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Exploring Kyoto is a wonderful guide for the independent traveler to Kyoto. Thanks to Judith Clancy's careful research, I have found places in Kyoto which I never knew existed and explored them in depth. Last month I spent two days in Ohara, a mountain village on the outskirts of the city, using the book as a guide. No other guidebooks in English cover this area but armed with the book, I wandered about finding temples that even Japanese ignored. I have done the same in Fushimi, a sake-brewing area to the south of Kyoto and at Nanzenji, one of the loveliest temples in the city.
If you are adventurous and want to travel on your own, I urge you to purchase this book before you leave and plan your Kyoto visit to include at least one of her fascinating walks.

We purchased several guide books in planning our trip to Kyoto. This book was referred to far more than the others.

If you enjoy exploring on your own and blazing your own, private path, I have not found a book that compares. Its detailed maps, descriptions and histories made our trip a joy. It's not full of information about restaurants and shopping, but the regular guides have plenty of that. As a walking guide or as a fun, insightful history of the city's sights and neighborhoods, it excels. It is also a fun read. We couldn't see all we wanted to in the days we were there, but we eventually get back to Japan, this book will be packed!

The author does not try and hide her distaste for the modern aspects of Japanese cities, her focus is on the historical background of the sights and the tone of her writing is dry and almost textbook. If you are the type of person who reads all of the written information available on the plaques in museums and you love to learn about the history of the places you visit you will enjoy reading this book. The information has much more depth than what you will find in a typical tour book but not all of the major sights are covered.

My problem with 'Exploring Kyoto' is that it is tries to be a collection of walking tours that you would carry and use as a guide but it does not work well in that way. For one the book is cumbersome and not organised in a way that is easy to follow on the fly. The maps are poor and the descriptions of the routes are not always clear. Sometimes it is not even clear where you need to start the walk. The text is more suitable to reading in a comfortable location before or after you head out.

On the positive side, I had a really great time exploring the western outskirts of Kyoto with this book, and it gave me a look at the Goin district that was richer than I found elsewhere. It covers some of the 'must see' sights of Kyoto but I found its' strength to be in the lesser known sights in the outskirts of the city. If you plan to be in Kyoto only a couple of days this book may be unnecessary, there is a free pamphlet available at the tourist office called 'Kyoto Walks' that covers the main sights. If you will be in Kyoto a week or longer and want to visit some lesser known, historically fascinating sights, 'Exploring Kyoto' may be of value to you.