Deep Kyoto

good places - good people

梅花祭 ~ Plum Blossom & Geisha at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

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Tenmangu Ume 2

Kitano Tenmangu Shrine has a huge flea market on the 25th of every month, but on the 25th of February this coincides with the peak period for plum blossom viewing. Naturally this calls for a special celebration so every year they hold a special outdoor tea ceremony with geiko and maiko (Kyoto’s geisha) serving the tea. I went along today and found the place packed out with people. Despite the crowds though I could still enjoy the blossom.

Tenmangu ume

There was a long queue of people lining up for tea with the geisha. For 1,500 yen you can get matcha tea and some kind of traditional Japanese sweet…

Tenmangu line (Medium)

I’m not a big fan of matcha tea, so I opted to peek over the fence with these guys instead.

Tenmangu peek (Medium)

Unlike all the other fellows straining for that perfect maiko shot, I did not have a massive telephoto lens, and so I didn’t really think I’d be able to get a decent picture. But one lady there today, happened to be taller than all the other maiko.

Tenmangu Geisha 2

She was quite literally head and shoulders above the rest.

KitanoTenmangu

Plum blossom at Kitano Tenmangu will be viewable until mid-March. To get there take Kyoto City Bus #50, and get off at Kitano Tenmangu-mae. The shrine is open from 9:00~17:00 (7:00～21:00 on the 25th for the flea market). Find out more at the Kitano Tenmangu website: www.kitanotenmangu.or.jp/

Maiko at Yasaka Jinja

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Maiko at Yasaka Jinja Setsubun (Medium)Maiko, Kyoto’s apprentice geisha, at Yasaka Jinja today celebrating Setsubun.

First they do a little dance
First they do a little dance
Then they throw their lucky beans
Then they throw their lucky beans
Both the maiko and the crowds were awfully excited about those lucky beans...
Both the maiko and the crowds were awfully excited about those lucky beans…

Setsubun is celebrated at Yasaka Jinja every year in both the 2nd and 3rd of February, though the festival proper is on the 3rd. To learn more about the traditions associated with Setsubun read John Dougill’s marvellous blog: Green Shinto.

Along the Takasegawa: Pontocho and Kiyamachi

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Old, quiet memories in a wild, new world

The Takasegawa Canal

Ian Ropke writes…
img_8479-mediumThis month, if you have the time, consider strolling down the Takegawa Canal along the lively, yet always interesting, world of Kiyamachi and Pontocho. Though the Takasegawa is called a river in Japanese, it is actually a canal, built with thousands of laborers. This is quite amazing, when you consider that the canal runs from Nijo all the way down to the Yodo River in Fushimi/Chushojima, a distance of some 15 kilometers. The water in the river was siphoned off from the Kamogawa River, and the canal ran parallel to the river until Jujo Street, at which point it crossed the river and continued in a southeasterly direction until it merged with the Ujigawa River.

The giant Takasegawa Canal was the brilliant idea of one man: Suminokura Ryoi (1554-1614), a prominent 16th/17th-century Kyoto merchant and overseas trader, who was responsible for a number of visionary projects in Kyoto. A colorful figure of great confidence, Suminokura boldly proposed and funded the construction of the canal, which had a huge impact on Kyoto commerce and also greatly facilitated his own business activities. He was born in Kyoto, to a family of physicians and money lenders. In the 1590s, he obtained an official license to engage in overseas trade from Toyotomi Hideyoshi and quickly built up a fortune trading with Annam and Tonkin (both located in present-day Vietnam). [Read more…]