What to do and see in Kinki, Japan: The Best Historic Walking Areas

March 12, 2022 Oliva Fomby

The Kansai region (関西地方, Kansai-chihō) or the Kinki region (近畿地方, Kinki-chihō) lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. While the use of the terms "Kansai" and "Kinki" have changed over history, in most modern contexts the use of the two terms is interchangeable. The urban region of Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto (Keihanshin region) is the second-most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area.
Restaurants in Kinki

1. Kii Mountains

Excellent
100%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 3 reviews

Kii Mountains

2. Hieizan Enryaku-ji Temple

4220 Sakamoto Hommachi, Otsu 520-0116 Shiga Prefecture +81 77-578-0001 http://www.hieizan.or.jp
Excellent
48%
Good
42%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 592 reviews

Hieizan Enryaku-ji Temple

Reviewed By audreevisits - Canada, null

This is the birthplace of Zen Buddhism. The Enryaku hotel was, traditional Japanese style, very clean and comfortable- staff was very pleasant and helpful. The food breakfast and dinner was included and extraordinary! Beautiful views of the lake and distant mountains, some days we could see My Fuji in the distance. The Japanese baths were clean and hot. 7am we walked to the main temple to participate in the morning ceremonies. We hiked the mountain and visited the ancient temples, some original and hundreds of years old- learning the story of Zen Buddhism and how it came to be on this sacred mountain.Lots of local pilgrims making offerings and praying- so peaceful

3. Katsura Imperial Villa

Katsuramisono, Nishikyo-Ku, Kyoto 615-8014 Kyoto Prefecture +81 75-211-1215 http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/guide/katsura.html
Excellent
74%
Good
18%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 472 reviews

Katsura Imperial Villa

Application in advance is highly recommended. ------------------------------------------------------------------- This beautiful home belonged to members of the Katsura family, one of the Imperial families of Japan. The home displays some very traditional Japanese architecture and landscape design.

Reviewed By hrtraveler

Lovely garden; recommend taking the English language tour(there are several every day) and also recommend applying on line before visiting to make sure you get a place on the tour. Tour was informative, and the gardens are beautiful. Took city bus from Kyoto station, which supplied good information regarding the proper bus stop to exit. And the villa is a short walk from the bus stop.

4. Street of Kinosaki Onsen

Kinosakicho Yushima, Toyooka 669-6101 Hyogo Prefecture http://matinami.o.oo7.jp/kinki2/kinosaki.htm
Excellent
51%
Good
41%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 649 reviews

Street of Kinosaki Onsen

Reviewed By seanv0

Great onsen town with lots to do that truely captures what's so great about Japan. Managed to do many of the quintessential 'When in Japan' activities during our stay here.

5. Kumano Kodo

Nakahechicho / Hongucho /Nachikatsuuracho, 646-0000 http://www.tb-kumano.jp
Excellent
62%
Good
32%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 149 reviews

Kumano Kodo

Reviewed By SullyDean - Sydney, Australia

We took this tour a year ago for my 50th b’day (April 2019) - apologies for late review, however I really want to share our experience as we had an amazing time and feel the reason was that we booked through Walk Japan. From the moment we met up with our tour group, 7 in all, at a snug hotel in Osaka we were able to sit back and focus on the culture, history, religion, scenery & relevance of the Kumano Kodo, and leave the complexities of logistics and language barrier to our competent guide Josh. While some travelers thrive on conquering the difficulties of traveling in a foreign land, we would rather spend our well earned holidays enjoying ourselves without stressing over are we on the correct train line and are we heading in the right direction, or the like. And for us if any country has engendered those feelings its Japan. So for 9 days we walked parts of this pilgrimage and had an absolutely amazing experience - as accommodation and meals were all organized and we had our trusty guide at no point did we stress - and we stayed in some unique accommodation from a monastery (participating in the morning fire ceremony with monks), repurposed high schools (declining population), some huge 80’s hotel built into the side of a cliff like something out of a James Bond movie. We visited all the main temples on the pilgrimage and had our stamp book attended to (make sure you do this right from the start), all relevant historic and cultural points of importance and interest were pointed out and if possible we had time to wonder around (seriously if we had done this pilgrimage as an independent walk we would have missed so much and understood even less) - and to top it all off we were walking smack bang in the middle of the cherry blossom bloom - early April is the time to go it was just gorgeous : ) All in all we had the most brilliant time and Walk Japan took care of everything and at no time did we feel out of our depth - best 50th b’day you could wish for. Thanks Japan, and thanks Walk Japan XXX

6. Gokashokondo Street

Gokashokondo, Higashiomi 529-1405 Shiga Prefecture http://ja.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/detail/150
Excellent
39%
Good
61%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 18 reviews

Gokashokondo Street

7. Genkyuen

3 Konkicho, Hikone 522-0061 Shiga Prefecture +81 749-22-2742 http://www.hikoneshi.com/jp/sightseeing/articles/genkyuen
Excellent
43%
Good
43%
Satisfactory
13%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 174 reviews

Genkyuen

Reviewed By Global715255 - Tokyo, Japan

Lovely garden worth visiting. With less crowds than Hikone Castle, I could relax a lot viewing the beautiful garden. You can enjoy Matcha with a sweet named Umoregi. The lady who served told me the best spot to enjoy the view from the engawa terrace. It was amazing.

8. Mikobata Senkojo Mine

1826-1 Sano, Asago 679-3453 Hyogo Prefecture +81 79-677-1165 https://www.city.asago.hyogo.jp/0000000361.html
Excellent
38%
Good
50%
Satisfactory
13%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 16 reviews

Mikobata Senkojo Mine

9. Yoshino

Yoshino-cho Nara Prefecture http://www.yoshinoyama-sakura.jp/index.php
Excellent
44%
Good
41%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
6%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 32 reviews

Yoshino

An attractive village built on the side of a remote Mount Yoshino is a popular cherry blossom viewing area.

10. Hachiman-bori

Miyauchicho, Omihachiman 523-0828 Shiga Prefecture https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/10/
Excellent
34%
Good
49%
Satisfactory
15%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 302 reviews

Hachiman-bori

Reviewed By palawanismyhome - Palawan Island, Philippines

We were looking for a smaller place near Kyoto which would be away from the throngs of tourists at the popular sights in Kyoto and decided to take a 30 minute train ride to Omihachiman. At first the area near the station looked modern and uninviting but after talking to the lady at the tourist center by the station we were armed with a map and walked along the main street perpendicular to the station and 30 minutes later we were t the old historical district of Hachiman-bori. This was a Sunday and although there were quite a few Japanese visitors we only saw 2 other westerners. This delightful place had small streets with old wooden Japanese houses on each side, some were cafes, some were souvenir shops and some sold local specialties. We then walked by the canal where visitors could take rides on the small wooden boats. It was a beautiful area with weeping willows by the canal and well worth visiting.

ThingsTodoPost © 2018 - 2024 All rights reserved.