Faithfully following footsteps from travelers who already swept through the land, without much hesitation, I chose Kyoto as a destination for three precious days of my annual share of day-offs. Tokyo, despite all the splendid metaphors to describe the city, failed to attract my attention enough due to this unexplainable resistance of mine toward any large-scaled cities. All I wanted for the days that I can solely spend for myself is simply being away from what I am already comfortable with, mostly hustle and bustle of a city life, and feeling somewhat adventurous in the middle of the unknown. And, my longing finally seemed to find a happy medium in the old city of Kyoto.
Gion 祇園
Romanticized all over by the story of “Memoirs of Geisha” by Arthur Golden that I read long ago while traveling South East Asian region, I savored each step of the evening stroll in the street of Gion. Blurrily illuminating lights from lanterns hanging along the stretched allies only doubled up the fantasy I had. Glimpse of women sitting humbly on the floor of bars behind lanterns that I passed by made my heart pounding as if time flew backward and I was in the amid of the most beautifully wrapped secret of Geisha, the artistic courtesan of traditional Japanese culture.
Limbs felt heavy as if they were tied to a block of stone from the hours of pilgrimage-like walk around the temples and shrines during the daytime, yet strangely I prowled after, without feeling much fatigue, old allies of the Gion, which seemed endlessly stretching out into the oblivion of the night.
Gion, only a few minutes walk from Keihan Shijo Station, is a famous Geisha district on the eastern bank of Kamogawa Street. It falls roughly between Sanjo-dori and Gojo-dori (north and south, respectively) and Higashiyama-dori and Kawaata-dori (east and wst, respectively). This beautifully preserved pleasure district of Gion is accompanied by traditional wooden buildings and hanging lanterns, thereby creating a wonderful atmosphere of old Japan, and is best to visit in the late evening.
