philosopher Nishida Kitaro, who walked it every day in the early twentieth century to think. But the canal has a less contemplative story: it is the canal that saved Kyoto.
In 1868, after the fall of the shogun, the young Emperor Meiji left Kyoto and settled in Edo, which was renamed Tokyo, the eastern capital. After a thousand years, Kyoto was no longer the capital.
The city emptied. The court left, the no…
12
Ten Thousand Gates and a Name Crossed Off
You are at Fushimi Inari shrine. Look at the tunnel of red gates, the torii, climbing the mountain one behind the other, thousands of them. And the stone foxes with a key or an ear of grain in their mouths: they are the messengers of Inari, the deity of rice and prosperity.
Each torii is a donation. Look at the back of the pillars: in black writing, the name of the company or person who paid for it and the date. Merchants asking for good business, for centuries.
In January 1868, a few kilometers from here, at Toba and Fushimi, the last great battle of old Japan was fought. The shogun's troop…
How long does the "Kyoto: The Samurai and the Japan That Almost Vanished" audio tour take?
It has about 23 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 8 km walking route (~2 h on foot). Plan roughly 2 h 30 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "A Temple for a Ghost" (coordinates 35.017, 135.672). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Kyoto and pick "Kyoto: The Samurai and the Japan That Almost Vanished". No account required to start.
