Kyoto is all that is sublimely beautiful and curiously mysterious about Japan. Quiet temples surrounded by lush bamboo forests. Glimpses of geishas scurrying away down narrow, red-lanterned alleyways. Ritually rich green matcha, sipped in centuries-old tearooms. Serenely simple Zen gardens with strategically placed stones amid carefully raked white sand. Exquisitely sublime cuisine that is so artfully absolute that you don’t want to destroy it by eating.