Hanamikoji Street in the Gion district is the best place for geiko (Kyoto dialect for geisha) or maiko (geiko apprentices) sighting. The street is filled with ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurant) and ochaya (teahouse) where geiko and maiko entertain their guests. I was lucky enough to catch sight of a geiko and maiko at Hanamikoji Street in the evening!
The entrance of Hanamikoji Street from Shijo Street at the north.
If you do spotted a geiko or maiko, do not touch them or make them stop to post for you as this is being rude. Do not lean on the walls of the buildings, smoke, eat, litter or take photo with selfie stick while strolling along Hanamikoji Street.
The historic architecture of Hanamikoji Street gives a nostalgic feel. Many of the buildings on this street has narrow facade due to the fact that property taxes were formerly based upon street frontage.
The traditional Japanese house facade offers good photo spot for visitors.
The alley of Hanamikoji Street is no less charming than the main street.
The two girls in the photo above were seen wearing Hakama (long, wide pleated skirt worn over the kimono). It was traditionally created to be worn by men, but it is now socially accepted to be worn by women as well.
A ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurant) on Hanamikoji Street. It is generally expensive to dine here. If you want to dine here, choose to come during lunch time as it is cheaper as compared to dinner.
On the second day of my stay in Kyoto, I stopped by Kyoto station briefly after visiting Arashiyama. Kyoto Tower as seen above.
Kyoto station is the main transport hub in Kyoto for train, bus and subways. Its ultra modern architecture is well worth a stopover.
There’s a tourist information centre in Kyoto station where you can get assistance with directions.
We took a bus back to Gion area and were mindlessly wandering in the alleys of Hanamikoji area while following the fastest route to Gion Corner as shown on Google Map. It was dark and raining, and we just wanted to get to the destination as quickly as possible to make it for the 7pm show.
I wasn’t prepared at all when I suddenly saw a kimono-clad women emerged from the corner of the alley. She seemed a little surprised as well like she wasn’t expecting to bump into anyone in the back alleys. But she managed a small smile and gracefully passed us by. I quickly snap a photo of her back with my camera. The rain got onto my lens and the image came out blurry but I’m positive she’s the real deal.
This is Gion Corner, a theatre that presents one-hour shows of seven performing arts in Kyoto which target foreign tourist without Japanese language skills. This is where you can watch maiko dancers at a reasonable price (around 3,150 yen) and without the traditional restriction of requiring an introduction from an existing customer.
A giant yellow pokka dot pumpkin sculpture beside the theatre caught my eye.
Unfortunately it was closed on that day! Take note that performance will be held on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays only from December till the second week of March. We went on a Thursday during the first week of March, hence it was not opened.
Feeling dejected, we walked back to the main street of Hanamikoji.
Lo and behold, I spotted another kimono-clad women with white make-up and red umbrella, much like the one I saw earlier got down from a taxi.
She walked really fast and seemed to be in a hurry, I only managed to snap three photos before she passed me by.
Her attire was slightly different than the one I saw earlier. I checked online on how to differentiate between a geiko and maiko. This one is more likely to be a maiko due to the following facts: her kimono sleeve were long, her obi looks like it drapes down to her back, her collar hang loosely and have white embroidered pattern but was mainly in red colour, she wore more elaborate hair ornaments with flowers dangling on one side, her nape showed an inverted ‘W’ shape with no white make up. Maiko usually wears okobo (high wooden sandals). However, during rainy days, it is difficult to wear okobo so maiko prefer to wear zori (shorter wooden sandals that geiko wears) instead.
In contrast, the one that I saw earlier was more likely to be a geisha. Her kimono sleeves were shorter, her obi looks like a square box knot from the back, her collar was completely white and was not loose, her hair ornament was simpler (no dangling flowers), she was also wearing zori. I did not have close up shots to examine their make up but maiko usually only have their lower lip painted in red or both their lips painted only in a thin line as they advanced while geiko have their lips fully painted in red.
So the next time you saw one but was unsure whether she is a geiko or maiko, use the tips above to differentiate them.
The maiko I saw disappeared into this restaurant which serves bite size sushi catering to geiko or maiko.
Crossed the Shijo bridge.
Decided to have dinner at a restaurant overlooking Kamo River.
It was our last night in Kyoto.
My sister ordered a tempura dinner set.
I ordered an unagi dinner set. The food was okay, mainly catering to tourist but it was a good place to rest our feet. My sister even managed to charge her cellphone here. And also credit card is accepted here.
After dinner, we collected our luggage from the hotel and headed to the waiting point of Willer Express bus in Gion area.
The Willer Express bus was an overnight bus ride to Tokyo. I departed from Kyoto at 10.30pm and reached Shinjuku early next morning around 6.30am. The seats have ‘hoodie’ which you can pull down to block out lights and for privacy. The price was only half of what you would pay for shinkansen. So it’s a money and time saver. Recommended!
This concluded my two days in Kyoto.
Hanamikoji
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