I did notice on a recent visit that certain places (particularly Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Gion and Inari) were much more heavily touristed than on previous visits, but found the distribution of tourists rather odd. For example, Ginkaku-ji was really busy, but the rest of the Philosopher's Path, and the temples and shrines along the way were really quiet. We pretty much had Eikan-do and Konchi-in to ourselves!

The distribution of tourists was notable, too. The Western tourists were much more interested in Gion and Kinkaku-ji, whereas Arashiyama and Uji were much more frequented by Asian tourists.

Outside of Kyoto, the little pockets of concentrated tourism were interesting too. Much has been made in the travel press about Kanazawa, with the arrival of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, and (Hida) Takayama is now listed as a must-do in many travel guides. So why was there such a large concentration of, for example, Spanish tourists in the latter (to the extent that, in several shops, signs were in Japanese and Spanish)? I suppose you see this kind of bunching all over, but it was particularly noticeable on this trip.