"Kyoto is the place Japan calls home," wrote literary lion Yasunari Kawabata, who won the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature. But many of Kyoto's allures prove elusive to foreign visitors. To help reveal them, we tap the writings of Kawabata. He endeavored to pass on the beauty of Japanese traditional culture as represented by Kyoto, which for more than 1,000 years was the imperial capital of Japan. We take you inside the world of maiko, noble customs, Japan's first gourmet market, temples and shrines, old shops, and colorful festivals.