As retirement villages go, this one is a gem. It was constructed in the 1390s as the retirement home of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and converted into a Zen temple after his death. It’s one of Kyoto’s most photographed sights due to being adorned completely in gold leaf, so bright you almost need sunglasses if viewing it on a clear day...

Japan’s most famous rock garden is the epitomy of simplicity–an area measuring just 25m (80 ft.) long and 10m (30 ft.) wide, enclosed on three sides by a beautifully colored earthen wall and on the fourth by a wooden verandah, upon which you can sit and contemplate the scene set out before you: 15 rocks placed just so in a...