New Year in Kyoto

I had my doubts about Kyoto. To be clear, I still do. Not in the sense that Kyoto isn’t an amazing city. It absolutely is. But is the overtourism worthwhile?

On New Year’s Day, I feel as though I saw a different side of Kyoto. Local people—families—flocked to temples and shrines around the city. Japan’s working class enjoyed a rare holiday. It was a lovely insight into some of the core tenets of Japanese society when work is removed from the equation, and a reassuring reminder that Kyoto is a beautiful city filled with beautiful people, not just kimono-renting tourists.