Execs Ponder Ways To Make Kyoto Nightlife Tourist-Friendly

Above, the shopping area below Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The city of Kyoto is looking at different ways to keep foreign visitors entertained at night.

It seems that Kyoto rolls up the sidewalks in the evening, prompting foreign visitors to go to neighboring Osaka for the nightlife there.

The Japan Times reported:

KYOTO – As residents and tourists in Kyoto complain more about higher prices, hotel shortages and crowds at train stations, shrines and temples, Kansai’s corporate leaders are searching for ways to keep visitors coming. 

One way, they suggested recently, is to ensure people can experience what they call “Kyoto culture at night.” The G-rated, family-friendly version, that is. 

Earlier this month, a panel of executives at a Kansai economic meeting in Kyoto discussed the need for more things to keep tourists entertained at night. 

A 2016 municipal survey of Japanese and foreign tourists showed that complaints about tourists spots closing too early was one thing many disliked, though it was far down the list compared to massive crowds, rude bus drivers and other ill-mannered tourists. 

Though the discussion by the business leaders produced no specific plan of action, the ideas floated ranged from increasing the number of traditional arts performances to designing new forms of evening spectacles designed to ensure that more of Kyoto’s tourists have someplace to see and spend their money at other than bars, nightclubs, pubs and the neon-lit entertainment establishments that line both sides of the Kamo River.

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