Hanami-koji Street, in central Kyoto, is best known for the ancient rituals that go on behind the walls of its distinctive wooden machiya houses – namely, chanoyu, an intricate, centuries-old Japanese tea ceremony, here performed by , the local term for geisha, and their apprentices. It has made Gion, the neighbourhood in which the street is located, one of the country’s most well-known (geisha districts), evolving around the historic Yasaka Shrine where geiko would have once served tea to weary travelling pilgrims.
COUNTER CULTURE
Sep 07, 2023
3 minutes
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