The standard visit to Kyoto is a test of endurance: you stay until you are sick of temples. This comes as a shock to first-time visitors, for while the city is rich in beautiful tourist spots, a true understanding of the nation's cultural heartland remains as elusive as a maiko (apprentice geisha) scurrying from taxi to tea house in a blaze of flashbulb lights.
Fortunately, there are an increasing number of places that are sharing experiences of the city's traditions, from the quietude of Zen meditation and the tea ceremony to the opulence of traditional merchant homes and intricate kimono designs.
The Zen sects of Japanese Buddhism are essential to understanding Japanese culture as a whole, for much of the austere simplicity associated with the nation's art sprang from the powerful Zen temples in Kyoto. The best way — perhaps the only way — to come to an understanding of Kyoto's Zen traditions is to try meditation for yourself.