Strolling around Kyoto Streets

Take a walk and enjoy, Kyoto never disappoints you!

Takako Sakamoto May 19, 2014 - 2 min read

<p>Twilight: Shirakawa Street, Kyoto</p>

<p>Kyoto National Museum in Higashiyama, Kyoto</p>

<p>Crow on the grounds of Kyoto National Museum, Higashiyama, Kyoto</p>

<p>Kyoto Shijo Minami-za Kabuki Theater, Shijo, Kyoto</p>

<p>Exquisite roof of Kyoto Shijo Minami-za Kabuki Theater, Shijo, Kyoto</p>

<p>Small shrine on a sidewalk of Shirakawa Street</p>

<p>Looks like a traditional Japanese inn, but it turned out to be a parking lot run by Kyoto City! (along Kamogawa River, near Shijo)</p>

<p>Kyoto Shijo Minamiza Kabuki Theater and the moon in the sky</p>

<p>Statue of Okuni, the primogenitor of Kabuki, along Kamogawa River near Shijo Ohashi (Shijo Bridge)</p>

<p>People enjoying dinner at restaurants along Kamogawa River near Shijo Ohashi (Shijo Bridge)</p>

<p>Western solo violinist entertaining people strolling along Kamogawa River</p>

<p>Japanese cake shop near Shijo Ohashi (Shijo Bridge)</p>

<p>Close-up of Japanse cake 'Manju' in a Japanese cake shop</p>

I have to confess: Although I've visited Kyoto many times in my life and I even LIVED in the suburbs of Kyoto, I'd never done sightseeing or strolled around the streets there without purpose. But for the first time in my life, the chance arose! I don't know why but I just suddenly wanted to wander through the city. I asked the concierge at the hotel I was staying, 'Where is the most Kyoto-like place I should go?', and she told me some names of places. As I couldn't choose, she decided the destination for me. Shirakawa Street. I hailed a cab and the driver dropped me off at the riverside walk there. And I found out...just strolling around the streets in Kyoto was such a joy! I didn't exactly know where I was strolling, but it was FUN! You don't even need a map to do so, and people are kind to tourists, so just grab your purse and camera, and go for a stroll!

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...