What is it about Kyoto that makes it so attractive to Japanese, and to people from around the world? Why was Kyoto Steve Jobs’s favorite place to visit in the world? The attractions of both old and new Kyoto are very real—but elusive and mysterious.

I think that Kyoto doesn’t give up her secrets easily. Part of the point is that there is always more here below the surface than meets the eye. It is a major religious center for two venerable faiths (Buddhism and Shintoism), a university city with a respect for education, and surprisingly sexy.

Beneath the contours of the modern Japanese city, and the mad dash of visitors from around the world with their checklists of important sites, lies a rich and strange culture that we can only catch glimpses of—a world seen in the relationship of shadow to contour, distant lights of ancient structures twinkling in the twilight, and a hidden glimpse of the beautiful.