Wednesday 23 April 2014

Day 4, part 2, walking in Kyoto: Gion buildings



In part 1 of Day 4 we had walked from hotel south via Pontocho to Gion Dori and then east to Yasaka Shrine. Returning to our hotel near the Sanjo Bridge, beginning in this second part, we went north west through tiny streets of Gion, red light district at night, some astonishing design visible during the day, to emerge from Shinbashi Dori and walk beside the canal on Shirakawa-Minami Dori, down to the river then north on the east bank of the Kamo River....  the area just over the river in Hiroshige's painting from the 1830s, copied here from wikipedia


above the Yasaka Shrine, we found people setting up for Saturday lunch under the last of the cherry blossoms. This is a short video clip.


Then we walked northwest through narrow streets of Gion, a redlight district when the sun is not shining. Many people would only see this at night. Daytime reveals astonishing combinations of traditional and modern building.











and then, at the corner above and in this little video, we arrive in Shirakawa-Minami Dori, with canal and cherry blossoms. Photos from the next part of the walk in the next blog entry.


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