Kyoto: December 29, 2022 - Jan 2, 2023

Hi!

I am a foreigner living in Japan and I plan to go to Kyoto on the said date. I plan to follow the 5day itinerary I saw from insidekyoto.com for this trip.

In line with this, is it still worth it to travel to Kyoto on this date despite the many closure of restaurants and attractions?

PS. My main goal here is to see and immerse myself in the new year culture of Japan, but I am worried I might not find anywhere else to eat in between sightseeing.

Thank you.

Well - shrines and temples will be busy this time of year and this is especially true of Kyoto.

There will be enough places to eat - but a lot of non-temple/shrine attractions might close early on the 31st and be closed on the 1st. There should still be enough to keep you interested

On a positive note - there is a good chance that some Japanese street food will be found outside some of the larger shrines

I haven't been to Murin-an yet, but from January 1st to 3rd, Murin-an will hold a New Year's event in its Japanese garden.
Reservations are required, so if you want to go, please make a reservation early.
https://murin-an.jp/events/event-20230101-03/
I like the garden created by Jihei Ogawa (Ueji), so I would like to visit it once.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogawa_Jihei_VII
I also like the garden of Heian Jingu Shrine created by Jihei Ogawa.
At Heian Shrine, shrine maidens perform kagura.
On January 1st, there will also be a Noh performance.
http://www.heianjingu.or.jp/shrine/jingu_event.html
I haven't been there during New Year's, but there are stalls around Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama Park during the cherry blossom season, so there will probably be New Year's as well.
Other large temples and shrines will probably have stalls as well.

Hi @mfedley! I don't mind the crowds of shrines and temples. I think it really is inevitable at this time of the year. However, the street foods never crossed my mind. Thank you for reminding me! Perhaps, do you have any recommendations of Kyoto street foods that you might know? Though, I would likely try anything I think that looks and smells good to me.

Hi @haro1210! Thank you very much for your insights. I will look into your recommendations further.

Japanese street food at festivals tends to mostly be the same thing. Meat on a stick, yakisoba, okonomiyaki and choco bananas......

It may be a bit off topic, but you can see how crowded Fushimi Inari is with a live camera. (Urasando)
https://youtu.be/pgqwfZj9HPY