The Charm of 'old' Japan

Takayama – old town theme (23 Apr 2007). We had not seen a more scenic photo shot any where in the world than the bright red Takayama Bridge with the full bloom of Sakura trees along the banks of the river leading to it. We thanked God for His grace in giving us the perfect timing to visit Takayama in the mountains. What better way to view the authentic shop houses of 16th and 17th Century Japan than to bicycle? We both enjoyed ourselves cycling with the cool breeze on our backs through these shop houses.

Takayama retained its old 17th Century charm with several old houses still maintained and lived in. These houses were painted black. With the sakura trees in blossom the town was picturesque with colours of pink interspered on black houses and coloured bridges. We strolled and cycled, weaving our way through narrow lanes lined by old shop houses selling souvenirs and Japanese cookies. There were sake shops and wine shops like pubs. We discovered that food estbalishments that served alcohol will indicate this by a lovable beaver-racon character called Tanuki.

On the way to Takayama, we saw on the hill slopes, the differing green colours of young leaves of different fir and cypress trees interspersed with light pink wild cherry blossoms or magnolias like white clouds in a seas of differing green. We passed streams and rivers of pristine clear waters and manicured small farms. The Japanese houses were quite small. What was distinctive were the temple styled roofs; each house having several tiered sloping roofs covering various rooms. We passed several small tea plantations by the hill sides.

Gion Tea-houses

Gion – home of the Geishas (25 and 27 Apr 2007) Gion was Kyoto’s famous Geisha district. We wandered along the alleys in the evenings and chanced upon several meikos and geishas all elegantly dressed in their brightly coloured kimonos making their way to the traditional tea-houses where their clients await them. Along the Hanami-koji were 17the Century traditional restaurants and tea-houses. At the Gion corner is the Miyako Odori theatre where for Y1,900 we were treated to 45 minutes of Japanese dances and music in traditional kimonos. The Gion corner theatre introduced us to the traditional tea ceremony, flower arrangement (ikebana), koto music, court music(gagaku), comic play (kyogen), Kyoto-style dance (kyomai) and puppet play (bunraku) for a ticket price of Y2,800. The meikos and geishas were very shy and they quietly moved along the back alleys to their destinations. Invariably crowds of photographers would be waiting along corner to take several photos. Strolling through Gion made us feel as though we had gone back in time.