Kyoto Shrines

The city of Kyoto is well known as the country’s former imperial capital, also titled the thousand-year capital. Also, it is a religious epicenter of Japan with over 2,000 places of worship, including Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Kyoto was on the American target list as a possible detonation site for the first range of atomic bombs that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima but was saved at the last minute by a diplomat who knew the city and wanted to keep it as a cultural treasure for humanity. If you plan a Japan trip, make sure to stop in Kyoto. There is a lot; if you have time, you can easily spend four or five full days here.