, is a stone-paved pedestrian road and tourist attraction in Higashiyama-ku,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, Japan. The road is lined with traditional buildings and shops, and is often paired with the similar road,

Ninenzaka Ninenzaka, or Ninen-zaka, is an ancient 150m stone-paved pedestrian road and tourist attraction in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Loca ...

. The two roads lead to

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple located in eastern Kyoto, Japan. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) UNESCO World Heritage site. History Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period. By 77 ...

Temple, Kodaiji Temple and Yasaka-jinjia Shrine, which are a few famous sights in Kyoto. Sannenzaka itself is a narrow slope that is fill with around 60 shops and restaurants that sell traditional Kyoto products and food. There are also notable shops for visitors to get a hands-on experience of Japanese culture, including tea ceremonies, as well as

Maiko A is an apprentice geisha in Kyoto and Their jobs consist of performing songs, dances, and playing the or other traditional Japanese instruments for visitors during banquets and parties, known as . are usually aged between 17 to 20 years ...

and

Geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female ...

makeovers.

Name origin

The real name of Sannenzaka is Sanneizaka which translates to "safe delivery hill". According to old Japanese myths, while Empress Komyo was pregnant, she dreamt of a monk who guaranteed her to safely deliver her baby as long as she had faith in

Kannon Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

. After that experience, she found a gold statue on her pillow which she enshrined as a Buddha of safe delivery in the Kyomizu Temple alongside her own picture. Many women would go to the temple to pray for a successful childbirth including

Hideyoshi Toyotomi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

's wife.

Traditional architecture

In 1972, this area was the first to be nominated as a historic preservation district in Kyoto, which then became the first legal preservation of urban regions in Japan. The street of Sannenzaka contained many traditional buildings called Kyo

Machiya are traditional wooden townhouses found throughout Japan and typified in the historical capital of Kyoto. (townhouses) and (farm dwellings) constitute the two categories of Japanese vernacular architecture known as (folk dwellings). orig ...

that were meant to endure the changing weather conditions of Kyoto. The doors are made out of wood, sliding doors are made out of paper, and walls out of mud. Businesses would operate in the front, while living spaces were in the rest of the house, which are both accessible through separate entrances. Modifications of Kyo Machiya can also be seen in this area, including two storied Machiya from the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

and the

Sukiya Sukiya may refer to: * Sukiya-zukuri, traditional Japanese interior * a synonym for chashitsu, a Japanese tea room * Sukiya (restaurant chain) {{disambig ...

-style Machiya. From 1999 to 2014, the original purpose for Machiya started to fade as many buildings were turned into souvenir shops.

References

External links

* Streets in Kyoto Tourist attractions in Kyoto {{Japan-stub