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Roots Earth in Kyoto: audio stories about 55 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 55 places in Kyoto, Japan, in Asia. The Kyoto stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Kyoto, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 55 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: kyoto.md

The 55 places in Kyoto with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
  2. Fushimi Inari-taisha
  3. Kiyomizu-dera
  4. Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion)
  5. Nijō Castle
  6. Ryōan-ji
  7. Kyoto Imperial Palace
  8. Arashiyama
  9. Tenryū-ji
  10. Tō-ji
  11. Sanjūsangen-dō
  12. Heian Shrine
  13. Nanzen-ji
  14. Chion-in
  15. Yasaka Shrine
  16. Nishi Hongan-ji
  17. Higashi Hongan-ji
  18. Ninna-ji
  19. Daigo-ji
  20. Tōfuku-ji
  21. Saihō-ji (Moss Temple)
  22. Kennin-ji
  23. Shimogamo Shrine
  24. Kamigamo Shrine
  25. Kitano Tenmangū
  26. Kyoto Tower
  27. Kyoto National Museum
  28. National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
  29. Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
  30. Kyoto Railway Museum
  31. Kyoto International Manga Museum
  32. Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji
  33. Shōren-in
  34. Myōshin-ji
  35. Kōryū-ji
  36. Gion
  37. Pontochō
  38. Nishiki Market
  39. Philosopher's Walk
  40. Kamo River
  41. Maruyama Park
  42. Kyoto Botanical Garden
  43. Nishijin
  44. Kyoto University
  45. Doshisha University
  46. Funaoka Onsen
  47. Kyoto Aquarium
  48. Murin-an
  49. Shisen-dō
  50. Kifune Shrine
  51. Kurama-dera
  52. Sanzen-in (Ōhara)
  53. Adashino Nenbutsu-ji
  54. Otagi Nenbutsu-ji
  55. Kyoto City Zoo

Is there an audio guide for Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)?

Yes. Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 55 Kyoto places in the app, at 35.0395, 135.7285. Every one of the other 54 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Kyoto

Open Roots Earth and choose Kyoto. The city has its own map of places with all 55 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 55 places in Kyoto, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 55 places in Kyoto, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)

Coordinates
35.0395, 135.7285
In one line
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, is a Zen temple whose top two floors are sheathed in gold leaf and mirrored in a still pond. Built as a shogun's villa in 1397, it was rebuilt in 1955 after arson.

2. Fushimi Inari-taisha

Coordinates
34.96722, 135.77278
In one line
Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of Inari, deity of rice and prosperity, founded in 711. Thousands of vermilion torii gates, donated by businesses, tunnel up sacred Mount Inari past stone fox messengers.

3. Kiyomizu-dera

Coordinates
34.995, 135.785
In one line
Kiyomizu-dera, founded in 778, is a hillside Buddhist temple famous for its vast wooden veranda built on tall pillars without nails. Below it, the Otowa waterfall splits into three sacred streams. Its main hall was rebuilt in 1633.

4. Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion)

Coordinates
35.02667, 135.79833
In one line
Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion, is a Zen temple begun in 1482 as a shogun's retirement villa. Never actually silvered, it is celebrated for its raked sand sea, moss garden, and restrained beauty, the heart of Higashiyama culture.

5. Nijō Castle

Coordinates
35.01417, 135.7475
In one line
Nijō Castle, ordered by Tokugawa Ieyasu and completed in 1626, is a fortified palace famed for its chirping nightingale floors and gilded Ninomaru halls. Here in 1867 the last shogun returned power to the emperor.

6. Ryōan-ji

Coordinates
35.03444, 135.71833
In one line
Ryōan-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple home to Japan's most famous dry rock garden, fifteen stones set in raked white gravel and arranged so that one stone always stays hidden from view. The temple dates to 1450.

7. Kyoto Imperial Palace

Coordinates
35.02528, 135.76222
In one line
The Kyoto Imperial Palace was the home of Japan's emperors until the capital moved to Tokyo in 1869. Rebuilt in 1855 in classical Heian style, it centers on the Shishinden ceremonial hall beneath sweeping cypress-bark roofs.

8. Arashiyama

Coordinates
35.0151, 135.67067
In one line
Arashiyama is a scenic district on Kyoto's western edge, beloved since the Heian era for its river, mountains, and towering bamboo grove. The Togetsukyo bridge, soaring slopes, and seasonal blossoms have drawn aristocrats and pilgrims for over a thousand years.

