After returning from Himeji, we fed Emma, left her in the Hotel with Sue and headed out to Gion. The traditional section of Kyoto where the Geisha live (or at least used to) and perform. The most famous tea house there is the Ichiriki tea house, mentioned in the book "Memoirs of a Geisha".
All of the buildings in this street are traditional timber buildings. Apparently its quite difficult for tourists to book a tea ceremony at these houses without being a guest of someone who is known there. They do have a theatre called "Gion Corner" that has a 50 minute performance of traditional Japanese arts, including :-
A Tea Ceremony
Kyoto Music
Flower Arangements
Gagaku (Court Music)
Kyogen (Ancient comic play)
Kyomai (Kyoto Style Dance)
Bunraku (Puppet Play)
Its sounds a lot, but each one only went for a few minutes, which was fine by me. I though the most interesting was the puppet play, as unlike western style puppets, the puppeteer is visible, and quite often there are more than one operating each puppet. The puppeteer does wear a black gown and mask, so it obvious they are not part of the play, just controlling it.
Sharon was really happy, as this was the one thing she wanted to do In Kyoto. She is re-reading "Memoirs of a Geisha" right now.
This display at Gion Corner cost 3,125 Yen each, (approx. $32). So far this has been the most expensive thing we have done, as I've mentioned before I'm surprised at how cheap Japan can be. Most temples and monuments etc cost less than $10 to get in per adult, and children under 5 (sometimes 7) at most things are free.
Its cost us virtually nothing to travel with Emma, as she rides the subway for free (where it costs us about $2.50 per trip), she didn't need a Japan Rail pass, which are worth a few hundred dollars and she gets into museums and temples for free. Apart from airfare and accommodation, its not expensive to bring small children to Japan.
After Gion Corner we walked back into Kyoto and as we were passing a tea house, some real Geisha exited a party (must have been some special event, as crowds were gathered to see them exit, and the guests were picked up in Rolls Royces and assorted super high end Mercs and BMWs). I managed to snap a few pics, one of which is at the top of this blog entry.
We decided to get dinner, but had difficulty, as it seems most restaurants in Kyoto close at 10pm. And its Friday night !!. Unfortunately it was McDonalds or starve, so McDonalds it was. I had a Teriyaki burger, a food event I won't be repeating.
Read more about Gion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gion
Tonights pics
http://flickr.com/photos/sg_harrison/sets/72157604481761156/
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