Day 4: Fushimi Shrine and the Gion District and its Geishas

While relaxing yesterday at the onsen, we came to realize (in the spirit of being relaxed) that our trip was already halfway over but there remains many places we have yet to see! For the two days we have left, one of the must-sees is the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Right after breakfast, we took the train about 10 minutes to get to to this shrine in the southeastern part of the city.

The Fushimi Inari shrine is one of the most well-known, most photographed sites in Kyoto (probably Japan as well)... in fact, it was used twice in Memoirs of a Geisha where Sayuri was running to reach the shrine to pray. This massive shrine complex dates back to the 8th century (711 A.D.), and spreads across the the Inari hilll. Shrines are connected by pathways lined with red torii gates of various sizes. Inari, the Shinto god of rice, is worshipped here, and inscribed on these gates are offerings by the worshippers in hopes for a successful harvest. Nowadays, many of these gates are sponsored by large corporations, and we were told the going price for 1 gate is about 1M-Yen (~$10k USD). There are more than 10,000 gates here.

Cleansing stations are located at the entrance to all Shinto shrines such that the worshipper can "cleanse their hearts and bodies" before praying. Holding the ladle with the right hand, first the left hand is rinsed, then vice versa. Then, water is poured from the ladle onto the left hand for drinking (I never saw anyone do this probably because of sanitary reasons), and finally, the ladle is held vertically so its water runs backwards and washes the handle (for the next person).

The Inari path follows a 4km loop up the hill. As we ascended, there are a few small tea houses where we can rest and have a cup of tea (and have a nice hot bowl of noodles as a reward for our efforts). Pretty neat how these rest stops are so relaxing in the middle of the woods, and there were surprisingly few people overall at the Fushimi shrine.

Apparently, more than one-third(!) of the Shinto shrines with full-time priests in Japan are dedicated to Inari (as well as many smaller road-side or unmanned shrines). Stone statues of foxes are also present throughout the grounds, and are seen as messengers of Inari. These fox statues come in pairs, and often have etchings of a key, jewels, or rice in its mouth -- all to symbolize the granting of the harvest. According to Wikipedia, inari-zushi, or fried tofu sushi, is often brought by worshippers to place in front of these foxes as it is believed they like tofu. It is also said that the rest stops on the path serve "inari ramen" with tofu, but we did not understand the menus well enough to know if this was true.

Personally, I found it quite invigorating walking through this shrine, especially given the importance of rice in my diet. That, and it was quite a nice place to take photographs :).

On our way to the Gion district in the western Higashiyama ward of Kyoto, we also stopped at the shrine for the god of fish (just kidding) -- Ganko Zushi was recommended by Frommer's and Lonely Planet as a lively, good-deal for sushi in Kyoto. After my complaining for not having real sushi (not that salted mackerel Sabazushi) since we got here, we went just to see how different it was compared to the US.

Luckily for us, the waitress not only spoke English, but she had something like 7 different menus (not all in English) with choices for various bargain deals. Since we already took a break at the shrine, we just decided to sample a few small items. On the left hand side are (clockwise): salmon, hisage (small type of tuna), unagi with cucumber, and buri (larger type of hamachi). Hisage and buri were both recommended as the seasonal local fish -- normally hamachi is my favorite, but buri was quite tough and less fragrant. Buri was really good... very soft and better than regular tuna. Also, the wasabi was very granular compared to the pasty stuff they serve in the US. We also got a plate of futomaki for some non-fish sushi.

Gion is known as the pleasure district of Kyoto (not the red light district) where, since the 18th century, travellers and locals have been entertained by storytellers and performing artists in tea houses. The very first of these entertainers, or geishas ("artists"), were men, but the tradition has since become exclusively managed, performed, and controlled by women. More on this later.

The Gion district has many old houses, or machiya, that remain of historic construction. These are very small, narrow homes (but very deep), and come from an era when the value of a house (and taxes paid) was determined by the width of its front door. All the machiyas have very narrow doors. Nowadays, some of these machiyas have been converted to restaurants that are open to the public -- these have red lanterns in the front, drapes over their doors (indicating service), and a menu outside with prices. Other machiyas, however, may have a lantern or a name on the door, but no menu or drapes. These are ochayas, or tea houses, and it is in these private buildings where the rich can have food, alcohol, and geishas performances. In fact, it is along this main strip in Gion that is named "place to see the 'flowers and willows'." Many tourists and Japanese men alike wait outside the teahouses to get a glimpse of the "flowers."

The Ichiriki Ochaya, at almost 300 years old, pretty much at the center of the Gion district, is the most famous of these teahouses. It apparently has historical symbolism as the location where samurai plotted against the Shogun during the Meiji Restoration. Many of the buildings in Gion have these convex bamboo slats on the outer walls (see left side of the Ichiriki photo) -- apparently, these prevented unwanted outsiders from leaning against the wall and eavesdropping.

