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Kodai-ji Temple gardens, Kyoto<br />
Kyoto<br />
For many centuries Kyoto was Japan’s capital and<br />
to this day it retains the nation’s greatest and<br />
most glorious concentration of cultural treasures.<br />
Kyoto is the Japan of the imagination: a city of<br />
grand palaces, ornate shrines and exquisite<br />
gardens, mercifully spared from the World War II<br />
bombing that razed other Japanese cities.<br />
However, Kyoto has not stood still, and this is<br />
undeniably a modern city where pockets of<br />
ancient Japan nonetheless linger and kimono-clad<br />
geisha still shuffle along narrow, lamp-lit streets.<br />
We have sought out some of Japan’s finest<br />
ryokan to allow you to experience their magical<br />
atmosphere and to ensure that your visit to<br />
Kyoto is one of the highlights of your time in<br />
Japan. Such is the wealth of attractions in Kyoto<br />
that we recommend at least a few days here<br />
to soak it all in.<br />
YOSHIKAWA RYOKAN, KYOTO<br />
The Yoshikawa Ryokan in Kyoto is one of a<br />
small group of much sought-after Japanese inns.<br />
The service is refined and the rooms, furnished<br />
in traditional style, look onto the exquisite<br />
garden with its pond filled with koi carp. You will<br />
sleep on a plump futon bed which is laid out and<br />
then removed in the morning by your maid.<br />
The Yoshikawa Ryokan is renowned for its<br />
famous tempura restaurant, which is certainly<br />
worth sampling.<br />
Geisha district walk<br />
The image of a geisha dressed in a fine silk<br />
kimono and teetering on wooden geta<br />
sandals is one of the most iconic, yet perhaps<br />
most misunderstood, symbols of Japan.<br />
Scores of books have been written about<br />
the elusive world of the geisha, many<br />
hundreds of photographers have tried to<br />
capture the beauty and grace of the women,<br />
and numerous films have been made<br />
depicting the stories of refined tea house<br />
entertainment, strict okiya training houses<br />
and, of course, the love, lust and romance<br />
that have long been associated with the<br />
geisha community. In their 1920s heyday,<br />
there were more than 80,000 geisha in Japan.<br />
Today, based mostly in Kyoto’s hanamachi<br />
districts (literally ‘flower towns’), there are<br />
fewer than 2,000. Geisha attend private<br />
functions, entertaining both male and female<br />
guests and can be see scuttling between<br />
appointments in the Gion district every<br />
evening. They can also be seen performing<br />
traditional dances at exclusive restaurants<br />
around the city or at luxury ryokan, although<br />
these private engagements come with a high<br />
price tag. A far more accessible way to see<br />
geisha is to take an evening walk around<br />
Geisha, Gion<br />
Gion with our guide Duncan and his wife<br />
Izumi who have been working with <strong>Audley</strong><br />
since 2005 to help shed some light on the<br />
exclusive and mysterious world of the geisha<br />
and other aspects of Japanese culture.<br />
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