Daily life
在留カード / Zairyū card
zai-ryoo KAA-do
Your residence card, issued at the airport on arrival for medium and long-term stays. Carry it at all times.
住民登録 / Jūmin tōroku
joo-min TOH-roku
Municipal registration at your ward office within fourteen days of moving in. The keystone that unlocks everything else.
礼金 / Reikin
RAY-kin
'Key money' — a non-refundable gift to the landlord. Not a deposit, and you never see it again.
住民税 / Jūminzei
joo-min-ZAY
Residence tax, calculated on last year's income and billed the following June. It catches everybody, especially anyone leaving Japan.
上ル・下ル / Agaru / Sagaru
a-GA-ru / sa-GA-ru
'Up' and 'down' — Kyoto addresses are given as intersections plus a direction, because the city is a grid. Agaru means north, sagaru south.
盆地 / Bonchi
BON-chi
A basin. Kyoto sits in one ringed by mountains, which traps heat and humidity in summer and cold in winter. Locals blame the bonchi constantly and correctly.
Culture
町家 / Machiya
MA-chi-ya
The traditional Kyoto townhouse — narrow frontage, long depth, an internal courtyard garden. Beautiful, cold, and increasingly restored.
舞妓 / Maiko
MY-ko
An apprentice geiko. They are working professionals going to appointments, not a photo opportunity — several Gion alleys now prohibit tourist photography outright.
五山送り火 / Gozan no Okuribi
go-zan no o-ku-ri-bi
The mountain bonfires lit on 16 August to send ancestral spirits home, visible across the whole city. The end of Obon.
Social
おこしやす / Okoshiyasu
o-ko-shi-YA-su
'Welcome', in Kyoto dialect. The local speech is softer and more indirect than Osaka's, and the difference is noticed.
Emergency
110 / 119
—
110 for police, 119 for fire and ambulance. Both free from any phone.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.