By: Madeline Clasen

On our last day in Kyoto, we all woke up to eat breakfast and check out of our hotel. Then we were off to explore the offerings of the city. My research project partner, Athena, and I decided to check out Gion, the geisha district in Kyoto. We were hopeful that we might spot a few maiko, or geisha apprentices while there. Sadly, we didn’t see any geisha or maiko, but we did see a lot of people wearing yukata, a lighter cotton version of kimono worn in the summertime.

Gion is a neighborhood with many narrow twisting streets and traditional wooden houses and buildings. While there we visited various craft and souvenir shops and also stopped for some green tea flavored ice cream. It was also very hot outside so I stopped in one of the shops specializing in Japanese paper fans. With the weather as hot as it’s been these past few days, I think it will definitely come in handy.

One of the popular streets in Gion

We also visited the nearby Yasaka Shrine and took a walk in Marayuma park. We also hiked up to a Buddhist temple, where we took our shoes off outside before going in to take a look at the temple’s statues. In the park, we saw some koi fish swimming in the pond, and some beautiful traditional bridges and architecture.

The main gate to Yasaka Shrine

On the way back towards the station we were delighted by the roadside Buddhist statues and alters. Nearby signs instruct visitors to touch the statues for good luck and merit. We made sure to touch the ones we passed by. Hopefully we accumulated a lot of luck and merit to help us with our project here in Japan.

Instructions for touching roadside statues

One of the roadside statues near Gion

After a long day of walking through Gion and visiting shrines and temples, we hopped on the train and headed back to Kyoto station to catch our Shinkansen, or bullet train, back to Tokyo. The train travels at speeds close to 320 mph, meaning the trip that would take more than 5 hours by car, takes less than three hours by train.

Before getting on, we stopped in a shop in the station to buy an ekiben, a pre-made bento box available on trains and in train stations in Japan. There were lots of options to choose from and often times train stations sell bentos with regional ingredients or foods specific to the area. I decided on a Kansai region bento box, with lots of different types of vegetable side dishes.

Opening the bento to eat on the train

After our train ride back to Tokyo station, we all rode back to Sakura hotel and checked back in for some rest and relaxation before we start back to class at Meiji University on Monday morning. Kyoto was a wonderful experience jam packed with exciting things to do, see, and eat. I definitely hope to return to Kyoto in the future.