Shidashi-ryori is Kyoto hospitality. Kyotoites do not serve visitors and honored guests homemade dishes on ceremonial occasions. The convention is to entrust the preparations to trusted caterers. The caterers fulfill their customers' needs, be they budgetary or ingredients. Caterers in different districts specialize for the local clientele: shojin-ryori for temples, kaiseki for tea gatherings, courses for entertainment districts. Discover bento meals and other various forms of shidashi-ryori.

The ancient capital was devastated during a period of intense war lasting 2 centuries until the late 16th century, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi assumed supreme power. He envisioned rebuilding a city that would prosper through a free economy and a stable government. A rampart was built around Kyoto, and rezoning increased residential areas. Hideyoshi's palace of gold was a symbol of his glory, and he influenced the lavish Momoyama culture. Discover the traces of Hideyoshi's legacy in Kyoto, today.

For Heian aristocrats some 1,200 years ago, Kyoto life was the world of officialdom. Uji, located southeast of the capital, was the retreat where they let their bodies and minds run free. It represented the transience of the material world as depicted in the classic novel, The Tale of Genji. The nobles embraced Uji-grown tea, which sustained the tea ceremony, and the pastime of cormorant fishing, and gave them form. Byodo-in was later built by the Jodo Sect to represent the Pure Land of Buddha.