Date I went: 04/08/2020
Youtube video:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oritabi808/
Today I had a very cute sight seeing day. In this post I will take you to some more spots around the Higashiyama area in Kyoto, and see what it is like during Covid here.
Sanneizaka (Sannenzaka) 産寧坂（三年坂）
I started my adventures pretty late into the afternoon as I had been non-stop on the go traveling places. The normally packed streets of Sanneizaka were still completely empty. The Japanese government technically does not have the power to tell people to stay indoor, but most Japanese citizens follow the advisories of the government to not go out.
Shops were empty everywhere, but were still open in hopes that some customers would stop by. Many shops ended up closing the week after the pandemic advisories were announced by the government. In the bottom right picture there is a small temple on the shopping street. Temples seemed to remain open all throughout the pandemic still carrying out their services.
Starbucks Coffee Kyoto Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya (スターバックス コーヒー 京都二寧坂ヤサカ茶屋店)
Starbucks started in Seattle and is huge in Japan. Pretty much every city you go to has a Starbucks, and sometimes you can find specially designed ones like the Starbucks on Sanneizaka. It was first opened in 2017 and apparently took 10 years to complete! You might even miss seeing this Starbucks as it blends in so well with the surrounding houses.
This article I found has some more details on this Starbucks: https://matcha-jp.com/en/4652
It is designed to look like a traditional Japanese house on the exterior and interior. There is seating on the first level, but on the second level there is more traditional Japanese floor seating on tatami mats. It's usually always packed at this Starbucks, so don't expect to find a seat on the tatami mats.
Nio-mon (Kiyomizudera Temple) (清水寺仁王門)
Ni-mon temple is most beautiful in the late afternoon light. I'd highly recommend going up around 5 p.m. or so. Depending on the time of year there are also night illuminations in this area.
There was an area around Ni-mon with a bunch of small buddha statues (top right picture). Not too sure what the meaning of them was, but in a lot of temples in Japan and elsewhere in the world you can find a lot of buddhas clustered like this.
I think the most amazing views of Kyoto can be seen from this spot. You can see all the way to the Western edges of the city and Kyoto Tower is also easily viewable from here.
Hōkan-ji Temple 法観寺（八坂の塔）
Yasaka Road / Yasaka Koshindo (八坂道・八坂庚申堂)
Another very popular temple to visit around here is Hokan-ji Temple. It's a 5 storied pagoda that has traditional Japanese houses lining the sides of the pathway towards it. It's best viewed at night I would say.
These were some very creepy looking pottery pieces adorning one of the houses on the side of the pathway here. Not sure what the meaning of them was, but it definitely is eye catching.
Yasui Konpiragu (安井金比羅宮)
A local friend of mine brought me to this shrine called Yasui Konpiragu where they have this stone called an Enriki or Enmusubi stone that can grant your wishes; my nickname for it was the wishing hole.
The wishing process is simple
Step 1: Write your wish on your Katashiro (the piece of paper you can buy for 100 yen at the shrine)
Step 2: Crawl in and out of the tunnel with your paper wish in hand reciting your wish
Step 3: Stick your wish on the wishing tunnel with glue to make your wish come true
Usually the wishes people give to this particular stone have more to do with breaking up with someone or cutting off bad luck or strengthening good relationships.
Hanamikoji Street (花見小路)
This street is most well known for the Geisha that walk around here. During covid though no one was walking around of course.
Yaei Kaikan (弥栄会館)
Yaei Kaikan used to be a Kabuki theater building, but now it's not used for anything in particular.
Shin Bridge (祇園 新橋)
The Shin bridge leads into a couple very picturesque streets of Kyoto. Cars frequently drive across it as well as rickshaws pulling tourists.
Shirakawa Suji (白川筋)
One of these streets runs along a river that feeds into the Kamo River. The shops on one side of the street have bridges (as featured in the picture on the bottom right) that customers use to go into their shop. There was even a Hard Rock Cafe here that was designed in a similar Japanese traditional house style as the Starbucks on Sanneizaka. It closed during covid though.
Gion Shimbashi Traditional Buildings Preservation District (祇園新橋伝統的建造物群保存地区)
The other street leads to some more small shops and restaurants and is also a nice walk.
Wagyu Yakiniku Toku Sakura Sight (和牛焼肉 徳)
There is a street in front of the Wagyu restaurant listed above that has an amazing Sakura tree viewing area. When I came here in early April the Sakura petals had fallen by the bucket loads which made for perfect Sakura petal tossing pictures!
Comments