Japan Navigator

In Kyoto there exist certain “nodes,” a sort of starting points that bring you to all kinds of interesting destinations while also being worthwhile in their own right. Demachiyanagi is, perhaps unexpectedly, one of those nodes.

[The wedge between the Kamo (left) and Takano (right) rivers, with Kamogawa Park and behind that the Tadasu forest of the Shimogamo Shrine]

Stand at the Imedegawa Bridge and look north and you will see the scenery above: the wedge where the Kamo and Takano rivers flow together, called Kamogawa Park, with the forest of the Shimogamo Shrine at the back. The Shimogamo Shrine is your first destination here - in the past, when I lived just north of it, it was only visited by people from the neighborhood, now, since it became a World Heritage site,” there are also quite some tourists, but it remains one of my favorite places in Kyoto. It is an oasis of green in the middle of the city and the grounds are often used as a film location. The sub-shrine Kawai Jinja, is also interesting as it is associated with medieval writer Kamo no Chomei.

[Shimogamo Shrine on New Year’s Day]

The town of Demachiyanagi itself (just north of the Imedegawa/Kawaramachi crossing) offers an old-fashioned shopping arcade (Masugata - decidedly not touristy!), with a soba shop that also sells exquisite sabazushi (the best place to eat in this whole neighborhood), and the Futaba sweets shop with its popular mame-mochi. In the area you will also find some small temples as one dedicated to Benten.　(By the way, in front of the Keihan Demachiyanagi Station - on the other side of the Imadegawa Bridge - stands Jorinji, which is only open in September when its courtyard is filled to the brim with bushclovers.)

[Masugata Arcade, Demachiyanagi, Kyoto]

We return to the crossing of Imadegawa and Kawaramachi streets, just west of the Imadegawa Bridge. A few steps south on Kawaramachi and then the first street on the left will bring you to the refined Kitamura Museum with its priceless collection of art for the tea ceremony (note that it is only open in spring and autumn).

If you continue west along Imadegawa instead, you will reach a famous academic institution, the Doshisha University. Keep walking, and you will come to a narrow road that splits the grounds of the university and leads north to the Shokokuji Temple. Shokokuji used to be one of the most famous Zen temples of Kyoto, a bullwark of Zen-culture, but its power has been reduced and many of its buildings were lost. The buildings that are left, are only open in special seasons (spring and autumn), but there is also a great museum of Zen art, the Jotenkaku Museum. Again, it is unbelievably quiet in the green temple grounds - it almost seems as if the city has ceased existing.

[Kyoto Gosho, the old imperial palace]

We return to Imedegawa street. on the south side sits the huge park of the former Imperial Palace, Kyoto Gosho. Even when the palace itself is not open (foreign passport holders can enter on a tour by registering at the Imperial Household Agency in the park, others have to wait for the special openings in spring and autumn), the park is great. This used to be full of the mansions of the aristocracy, the courtiers who worked in the palace, but now it has been for the most part returned to nature. You will still find shrines, ponds and pavilions of the former mansions. On the east side of the palace are some temples, most notably Rozanji famous for its Setsubun devils on February 3. Rozanji also owns a nice garden here, linked with Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji, becasue her father used to live in this area.

[Boar statue in the Go-o Shrine, Kyoto]

On the west side of the palace stands Go-o Jinja, a Shinto Shrine dedicated to Wake no Kiyomaro, an 8th c. loyalist. The messenger of the deity in this shrine is the wild boar, something you will not miss as the grounds are filled with rip-roaring boar statues.

Road traffic in Kyoto nowadays is very congested, so it is much faster to use the trains and subway. Demachiyanagi is the last station on the Keihan line that links Kyoto with Osaka; the line also has stations in Sanjo and Shijo in central Kyoto where you can board for Demachiyanagi. All destinations mentioned in this post are within easy walking distance from Demachiyanagi.