Gion Streets and Kodai-ji

Gion is an area of Kyoto with a high concentration of temples and shrines. Growing up around them, as everywhere, homes and businesses. It also overlapped a famous hanamachi, a " flower town" or geiko district. If you're familar with the book or movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, Gion is where much of the story takes place. There are still teahouses where geiko and maiko entertain today. However, they only walk on closed streets to avoid being accosted by tourists.

After a walk through the area, we came to our destination, Kodai-ji. It was established in 1606 in memory of Toyotomi Hideyoshi by his wife Nene. It's part of the Rinzai sect of Buddhism. Both Hideyoshi and Nene are enshrined here. In addition to that great historical connection, there's a tea house designed for the famous tea master Sen no Rikyu.

A note on Hideyoshi, I have some little knowledge of Japanese history, and he's a very interesting figure to me. His enshrinement here is why this temple was a must see. He's a huge figure in Japanese history, a man risen from the peasantry who united the nation. A tough man from tough times.

Bonus pictures: a cute Peter Rabbit store in GionRead more