9. Tenryū-ji

Coordinates
35.01596, 135.67377
In one line
Tenryu-ji is the leading Rinzai Zen temple of Kyoto, founded in 1339 by shogun Ashikaga Takauji to honor Emperor Go-Daigo. Its Sogenchi garden, designed by the monk Muso Soseki, borrows the Arashiyama mountains as living scenery and survives as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

10. Tō-ji

Coordinates
34.98056, 135.74778
In one line
To-ji, the East Temple, was founded in 796 to guard the new capital's gate. Entrusted to the monk Kukai, it became a center of Shingon Buddhism. Its five-story pagoda, rising 54. 8 meters, is the tallest wooden tower in Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

11. Sanjūsangen-dō

Coordinates
34.98778, 135.77167
In one line
Sanjusangen-do is a Buddhist hall founded in 1164, famous for its astonishing length of 120 meters and its army of 1,001 gilded Kannon statues. Rebuilt in 1266 after fire, the temple holds the largest gathering of these golden figures in Japan, all designated National Treasures.

12. Heian Shrine

Coordinates
35.01667, 135.78222
In one line
Heian Shrine was built in 1895 to mark Kyoto's 1100th anniversary as capital, honoring Emperor Kanmu. A partial scale replica of the ancient imperial palace, it gleams in vermilion and green and is fronted by one of Japan's largest torii gates, set among strolling gardens.

13. Nanzen-ji

Coordinates
35.01198, 135.79439
In one line
Nanzen-ji is a leading Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1291 on a retired emperor's villa, ranked above Kyoto's Five Mountains. Its towering Sanmon gate, rebuilt in 1628, and a striking 19th-century brick aqueduct draw visitors to its gardens at the foot of the eastern hills.

14. Chion-in

Coordinates
35.00639, 135.78389
In one line
Chion-in is the head temple of Jodo, or Pure Land, Buddhism, founded where the monk Honen taught and died in 1212. Rebuilt by the Tokugawa in the 17th century, it boasts Japan's largest wooden temple gate, rising 24 meters, and a colossal bell rung by seventeen monks each new year.

15. Yasaka Shrine

Coordinates
35.00361, 135.77861
In one line
Yasaka Shrine guards the Gion district at the east end of Shijo Avenue. Founded around 656 and dedicated to Susanoo, it anchors the great Gion Matsuri festival and glows nightly with hundreds of sponsor lanterns.

16. Nishi Hongan-ji

Coordinates
34.99205, 135.75161
In one line
Nishi Hongan-ji, established at its present site in 1591, is a head temple of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It holds grand Momoyama-era halls, gilded interiors, and the richly carved Karamon gate.

17. Higashi Hongan-ji

Coordinates
34.99102, 135.75846
In one line
Higashi Hongan-ji, established in 1603 by Kyōnyo after Tokugawa Ieyasu donated the land, heads the Otani branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. Its Founder's Hall, rebuilt in 1895, ranks among the largest wooden buildings on Earth.

18. Ninna-ji

Coordinates
35.03106, 135.71381
In one line
Ninna-ji, founded in 888 by Emperor Uda, was long led by imperial-blood abbots. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is famed for its five-story pagoda, palace-style halls, and a grove of late-blooming Omuro dwarf cherries.

19. Daigo-ji

Coordinates
34.9515, 135.82178
In one line
Daigo-ji, founded in 874 by the monk Shobo, sprawls across a wooded mountain southeast of Kyoto. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it holds the city's oldest building, a five-story pagoda from 951, and the celebrated Sanboin garden.

20. Tōfuku-ji

Coordinates
34.97705, 135.77409
In one line
Tofuku-ji, founded in 1236 by Kujo Michiie, is a great Rinzai Zen temple whose name borrows from Nara's Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji. It holds Japan's oldest Zen main gate and a celebrated maple valley crossed by the Tsutenkyo bridge.

21. Saihō-ji (Moss Temple)

Coordinates
34.9925, 135.68417
In one line
Saiho-ji, known as Koke-dera or the Moss Temple, is a UNESCO World Heritage Zen temple whose garden was redesigned in 1339 by Muso Soseki. Over 120 kinds of moss carpet its grounds, and visitors must reserve and copy a sutra to enter.

22. Kennin-ji

Coordinates
35.00099, 135.77366
In one line
Kyoto's oldest Zen temple, founded in 1202 by the monk Eisai and the shogun Minamoto no Yoriie. Its tranquil halls hold celebrated screen paintings and a vast twin-dragon ceiling completed in 2002.

23. Shimogamo Shrine

Coordinates
35.03889, 135.7725
In one line
One of Kyoto's oldest Shinto shrines, dating to the 6th century and set within the ancient Tadasu no Mori forest. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it co-hosts the city's celebrated Aoi Matsuri each May.

24. Kamigamo Shrine

Coordinates
35.06028, 135.75278
In one line
An ancient Shinto shrine established in 678 and devoted to the thunder deity Kamo Wake-ikazuchi. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is known for its twin cones of raked sand and the Aoi Matsuri procession each May.

