Books set in Kyoto start with the classics…
Murasaki Shikibu – The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) (c.1000-21)
Sei Shonagon – The Pillow Book (Makura no Sōshi) (1002)
Kamo no Chomei – An Account of a Ten Foot Square Hut (Hojoki) (1212)
anon – Ōkagami (the Great Mirror) date unknown
anon – The Tales of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) mid-13th century
Yoshida Kenko – Essays in Idleness (Tsurezuregusa) (c.1330-1332)
Also many collections of poetry have originated in Kyoto, three of the most celebrated being:
ed. Ki no Tsurayuki et al Kokinshu (Collection of Old and New) c. 905
anon Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari) 10c
ed. Fujiwara Teika – Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets) (early 13c)
Isabella Bird visited in 1878 and met with Doshisha founder, Niijima Jo amongst others. (Her account is in the original two-volume edition of 1880, not however in the later one-volume paperback.)
Lafcadio Hearn wrote an account of his visit to Kyoto at the time of the 1100th celebration, and seven of his short stories are set in the city.
Amongst modern Japanese classics the following in particular stand out:
Akutagawa Ryunosuke – ‘Rashomon’ (1915)
Ogai Mori – ‘Boat on the River Takase’ (‘Takasebune’) (1916)
Mishima Yukio – The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) (1956)
Enchi Fumiko – Masks (Onna men) (1958)
Kawabata Yasunari – The Old Capital (Koto) (1962); House of the Sleeping Beauties (Nemureru Bijou) (1961)
Tanizaki Junichiro – The Key (Kagi) (1956); also ‘The Bridge of Dreams’ (in Seven Japanese Tales, 1963)
Kajii Motojiro, – ‘Lemon’, 1924 [see here]
Foreign authors of note include the following:
John Haylock – One Hot Summer in Kyoto (1980)
Pico Iyer – The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto (1991); Autumn Light (2019) also touches on Kyoto, though its focus is Nara
Deborah Bollinger Boehm – A Zen Romance (1996)
Arthur Golden – Memoirs of a Geisha (1997)
Liza Dalby – The Tale of Murasaki (2000)
David Zoppetti – Ichigensan: The Newcomer (2011)
Hans Brinckmann – ‘The Tomb in the Kyoto Hills’ (2011)
Foreign poets who have treated the city in their poetry include:
Gary Snyder – The Back Country, 1968
Cid Corman – various
Harold Stewart – By the Old Walls of Kyoto, 1981
Edith Shiffert – various, including Kyoto: The Forest within the Gate, 2014
Margaret Chula – Grinding My Ink, 1994
Robert Brady – Further on this Floating Bridge of Dreams, 1990
Philip Whalen – Scenes of Life at the Capital, 1970
Robert Maclean – Waking to Snow, 2021; Wintermoon, 2022
Walks in Kyoto:
Judith Clancy Exploring Kyoto: On Foot in the Ancient Capital (2008); new ed. Tuttle, 2018
John H. and Phyllis G. Martin Kyoto: 29 Walks in Japan’s Ancient Capital (2014)
Michael Lambe and Ted Taylor ed. Deep Kyoto: Walks (2014)
Kyoto Gardens:
Marc Treib and Ron Herman A Guide to the Gardens of Kyoto (2003)
Thomas Daniell and Akihiko Seki Houses and Gardens of Kyoto (2010)
Judith Clancy and Ben Simmons Kyoto Gardens: Masterworks of the Japanese Gardener’s Art (2015)
Marc Keane et al – http://kyotogardens.org/
John Dougill and John Einarsen Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto (2017)
Allen S. Weiss Zen Landscapes : Perspectives on Japanese Gardems and Ceramics (2013)
Histories:
John Dougill Kyoto: A Cultural History (2006)
Richard Ponsonby-Fane Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869 (1956)
Matthew Stavros Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital (2014)
Herbert E. Plutschow Historical Kyoto (1983)
Fosco Maraini – Kyoto in the Fifties (1995)
Guidebooks to the city:
Gouverneur Mosher Kyoto: A Contemplative Guide (1964)
Diane Durston Old Kyoto: A Guide to Traditional Shops, Restaurants and Inns (1986; updated)
Diane Durston Kyoto: Seven Paths to the Heart of the City (1987; 2014)
John H. and Phyllis G. Martin Kyoto: A Cultural Guide to Japan’s Ancient Imperial City (1994)
Christopher Rowthorn Lonely Planet Kyoto (2015)
Judith Clancy Kyoto City of Zen (2012)
John Dougill and Patrick Hochner 100 Kyoto Sights (2020)
Judith Clancy Kyoto Machiya Restaurant Guide (2012)
Other notable works:
Alex Kerr – Another Kyoto (2016)
Ivan Morris – The World of the Shining Prince (1964)
Iwasaki Mineko – Geisha of Gion (2002)
Isabel Stirling – Zen Pioneer: The Life and Works of Ruth Fuller Sasaki (2007)
Matthew Stavros Hojoki (2020) subtitled The Hermit’s Hut as Metaphor
Arthur Golden – Memoirs of a Geisha, 1997
Kyoto sections in larger works
* Fosco Maraini Meeting with Japan (1959) 150 pages, 4 chapters, devoted to Kyoto by a keen observer.
* Isabella Bird Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880) Kyoto chapters are omitted from the modern abridged version. See p.224 of this link.
* George Sansom A History of Japan to 1334 (1958) Large portion is about Kyoto, by a historian who’s a joy to read.
* Nicolas Bouvier The Japan Chronicles tr. Anne Dickerson (1975, tr. 1992)
(see article on Kyoto section by Robert Weis)
* Alex Kerr ‘Three Old Men of Kyoto‘ (Hal Stewart, David Kidd, William Gilbey) in Echoes: Writers in Kyoto Anthology 2017
Literary Kyoto
Kyoto: A Literary Guide (2020) ed. J. Dougill, P. Carty, J. Cronin, I. Higashinaka, M. Lambe and D. McCullough, Camphor Press, 2020
Cycle Kyoto has a four-hour tour of the city to visit places with a literary association. These concern the following authors: Murasaki Shikibu, Sei Shonagon, Matsuo Basho, Tanizaki Junichiro, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, and the Beat poet Gary Snyder. For details, please click here.
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Other listings
For an overview of the many crime novels set in the city, see this article.
For an exhaustive list of historical novels and mysteries set in Japan in general, scroll down to the Kyoto section at this link.
There’s an eccentric list of books set in Kyoto which looks like it might have been selected by computer here. Similarly Goodreads has a rather odd listing here.
Film and anime
Wikipedia has a list of films set in Kyoto.
For a listing of recent anime set in Kyoto, see this link. For a description of the top 15 anime set in Kyoto, see this link. For a location map of anime in Japan with a huge cluster set in Kyoto, click on this.
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