A Buddhist temple is offering a one-of-a-kind experience to foreign visitors this summer in an effort to promote tourism and encourage repeat visits to Kyoto.
The number of foreign tourists staying in hotels and other accommodations in the city has remained flat at around 400,000 a year for the past decade, according to the Kyoto Municipal Government.
Once the capital of Japan and the site of the Imperial family residence for more than 1,000 years, Kyoto saw a record 730,000 foreign tourists in 2005, thanks to the World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture and the depreciation of the yen. But a tourism promotion official said there is no guarantee the favorable situation will continue.