Saturday in Gion

Yesterday I went with a few friends to district in Kyoto called Gion. Gion is best known for being one of the most prominent Geisha districts in Japan. Although numbers of geisha have dwindled over the years, Gion is known for its cultural preservation and it's preservation of traditional architecture.

Many of the old style townhouses (machiya) remain, as well as the tea houses where geisha entertain (ochaya). There are lots of temples and shrines, and the streets and scenery are lovely.
In the first picture is the Yasaka shrine. It attracts a lot of tourists, and beyond the shrine is a park with many food stands and souvenir stands. At this time of year the fall foliage (momiji) is at its peak. There were also quite a few geisha out and about. If you ask, they'll kindly stop for photos, but most of the geisha had female assistants with them that would gently shoo the crowds away so they could continue with their errands or engagements. I was quite nervous about approaching the geisha, but I snuck a few pictures that turned out well. Most of them were Maiko, who are apprentice geisha; their clothing, makeup, and hairstyle is generally more extravagant and they attract a lot more attention.

A few 'dress up maiko' were walking about as well; in Kyoto you can pay a considerable sum of money to get done up like a geisha, have a photo shoot, and get paraded around the streets for a few hours. It led to an amusing shot of a 'geisha' checking out pictures on her digital camera.

There are a number of shops and restaurants in Gion; most of the shops were too expensive and sold things like fancy ceramics and lacquer ware, and the restaurants were mostly fine dining, it seemed. However, we went to a shop that sold Studio Ghibli merchandise and I bought a Totoro plush, a soot sprite that I can hang on a wall, and a glow in the dark kodama key chain.

My friends and I also paid a small fee to get into a temple to see a large Buddha statue up close. It was quite impressive, but I was amused by the somewhat condescending expression on its face. Upon entry we received a small pamphlet and an incense stick to offer.

We intended to visit a temple lighting, but our timing was off and the line was ridiculous by the time we reached the temple in question. All in all, it was a good day and I got some great shots.

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Here are a few more pictures: