Gion, a Piece of Japanese Heaven

Judy. Kyoto is so big and has so much going on that I really can’t speak to much about the city, especially since out of our six days there, we took a few side trips to other towns. What we did see was pretty busy (not just with tourists), but once you crossed the river to our little area of Gion, the world suddenly became quiet and welcoming. Oh, I liked Kyoto just fine—it’s just that Gion was—maybe older, more authentic. And light years from modern, crazy, busy Tokyo.

A canal marks the boundary of the Gion neighborhood

Peaceful entrance to our hotel

Our hotel was small, charming, and just "Japanese" enough to make us feel like we were really experiencing the country.  While breakfast in our hotel was western-style, it only took a 2-minute walk to get to the sister hotel for a Japanese meal: smoked fish, miso soup, tofu, vegetables, rice, and pickles. Yum! 

Our room

Shoes and slippers for the room are stored in this cabinet outside the room

Gion is one of the places Geisho and Maiko (Geishas in training) live and work. Although we often saw young women we thought were Maiko, we only saw a Geisho once, but we didn’t take a photo. That’s just not cool. 

Maiko and her chaperone in the train station

What we did see is many locals dressed in traditional clothing, much like we saw in Vietnam. Only here, the men often dressed up as well. Among these old, wooden houses, it just looked right, though we often saw young people on the subways, dressed to the nines. 

A lovely canal separates Gion Hotel from the most historic part of town, with an ancient shrine just over the bridge. The most traditional part of the area is, as you could expect, filled with tourists. There are signs reminding us not to take pictures on streets where residents live, and a policeman who makes  sure that what little traffic there is keeps moving. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as busy as I expected. 

Shrine to the deity for performing arts, including Maiko & Geiko

Area where most of the Geiko perform, very old part of the city

Like the rest of the city, Gion is squeaky clean. What trash there is is placed in small plastic bags for the garbage man to pick up One morning I saw that a hotel placed netting over its small pile of refuse so the wind wouldn’t blow it away. 

Trash awaiting pickup

There’s a deep respect for this city. Tradition certainly rules Gion, although four blocks away cars and crowds rule the day. It was such a pleasure to return to our little refuge at the end of every busy day!

Quiet entrance to a restaurant

Large shrine

Plum tree in bloom