25. Kitano Tenmangū

Coordinates
35.03111, 135.73528
In one line
A shrine founded in 947 to honor the scholar Sugawara no Michizane, worshipped as Tenjin, deity of learning. Famed for its plum blossoms, bronze ox statues, and the lively flea market held on the 25th of each month.

26. Kyoto Tower

Coordinates
34.9875, 135.75917
In one line
Kyoto's tallest structure, opened in 1964 opposite Kyoto Station.

27. Kyoto National Museum

Coordinates
34.99, 135.773
In one line
One of Japan's premier museums, opened in 1897 in a stately brick building by Katayama Tokuma. It holds over 12,000 works of premodern Japanese and Asian art, including many National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties.

28. National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

Coordinates
35.0125, 135.78194
In one line
Kyoto's leading museum of 20th-century art, established in 1963 and rehoused in 1986 in a building by architect Fumihiko Maki. It is celebrated for Kyoto School paintings, modern ceramics, and works by Kansai artists.

29. Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art

Coordinates
35.01284, 135.78357
In one line
One of Japan's oldest public art museums, opened in 1933 to mark an imperial coronation. Its tiled imperial-crown roof crowns Okazaki Park, and a sweeping 2020 renewal reopened it as a showcase for modern Kyoto painting.

30. Kyoto Railway Museum

Coordinates
34.98722, 135.7425
In one line
Japan's largest railway museum, opened in 2016 around a 1914 roundhouse and turntable. Fifty-four locomotives and carriages span steam giants to bullet trains, and visitors can ride behind a working steam engine on the grounds.

31. Kyoto International Manga Museum

Coordinates
35.01165, 135.75924
In one line
A museum and library devoted to manga, opened in 2006 inside a 1920s former elementary school. Its Wall of Manga shelves roughly 50,000 readable volumes, part of a collection of around 300,000 items spanning Edo prints to modern comics.

32. Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji

Coordinates
35.01453, 135.79529
In one line
A Pure Land temple in the eastern hills, founded in the 9th century and famed for autumn maples. Its treasure is the Mikaeri Amida, a rare Buddha statue carved looking back over its shoulder, tied to a tender 11th-century legend.

33. Shōren-in

Coordinates
35.00731, 135.7832
In one line
A Tendai monzeki temple once led by imperial princes, marked by four ancient camphor trees at its gate. Its gardens trace to Soami and Kobori Enshu, and in 1788 it briefly served as a temporary imperial palace after a great fire.

34. Myōshin-ji

Coordinates
35.02306, 135.72028
In one line
The largest Rinzai Zen complex in Japan, founded in 1342 on an emperor's former palace. A walled temple-town of dozens of sub-temples, it holds a swirling dragon ceiling by Kano Tanyu and Japan's oldest dated bell, cast in 698.

35. Kōryū-ji

Coordinates
35.0155, 135.70726
In one line
Said to be Kyoto's oldest temple, founded in 603 by the Hata clan leader Hata no Kawakatsu and linked to Prince Shotoku. It guards the Miroku Bosatsu, a serene wooden Maitreya that became Japan's very first designated National Treasure.

36. Gion

Coordinates
35.0035, 135.77505
In one line
Kyoto's most famous geisha quarter, Gion grew up before Yasaka Shrine to serve pilgrims and travelers. Its lantern-lit lanes, wooden teahouses, and the geiko and maiko who train here keep a centuries-old performing tradition alive.

37. Pontochō

Coordinates
35.00797, 135.77111
In one line
A slender geisha alley running parallel to the Kamo River, Pontochō has hosted geiko and maiko since the 16th century. Lantern-lit and barely wide enough for two, its teahouses and riverside dining platforms make it one of Kyoto's most atmospheric lanes.

38. Nishiki Market

Coordinates
35.00503, 135.76614
In one line
Nicknamed Kyoto's Kitchen, Nishiki Market is a covered shopping street roughly 400 meters long with around 130 stalls. For centuries it has sold the city's fish, pickles, tofu, and seasonal produce beneath a bright arcade canopy.

39. Philosopher's Walk

Coordinates
35.02513, 135.79617
In one line
A cherry-lined canal path between Ginkaku-ji and Nanzen-ji, the Philosopher's Walk takes its name from the Kyoto University thinker Nishida Kitaro, who is said to have strolled it daily in meditation.

40. Kamo River

Coordinates
35.0035, 135.7705
In one line
Kyoto's beloved 31-kilometer river, the Kamo flows through the heart of the city beneath historic bridges. Its grassy banks and shallow, clear water draw residents to walk, picnic, and gather, and its dry bed once hosted the very first kabuki performances.

