Kyoto Kimonos

Walking down from the Kiyomizu-dera Temple through the cobbled streets of the Ninenzaka preservation district I saw a wonderful trio of kimonos. These colourful costumes are still worn quite frequently by the ladies in Kyoto and certainly add to the authenticity of your visit through these stone-paved streets. 

The Ninenzaka district, like Gion to the west, is an architecturally protected 'preservation area,' with many historic structures, such as the historic house of painter Yumeji Takehisa (1884 to 1934). The area is also known as "Nene-no-saka" after Kita-no-Mandokoro, the wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who walked this route to visit the Kodaiji Temple. The narrow winding streets of Nene-no-saka are predominantly for foot traffic, and the streets are lined with arts-and-crafts shops, cafes, and food concession stalls.

Along the narrow lanes of the Sannenzaka Slope, there are many shops that sell an indigenous 'Kyo-yaki-style' ceramic pottery from this area, called kiyomizu-yaki

Gion Machiya

One of the many beautiful old traditional buildings found in the Gion district of Kyoto. Gion is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine. It eventually evolved to become one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan.

The geisha in the Gion district do not refer to themselves as geisha; instead, Gion geisha use the local term geiko. While the term geisha means "artist" or "person of the arts", the more direct term geikomeans essentially "a child of the arts" or "a woman of art".

This neighborhood in Kyoto has two hanamachi (geiko communities): Gion Kōbu (祇園甲部) and Gion Higashi (祇園東). Despite the considerable decline in the number of geisha in Gion in the last one hundred years, it is still famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment.

Part of this district has been declared a national historical preservation district. Recently, the City of Kyoto completed a project to restore the streets of Gion, which included such plans as moving all overhead utilities underground as part of the ongoing effort to preserve the original beauty of Gion.

Gion remains dotted with old-style Japanese houses called machiya, which roughly translated means "townhouse", some of which are ochaya or "tea houses". These are traditional establishments where the patrons of Gion—from the samurai of old to modern-day businessmen—have been entertained by geiko and geisha in an exclusive manner for centuries.

Inside the ochaya is a private and closed world where the evening's entertainment may include cocktails, conversation, and games as well as traditional Japanese music, singing and dancing. To this day, geiko and maiko (geisha in training) in full regalia can still be seen in the evenings as they move about through the streets of Gion to and from their various engagements at the ochaya' They dance and sing and they entertain for veryone

There is a popular misconception that Gion was a red-light district. It was a geisha district, and as geisha are entertainers, not prostitutes, Gion is not, and never was, a red-light district. Shimabara was Kyoto's red-light district.

Higashiyama District of Kyoto

For most of Kyoto's history, the area of Higashiyama (Eastern Mountains) lay outside of the official city boundary and as a result it was always more rustic and secluded. Furthermore, being separated from the main city by the  Kamo River, it was spared the fires that often ravaged Kyoto. Consequently, Higashiyama  remains one of the city's most charming and unspoiled districts. The small area lying east of Gion has some delightful stone-paved roads leading up to the Kiyomizu Temple.
Two flagstone-paved streets called Ninezaka (two-year slope) and Sannenzaka (three-year slope) are a preservation district and display some wonderful examples of architecture as well as some lovely shops and restaurants. Take care on these steps - local lore says that if you slip on these streets brings you two or three years' bad luck.
You can usually spot a number of trishaw riders in this area as well as the occasional maiko dashing along the narrow alleys.