In order to learn about the world of the Geisha, we took a walking tour with the Kyoto Tourism Council. Our guide, Yumi, studied at UC Santa Barbara and did a great job. Before meeting for that walk, however, we went for a brief snack at Kagizen Yoshifusa, a famous sweet store in the Gion district. Instead of ordering (almost!) warabimochi, we shared a kuzu kiri (their specialty) which consists of cold, clear arrowroot noodles dipped in a dark molasses-like syrup with hints of sesame. You can use chopsticks to eat many desserts, but this is the only dessert I've ever seen that can only be eaten with chopsticks (the noodles are very slippery). The tearoom nicely looks out onto a quaint little garden (in the middle of a busy city).

Our walking tour encircled various corners and nooks of Gion. Yumi explained that the geiko, the Kyoto word for geisha, actually infers female performer (compared to the era with male performers). Unfortunately, she says, many foreigners and even Japanese people have a false notion that geikos are prostitutes, when in fact they are not allowed to have a relationship in their profession (those who decide to marry must retire according to protocol). These girls start their rigorous training at the age of 15, and learn traditional Japanese dancing, musical instruments, mannerisms and poise, and etiquette among the elite socialites. Yumi took us along the alley ways where the current schools, boarding houses, and hair dressers for the maiko, or those who achieve the highest apprentice level, live for their trade. While there are many sad stories of young impoverished girls forced into the business (such as in Memoirs), Yumi explained that nowadays it would be a high honor for a young modern woman to become a successful geiko (similar to becoming a famous prima ballerina). In fact, there is a shortage of new apprentices because few women are willing to tolerate the tough training when other occupational choices are possible. However, successful geikos make quite a lot of money, and are culturally revered for their talents. After all, their clients are limited to those of high wealth or status: invitation to this private group is only possible through an existing member (once you're in, you're taken care of), and typical evenings cost as much as 1M-yen. Famous politicians, including Queen Elizabeth, have attended such performances. It is said that men use these invitations to conduct business deals, and it is not uncommon for them to bring their wife and children to the ochaya to see the geiko perform.

Gion has many famous names in the geiko world, such as Yachiyo Inoue, who have been nationally recognized as the preserver of ancient Kyoto dance styles (she used to head the local maiko school). Another man down the street makes elaborate hair pieces (that are incredibly expensive) that are worn by the maikos, or are given as gifts by the clients to the geikos. The rice paper balls (see left), are made by a man (supposedly the only one who can make them in Japan) and are filled with trinkets -- these are also bought as gifts to be given to maikos. The handwriting on these balls are signatures by Japanese movie stars. Many of these niche artisans have become famous in their crafts in beautifying the geiko and her artistry.

A geiko or maiko can be identified (as opposed to a local woman wearing a kimono) because they are often walking very fast (despite the limited movement by their clothing) as they have many appointments from one ochaya to the next. Some of the many details that are seen in maikos include elaborate hair pieces, specific hair styles (takes hours to do), elaborate silk clothing, more blush on the cheeks and eye area, and only partially painted lips. Yumi also explained the unpainted back of the neck is because that is one part of the body most treasured by men, and therefore it is "nude." In comparison to the maiko, a full geiko has sometimes more plain fashion, a more natural complexion, few to no hair pieces, and sometimes wear a wig -- her beauty is in her mature art form. Yumi said that she had wanted to be a geiko when she was young, but paid to try on the entire outfit -- she found out the headpiece and huge clothing is very very heavy, and that she could barely stand up, let alone move and dance.

We saw this woman coming out from one of the okiyas. Based on what you know, do you think she is a geiko or a maiko?

One of the biggest inaccuracies in Memoirs of a Geisha is the auctioning of Sayuri's virginity, which Yumi says never happens. Another inaccuracy that I found, however, is that in the movie, the geishas are beautiful. This maiko that we spotted, however, had scary teeth (click on photo to enlarge). No offense, but maybe her client should give the gift of a dentist appointment?

She came out from her boarding house to meet a friend, gave her something quickly, and then ran back into her okiya. Within the few seconds, though, everyone on the street stopped to gawk. They're okay with us taking photos of them as long as we do not touch or chase after them. Given we were there in the early evening (they normally entertain until the early morning), we were pretty lucky to have spotted her.

After our tour, we took Yumi's recommendation to check out an okonomiyaki restaurant in Gion. These are savory pancakes with various ingredients -- we ordered one that had yam and beef tendons, and another with seafood (recommendations by our waitress). This was served with two onigiris. The fun part was having it cook on our table-top griddle. We could get okonomiyakis back in California, but we had to just try everything locally. It tasted really home-made and fresh, and was well done... but we liked yesterday's kaiseki meal more.

On our way back to the hotel, we walked across the Sanjo bridge to the Pontocho street famous for its numerous restaurants (originally we had wanted to go there for dinner). Many of the restaurants had beautiful doorways, and ranged from affordable to >$100USD/person. Unfortunately, many also were only in Japanese, so we might have had a hard time ordering if we had gone there instead.

Luckily a local cake shop spoke English and were selling cakes for Christmas Eve, so we were able to buy some dessert and bring it back to the hotel to eat in front of the TV. Thus ends our 4th day in Kyoto!!