41. Maruyama Park

Coordinates
35.00333, 135.78139
In one line
Kyoto's most popular cherry-blossom park, Maruyama opened in 1886 beside Yasaka Shrine. Its centerpiece is a great weeping cherry tree, lit at night in spring, and the grounds fill with crowds for hanami and New Year's celebrations.

42. Kyoto Botanical Garden

Coordinates
35.04833, 135.76111
In one line
Opened in 1924, Kyoto Botanical Garden spreads across 24 hectares beside the Kamo River. It holds roughly 12,000 plant species, a large conservatory mimicking Kinkaku-ji, and themed sections from bamboo and bonsai to peonies and a cherry forest.

43. Nishijin

Coordinates
35.033, 135.745
In one line
Nishijin is Kyoto's historic weaving quarter, birthplace of nishijin-ori silk brocade. Named for a war camp pitched here in the 15th century, it still hums with looms threading gold and color into ceremonial cloth.

44. Kyoto University

Coordinates
35.02621, 135.78084
In one line
Founded in 1897 as Kyoto Imperial University, this is Japan's second-oldest university and a powerhouse of research, claiming more than twenty Nobel affiliates. Its red-brick Clock Tower presides over the lively Yoshida campus.

45. Doshisha University

Coordinates
35.02974, 135.76073
In one line
Founded in 1875 by Niijima Jo, who studied in America against the law of his day, Doshisha is one of Japan's leading private universities. Its Imadegawa campus holds Meiji-era brick chapels beside the Imperial Palace.

46. Funaoka Onsen

Coordinates
35.0369, 135.7446
In one line
A wooden neighborhood bathhouse opened in 1923 in the Nishijin weaving district, Funaoka Onsen is registered as a Tangible Cultural Property. Its curved gable and richly carved interior panels make it a small architectural treasure.

47. Kyoto Aquarium

Coordinates
34.98756, 135.74761
In one line
Opened in 2012 in Umekoji Park, the Kyoto Aquarium was the first in Japan to run entirely on artificial seawater. Home to around 15,000 animals, it showcases penguins, dolphins, and the rare Japanese giant salamander.

48. Murin-an

Coordinates
35.0116, 135.7872
In one line
Built in the 1890s for the statesman Yamagata Aritomo, Murin-an is a Meiji-era villa garden by master designer Ogawa Jihei. Fed by canal water and framing the Higashiyama hills, it pioneered a fresh, naturalistic style.

49. Shisen-dō

Coordinates
35.04374, 135.79623
In one line
Built in 1641 as a scholar's retirement villa by Ishikawa Jozan, Shisen-do takes its name from portraits of 36 Chinese poets within. Now a Soto Zen temple, it is loved for its serene garden and clacking bamboo water device.

50. Kifune Shrine

Coordinates
35.12167, 135.76278
In one line
Tucked in a forested valley north of Kyoto, Kifune Shrine honors Kuraokami, a dragon deity of rain and water. Stone lanterns climb its stairway, and worshippers read fortunes that surface only when floated on the sacred stream.

51. Kurama-dera

Coordinates
35.11806, 135.77074
In one line
High on Mount Kurama north of Kyoto, this mountain temple dates to the 8th century and reveres a cosmic power called Sonten. Linked to tengu legends and the boyhood of warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune, it is famed as a wellspring of spiritual energy.

52. Sanzen-in (Ōhara)

Coordinates
35.11972, 135.83444
In one line
In the rural village of Ohara, this Tendai temple traces its line to the 9th century and was long led by imperial princes. Its moss gardens cradle tiny stone children, and a Heian-era hall shelters a National Treasure trio of Amida and attendants.

53. Adashino Nenbutsu-ji

Coordinates
35.02681, 135.66452
In one line
In Kyoto's Sagano hills, this Pure Land temple traces its origin to 811 and the monk Kūkai. Around 8000 weathered stone statues, gathered from a vast old burial ground for the nameless dead, stand in silent ranks, lit by candles each August.

54. Otagi Nenbutsu-ji

Coordinates
35.03138, 135.66112
In one line
First founded in the 8th century and had its hall and gate transferred to the Sagano hills in 1922, this Tendai temple is famous for 1200 moss-cloaked stone arhats. Carved by amateur worshippers between 1981 and 1991, each face wears a different, often playful, expression.

55. Kyoto City Zoo

Coordinates
35.01285, 135.78601
In one line
Opened in 1903, the Kyoto City Zoo is the second oldest in Japan, founded to mark a royal wedding. Set in the leafy Okazaki district near Heian Shrine, this compact, much-loved zoo today cares for hundreds of animals across more than a hundred species.

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