Kamishichiken

Sunday was considerably more entertaining. After emailing in my paper, my host sister and I went to lunch in Kamishichiken, which is actually the oldest geisha district in Kyoto. The restaurant that we went to was 140 years-old, in a 200 year-old building, and only served one thing for lunch: oyako-don. Luckily, I love oyako-don, which is spelled with the characters for ‘parent’ and ‘child’, and consists of chicken and egg over rice with a little seasoning. I addition to being a lovely setting, it is also not very expensive, at about 400yen a head. After that, we decided to walk around the district, which is beautiful. While Gion is the most famous and the most well-preserved, it feels extremely fake and is filled with hordes of tourists. Pontocho feels like something that you discover on accident, that you wouldn’t even know was a geisha district if there wasn’t a sign on the street in front of it, but Kamishichiken still has its old-fashioned houses and store-fronts, cobbled stone streets and a calming and quiet quality. We stopped at a couple stores here, the first one sold purses of all sizes and descriptions made out of kimono fabrics and very reasonably priced. The next one that we stepped into sold extremely upscale kimono accessories, but the women that ran it were extremely nice, and one even told me that she was rooting for the Rockies when I told her that I was from Colorado. When we came out on the other side, we were at Kitano Tenmango, one of the major shrines in Kyoto, which is home to a shinto god of learning, who is a bull. Because of this, it is a favourite pilgrimage place for students and concerned parents. The most famous ‘omamori,’ or shinto protection charm, for good grades is the one that they sell at Kitano Tenmangu. Also, because it was once the site of a massive tea ceremony gathering, it is also often the site of tea ceremony recitals. While on the grounds of the shrine, we ran into a Kamishichiken maiko-san! Again, she was not too busy to stop for a picture with me, and was very nice about the whole thing. After this we walked down to the Nishijin textile district, where they have been producing fine silks since before the capital was moved to Kyoto before the 9th century AD. They had a display there of kimono used in Noh performances, which were beautifully patterned and filled with colour and texture. After this we went to the Nishijin Textile Centre, where there is a kimono fashion show every hour or so, displays of kimono weaving and dyeing techniques, and a large gift shop. You can also dress up in different styles of kimono and get photographed for set amounts of money. We had stopped at a café near Kitano Tenmangu that sold tofu-based desserts that were actually very nice (the grape tart was excellent), but when we got back to the house a family member was visiting, and had brought a delicious roll-cake, which we also ate. All in all, a very nice day.
-There is something called a ‘Kimono Passport’ which, if you have it and are wearing a kimono, will get you discounts at places all around Kyoto. It’s free, and available at various kimono stores and the Nishijin textile center.
-I have noticed something with my own host family members, and after asking my Japanese teacher about it she confirmed that it’s fairly common: when we order at a restaurant or café, we’ll always all order the same thing. Usually I’ll order something and then they’ll follow suit.
-Kamishichiken is my favourite geisha district thus far, though I think that I’m going to have to try them all..
-Some of the exclusive restaurants and teahouses in these districts don’t even have signs out front. I guess that if you don’t know that it’s there then you probably don’t belong there.
-I believe once a year or so, maiko-san give the stores that they often patronize fans with their names written on them as a sort of ‘thank-you’. They are round ‘uchiwa’ style ones and always prominently displayed in the shop.