Japan Gion District: Immersion in Traditional Kyoto Kyoto, trip to japan 5 (4)What if I said geishas, Kiyomizu-dera temple, traditional houses? All of this is what you can find in the east of Kyoto, in the northern district of Higashiyama (which also simply means "the mountain of the east").A fairly large area including several unmissable attractions in Kyoto, but the most famous is undoubtedly the Gion district, known for its alleys lined with wooden houses and the Geishas that can be found there. Summary hide Between tea houses and traditions The old sloping streets of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka Kiyomizu-dera: the temple dominating Kyoto Between tea houses and traditionsGion is an area of several streets known for being lined with teahouses, located in traditional houses. It is an area where one is likely to come across geisha (which means "person practicing the arts") and maiko (apprentice geisha), women who praise their artistic talent combining singing, dancing or even the art of conversation among others.A geisha statue marks the “entrance” to Gion.Gion is part of the largest district of Higashiyama, known for having kept a traditional aspect corresponding to the Meiji era (late 2th century). And this is indeed what we come to Gion for. Beyond the geishas (which we will see on XNUMX occasions only very briefly), it is above all the alleys of old houses with wooden facades that are interesting.These are covered with wooden panels with a very characteristic facade and architecture. Some serve as luxury restaurants or private residences while others are tea houses, where geishas and maikos go to officiate, for example.Concretely, Gion is divided into 2 zones, one to the north of Shijo Avenue, on the left bank of the Kamo River and the other to the south of this same avenue. If we did not have time to walk on the northern part, which includes in particular the pretty Shirakawa Street, bordered by a canal, we went to the southern part, on the Hanamikoji Dori side.We arrived by Yamato Oji Street from Shijo Avenue, getting "lost" in the small streets of the area until we reached the main street of Hanamikoji. I headed with "Gion Corner" in mind on Google Maps, which served as my reference point. There were still quite a few people once we reached Hanamikoji, although not comparable to the crowds seen this very afternoon in Arashiyama.If you leave the main road, you can peacefully soak up the relaxing atmosphere that can reign in this area. You come across many people with traditional kimonos, the yakutas, which adds character to the atmosphere, even if you quickly understand that they are only tourists, both Japanese and Asian, who wear them...We ended the afternoon by cutting through a small local temple, Yasui Konpiragu. With the setting sun, it was a calming atmosphere. Below, we passed through the grounds of another temple, the Kenninji.Unfortunately, given the time, it was closed doors, but according to Amélie's Voyagista website, this temple contains a superb Zen garden and a richly decorated ceiling with a dragon painting (or engraving, I don't know).The only geisha we'll come across up close.The old sloping streets of Ninenzaka and SannenzakaContinuing on from Gion, at the foot of the Kiyomizu-dera temple, which dominates Kyoto, there are other interesting streets to explore. There are also people there, but the charm works.The 2 main streets are paved, lined with restaurants, cafes and souvenir or craft shops. The first time we went to the Ninenzaka side, returning from Arashiyama.After parking the car in the area (we had it because we were coming back from Miyama and were not returning it until the next day), I would like to point out the joy of easily finding parking spaces almost everywhere in the city (hey Bangkok...)We walked along the small street until we reached the stairs, which serve as a photo point since we overlook the neighborhood. We passed quite a few people, but most of them were going back down after visiting the Kiyomizu-dera a little higher up.Which we did shortly after as the sun had also decided it was time to go down. It is there that we will see this characteristic view of this part of the district, as we see the pretty Hokanji pagoda looming above the street.With the sun turning red and the paths clearing, it was a good time to go for a walk around the area.The next day after our visit to the Philosopher's Path, we took a bus (line 100 or 206) to reach the Kiyomizu-michi stop, which dropped us off practically at the foot of Kiyomizu-dera. To reach it, we had to go through the charming old-fashioned alleys again.But this time we went up to the Sannenzaka side. Same vibe as Ninenzaka with maybe more shops.Kiyomizu-dera: the temple dominating KyotoAfter passing through the small shopping streets, we arrived in front of the imposing main gate of the Kiyomizu-dera temple, the Nio-mon gate.The large gate measures no less than 14 meters high and 10 meters wide. It makes a great introduction to what was to be one of the main highlights of this stay in Kyoto.The complex is located at the foot of a mountain, Mount Otawa, east of Kyoto, and we therefore have to climb to begin the visit, already at the end of the afternoon.Lots of people are riding around in yakutas here. It completes this picture nicely. We start to climb the few steps leading us to the main hall, passing a large pagoda and taking a look at the view that was beginning to open up before us.From here, you can see a vast area of Kyoto all the way to the mountain bordering it to the west. Even though we knew the main hall was being renovated, I didn't know in what form and where it was, knowing that the entire complex has been under renovation since 2008, the Hondo Hall, has been covered with formwork since last year and will remain so until 2020...The current hall is a reconstruction dating from 1633, the original dating back to the 8th century and having disappeared in a fire (definitely). It rests on a platform composed of enormous wooden beams. All at a height of 13 m, a great technical feat.We pay the 400 yen entrance fee and continue our walk behind the hall. We stop on the terrace offered by the Okuno-in hall, THE photo spot par excellence, with this view of Kyoto and in the right season, a view of the Hondo hall surrounded by colorful trees (either in bloom or in autumn colors).We were going right in front of the Hondo hall, from where we could see a pagoda emerging from the trees. Here we are on the other side, this time observing a good part of the complex including the other pagoda crossed in front of the main hall.A little further down, we pass in front of the fountain giving its nickname to the temple. Nicknamed the temple of water, it is due to the Otowa no taki waterfall, a spring whose purity of its water gives it a reputation for purifying itself and asking for a wish.The site being close to closing, we do not linger to queue to offer ourselves this purification in passing. We went back down not without buying some souvenirs and we returned to where we had passed yesterday, the small street of Ninenzaka.But this time, we continued along a street, past the parking lot where we were the day before. In this street, still paved, several temples are lined up with the particularity of having small statues with virtues if you touch them (there were instructions in English on how to proceed next to each of them, from memory, there were at least 5 or 6).Not attentive enough, but also not informed enough, we were passing by a very photogenic little alley, Ishibei-koji, go take a look for me 😉Ishibei-koji alley at night, isn't it classy? (Photo credit 360 PHOTO)At the T-junction that presented itself to us further on, we turned left then right and ended up by chance in front of the Shinto Yasaka-jinja shrine, whose lanterns, already lit up in the early evening, added charm to the moment.This temple is just at the end of Shijo dori, the avenue by which we had arrived in Gion 3 days earlier. It was therefore easy for us to find something to eat and catch a subway to return to our hotel, ending this visit of the district.With all this, I hope I have made you want to linger in this part of Kyoto, certainly touristy, but full of charm, even at the end of the afternoon as we have been there each time.Did you like the article? share on Pinterest! Did you like the article? Vote on the article Note globale 5 / 5. Number of votes: 4 No votes yet. Be the first to rate this article! Did you like the article? Follow me on social media Culture and traditions Urban exploration Historic Districts Temple 0 0 Roman 18/06/2018
