Pretend Maiko

Walking back through Gion, we spotted these ladies. They weren't shy like the ladies in the last pic, nor were they in a hurry. I asked permission if I could take their photo, and got greeted with a very friendly Canadian accented "yes"! These ladies were tourists just like us, playing dress-ups to have a good time. What a great way to meet other tourists, though I am sure the real Maiko would not approve. What do they say " When in Rome.........."

Once again I just loved the costumes, pretend or not.

Geiko and Maiko

Geiko is the Kyoto dialect word for what we know as Geisha. What I did learn though is that we would never see a real Geiko or Geisha. These ladies may have been Maiko. What is the difference? A Geiko ( Geisha ) is highly prized and protected, surrounded by body guards, and slipped into and out of buildings with the utmost discretion. A Maiko is an apprentice Geiko.

Gieko  ( or Geisha ) entertain with dance, music, playing instruments, performing tea ceremonies and conversation. They are highly trained professionals whose main objective is to make guests feel at ease.

Whether these ladies are Geiko, Maiko, or just ladies playing dress-ups for the tourists, I loved the costumes! I would have loved to have touched, felt and turned inside out to see how they were made. That was a no-no though, these ladies are treated with the utmost respect, and do not stay still for photos. I was lucky to get this one.

Transport

Transport in Japan has moved on from the rickshaw, there are cars, buses, trains and planes now. I had forgotten about rickshaws though until I saw this one waiting for a customer. Yes, the rickshaw does still exhist, I saw a few of them in my travels in Japan. Though I think they are mainly for the tourist market to say we have had a ride in one. We walked, caught buses, taxi's, trains & ferries, but sadly no ride in a rickshaw. I must add here that all the rickshaw "pullers" were very trim! I wonder why?

Shopping

On the walk back down the hill, it was very much dusk, and the lights were on in all the shops. We passed this one, which I thought was just beautiful. Just fans! Yes, we can buy fans in Australia, but a shop that just sells fans and nothing but? I haven't seen one like this before. How stunning is this?

Kiyomizu Temple

At the top of the hill in Gion was the prize we were looking for, The Kiyomizu Temple. Originally founded in 798, a lot of the buildings weren't built until the 1600's. Unfortunatley, it was being restored when we were there, so most of it was covered with scaffolding and cloth. A little dissapointing, as we had travelled such a long way to see it. Not to worry, the walk back down the hill at dusk was more interesting than the walk up.

Sunset Over Kyoto

It was late in the afternoon when we walked up the narrow street in Gion, Kyoto, Japan. As we walked up the hill we turned & looked back to see this stunning view. If you click on the pic, you will see Kyoto, a great mix of the old and the new.

A Kyoto View

As we made our way up the hill of the little narrow street in Gion, Kyoto, Japan. this is one of the views we got as we looked back. A view over the more modern part of Kyoto, with high rise buildings. It's a little hazy, as it was very hot that day. Temperatures in the 30's! If you look closely, you will see mountains in the background, high rise contrasting with old, and touches of autumn in the leaves.

Gion Building

This is just one of the buildings in Gion, Kyoto, Japan, that took my eye. We were on a mission, and this cute little building was on the way. It was one of the very few single story buildings that I saw, if not the only single story building that I saw! I am not sure what the building was. We had passed lots of shops that were open, and this one didn't appear to be open. There was no-one out the front attracting customers either. There were signs on the building, but I couldn't read them. It may have been a tea house, or the entrance to some boutique hotel that sprawled down the hill behind. Who knows, I just found it interesting.

Gion

Gion is a district in Kyoto, Japan,  Apparently it developed way back in the Middle Ages in front a shrine. The age of the district is apparent with the narrow streets we experienced.

This photo was taken late in the afternoon and I was surprised to see so many people still out and about shopping. Though I found out later that the shops in Japan stay open until very late. At least  the ones that I experienced stayed open  until way  after 9.30 pm. There were many shops along this street, all kinds of strange food, some of it black which I was not game to taste. Things in packets that I could not read. There were fan shops, clothing stores, food stores, souvenir stores, and much more. A lot of them were aimed at the tourist market, which of course included us. Yes, I did buy something, but more on that later. This street was very interesting and there was a prize for climbing right to the end, but more on that later too.