Kyoto: Gion and Geishas
This is Gion, the “Geisha District” made famous by the book and movie Memoirs of a Geisha. Perhaps I should call it a “Geiko District”, since in Kyoto a geisha is called a geiko (“art child”) and an...
View ArticleKyoto: Heian Shrine
The Heian Shrine is dedicated to two emperors: Kammu, who founded the city of Kyoto in 794, and Koumei, the last emperor to spend his life in the city. It is thus a focus of civic pride. The entrance...
View ArticleKyoto City Budo Center
I stumbled on this place by accident: a complex of buildings devoted to the practice of martial arts. It is located just around the corner from the Heian Shrine. The Kyu-Butokuden is the oldest martial...
View ArticleKyoto: Teramachi and Shin-kyogoku
Kyoto is much smaller than Tokyo, but it does have its own version of shopping districts. Teramachi and Shin-kyogoku are two parallel covered streets which seem to go on forever, connected to each...
View ArticleKyoto: Miscellaneous Photos
Here are some photos that I think are interesting, but which don’t seem to fit anywhere else. Anime figures at the Kyoto train station. Kyoto Tower. Instead of copying the Eiffel Tower they went for a...
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