Shirakawa and Tatsumi Bridge - Gion by the Water

A stop on Kyoto: Higashiyama and Gion on Foot, a free self-guided tour.

Your walk ends in Gion Shinbashi, where willow branches trail over the shallow Shirakawa canal and wooden teahouses back onto the water. Together with Sannenzaka, this was among the first districts in Japan given national protection as a historic townscape, in 1976.

The little Tatsumi Bridge crosses on a slant beside Tatsumi Daimyojin, a tiny neighborhood shrine where maiko and geiko are said to stop and pray for progress in their arts. A short way along the canal, a stone carved with a poem by the writer Yoshii Isamu, who loved Gion's teahouse life, marks the site of a teahouse he knew well. Each November 8 the women of Gion Kobu hold a small festival there in his memory.

Linger a while; evening here is lovely. But residents and businesses are at work, so speak softly, keep off doorsteps, and if a geiko hurries past on her way to an appointment, give her room and let the moment stay a memory.

Getting here: Cross Shijo-dori and walk north up Yamato-oji-dori about three minutes, then turn right along the canal on Shirakawa-minami-dori to Tatsumi Bridge.

Did you know?: The buildings on the canal's north bank were torn down during World War II as a firebreak, which is why one side is now an open, cherry-lined path that is lit on spring evenings.

Photo op: From the foot of Tatsumi Bridge, frame the bridge, the shrine's red fence and the willows over the water; do not block the bridge, which locals use to get to work.

Shirakawa and Tatsumi Bridge - Gion by the Water

Stops on this tour