More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

  Sagimai, the Dance of the Herons, is an elegant,  medieval dance that originates in the Gion Matsuri, the Kyoto festival that is  the most...

After leaving Usa Hachimangu and heading towards the Kunisaki Peninsula I chose to avoid the main road and instead headed through the ...

Well, this place is about as familiar as any in Japan, recognizable to anyone who has been to Kyoto, it is of course the entrance to Yasaka ...

Known locally as Toki Shrine, the Wakamiya Hachimangu is located near Gojo a little south of Gion in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. This...

Ebisu Shrine in Gion is just across the road from Kennin-Ji, the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. Both were built in 1202 and the Ebisu shrine wa...

The Gion district of Kyoto is one of the most familiar places to visitors to Japan, and whiles I try to concentrate on posts that are more u...

Not much I can add to the title, except to give locations. This first one is from a farmhouse in the village of Yairoishi, up in the mountai...

These 2 young ladies in Gion were being photographed by a whole gaggle of foreign tourists who most probably believed they were seeing maiko...

The Three Wise Monkeys, Kikazaru who hears no evil, Mizaru, who sees no evil, & Iwazaru, who speaks no evil. Behind them thousands of Sa...

Just got back from a couple of days in Kyoto. It's Obon season, and we were up visiting Yoko's family in Gion. Last night we went up...