Lucking out. Meeting a Geisha in Gion
Trip Start
Jul 11, 2005
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4
62
Trip End
Apr 04, 2006
Kyoto,
Japan
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Check out my second visit to Kyoto, part of my ill-fated Honeymoon. Whoops.
************************************ Update - November 2007 **************************************
Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe
- Anatole France
How Much?!
01 Tokyo Station
And so we had to give back the yukata we had become quite fond of and say goodbye to the hills before heading back to the hustle of Tokyo for our trip west to Kyoto. The day started in a rather expensive manner. We, not surprisingly, were running late for the train to Tokyo and when we realised we had missed the bus to the station we were forced to hail a taxi, which is something best avoided in Japan if one is on any sort of a budget. With a pick up fee of ¥660 (about €5) and ¥120 (just under a euro) every 250m the meter on the taxi was going up faster then my blood pressure. Is it any wonder there are vacant taxis sitting on virtually every street corner in the country. The 5 minute trip should have cost us about €15 but the kind taxi man, probably at seeing our expression watching the meter escalate, asked for an even ¥1300 (about €10 euro).
Rocky Horror
The 40 minute trip from Nikko station to Tokyo was an eye opener. People watching should be a pastime in this part of the world.... actually, it probably is?
02 Shinkansen, 300 series
Anyway, the fashion on display in our train carriage was, for want of a better word, different. Rocky Horror Picture Show convention anyone? Japanese youth has a reputation for out there fashion trends and in retrospect I am quite surprised we didn't see examples of it, amidst the sea of navy business suits, on the streets of Tokyo. But our train carriage certainly took the form of a mobile catwalk for anything goes. Think white 80's style loafers, tight jeans (with enough gold zips to cause you major issues going through airport security) over striped knee socks and a doggy shirt to top the look off. A picture would have been great but, even doing it discreetly, I wasn't brave enough. Still a Thrill
As for the trip to Kyoto.
03 "Put that camera away!"
Well this would be my longest trip on the bullet trains so although the first-time thrill had been experienced the day before it was still an enjoyable 2 plus hours zipping along at 280km per hour. I think B was a bit indifferent to the whole travelling at speed thing but hey, that's women for ya. How many women do you know who owned a train set when they were smaller? Exactly. Historic Kyoto
So what of Kyoto? As the capital of Japan for more than a thousand years it conjures up the classic images
04 Yasaka Jinja Shrine
of Japan; narrow lanes of traditional wooden teahouses, geisha (see more below and the accompanying pictures) in a flourish of brightly coloured silks the inevitable weeping cherry tree surrounding idyllic temples. It's not to say you cannot see such sights in Kyoto (we did, see the attached photo) but it's fair to say there are very few genuine fairytale scenes
05 Rising Sun
like that in modern Japan these days. But nonetheless, Kyoto is one of the best preserved cities in Japan and is endowed with an almost overwhelming legacy of ancient Buddhist temples & Shinto Shrines (some 2000 of them in the city alone), majestic palaces, traditional Japanese gardens of all sizes and gorgeous tea houses. We went traditional again and stayed in a ryokan and, although not a patch on the Nikko ryokan, it was very central to the main sights.Gion Matsuri
Our main reason for coming here was primarily to get a sampling of the
06 Kiyomizu-dera Temple
aforementioned sights and they can be appreciated any time of year. It just happened that we
07 Kyoto Lanes
arrived in the city when it was in the middle of, not only Kyoto's, but Japan's biggest festival, Gion Matsuri. The annual festival, which sees downtown Kyoto closed off for pedestrian traffic only, spans the entire month of July but it is crowned by a huge parade, the Yama-boko Junkō, on July 17th, the day we arrived. The parade of
08 O-chaya - Tea Houses
massively decorated yamaboko floats, inhabited by geisha and other traditional Japanese artists, parade down Kyoto's main street, Shijō-dōri (Fourth Avenue).
09 Maruyama Koen
We arrived in the afternoon of the 17th and had expected/hoped the parade to be held in the evening but low and behold, we'd missed it as it has been in the morning. Typical. Talk about missing the boat. Aggh well, not to worry. The place was still a buzz with festival goers so we had a good evening mingling with the masses around the Yasaka Shrine (see photos for more on that and the festival itself). Geisha's.... and me
As enjoyable and sweat producing as the day was the evening turned in the real highlight of Kyoto for me.
10 Miako
Making our way back to our room we were exploring some nice quiet traditional lanes in the Gion area of town when we saw 2 Maiko, apprentice Geisha, out for a photo shoot and a bit of training on how to master the art of walking in their rather uncomfortable looking geta (traditional sandals). The word Geisha means artist in Japanese which is apt
11 You girls allowed smile?
as a Geisha is a professional hostesses who entertain guests through various performing arts in tea houses' called O-chaya. They are trained in a number of traditional skills such as Japanese ancient dance, singing, playing instruments (such as the Japanese Shamisen), flower arrangement, wearing kimono, performing tea ceremonies, calligraphy, conversation, alcohol serving manners and more. I was just telling B how disappointing it was to miss the festival that day as I was really looking forward to seeing a real life Geisha and here where two trainee Geisha right in front of us amid the traditional lanes of Gion. So what if they were trainees? I don't know enough about Geisha and Maiko to visually tell them apart so hey. Needless to say the opportunity for a photo couldn't be missed and the two girls duly obliged. Check out the pictures attached to this posting for more. Super-Fast Food
Another highlight that evening was eating in a local noodle bar that had easily the quickest service we'd ever experienced. From the time you enter and get the obligatory greeting from all members of staff (including the chefs
12 Convienience
who make a point of sticking their heads out of the kitchen), sit down, order and have the food delivered was about 50 seconds. We timed it on a few occasions with one guy having to wait an embarrassing 35 seconds after ordering to tuck into his food. Needless to say in a place like that people don't hang about very long. But we were in no rush which seemed to suit the staff who were overly curious about us 2 foreigners and seemed more than excited to be serving us. A good laugh was had when I pushed the attention bell. Curiosity got the better of me and I was only 100% sure it was the attention bell after I had pressed it. Caused a bit of a stir amongst the staff I tell ya. Sorry folks, as you were.Anything Goes
After the meal and a bit of shopping in the ¥100 shop it was back to a bar beside our place for a beer. At €5 for a small glass of beer it was only ever going to be one but the bar itself seemed to be a bar second and a dog boutique first. Some exquisite, and hideously expensive, dog threads in there, to accompany your beers. They even had a range of dog shades, titled Doggles. Yep, I kid you not. Oh, which reminds me, we saw 2 dogs in Nikko the day before; one with an Adidas vest and another with shades. Honest. Hey, don't forget, anything goes in Japan. Anything. See you in Osaka.
