23 November 2016
Yasaka Jinya Shrine, also known as Gion Shrine, is one of the most famous shrines in Kyoto. Founded over 1350 years ago, the shrine is located between the popular Gion District and Higashiyama District and we walked pass it a few times already over the last 2 days as our hotel (APA Hotel Kyoto Gion Excellent) was less than 100m in front of it.
Since we had an early dinner, we decided to spend the night exploring the area around Gion and Yasaka Shrine was our first stop.
Just after the entrance gate, there were stalls of street food vendors hawking their wares. Further down, there was a dance stage with hundreds of lit lanterns in front of the main shrine building. Each lantern bears the name of a local business in return for a donation.
Hundreds of lit lanterns in front of the main Yasaka Shrine building.
Visitors making a prayer in front of the main shrine building.
There is also a night market with stores selling food and snacks in the shrine’s premises.
In our last visit to Gion, we had explored the more famous Hanami-dori area where there were plenty of exclusive and expensive of Kyoto's restaurants where guests were entertained by geishas.
Another scenic part of Gion is the Shirakawa Area which runs along the Shirakawa Canal, parallel and north of Shijo Dori. We went to this area after seeing the Yasaka Shrine. Some would claim that Shirakawa Dori is one of the most beautiful streets within Kyoto. On both sides of the street, there are beautiful wooden restaurants and inns.
The Shirakawa Canal or stream ran along this street with shops, restaurants and tea houses on one side of it. This is a nice place for an evening walk. This was a quieter and less touristy place compared with other parts of Gion.
On the other side, there were willow trees, cherry blossom trees and Japanese maple trees. The majestic willow trees were the trees that caught my attention.
Their long strings of green willow leaves, lit by the streets lamps, were a nice contrast to the traditional Japanese houses along the street.
We saw a couple doing their wedding photo shoot in the night. The poor bride must be feeling very cold, dressed in her thin wedding gown while waiting for the photographer and team to get the equipment, lights and camera ready.
Shirakawa Canal or stream with shops, restaurants and tea houses on one side of it.
There are about 3-4 bridges along the stream leading to the shops and restaurants on the other side of the stream. These bridges over the Shirakawa stream made nice photo-stops.
From Shirakawa Dori, we walked southwards, passed by the Issen Yosyoku restaurant where we had our okonomiyaki lunch on our first day in Kyoto. We crossed over the Kamo River at the Gion Shijo Station to the Pontocho Alley. Pontocho Alley is a narrow alley running from Shijo-dori to Sanjo-dori, one block west of Kamogawa River.
Street musician or buskers playing outside the Gion Shijo station.
View of Kamogawa River from the Gion Shijo Station. Restaurants along the Pontocho Alley lined the opposite bank of the river.
Pontocho Alley at night.
Pontocho Alley has restaurants on both sides. As we already had our dinner on this night, we were just “window shopping” and checking out what was on offer. None caught our fancy, so we would probably not be back here for dinner while in Kyoto.
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