After passing through the winding hills coming down from Kiyomizu-dera Temple, you will arrive at a bus stop on a main street. This street is called Matsuhara-dōri and if you think this is where the story ends you are mistaken. If you continue following the sloping hills across the street to the Kamogawa River, you can take this path all the way to the center of Kyoto. People have used this path throughout history to make the pilgrimage to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. This twisty-turny path looks like it has been walked all over by many people, doesn’t it?

We will lead you down this path to the Kamogawa River: through rare temples and shrines, mysterious shops hidden in the side streets, all the way to the throngs of the geisha quarters. Expect to see the unexpected as you venture out of the metropolitan sprawl and into the unknown and untouched alleyways. 30 minutes from now, when you cross the Kamogawa River with your own two feet, you may ask yourself, why. Why have all these places survived after all this time? There must be a reason.

Here’s a hint. Long ago, the metropolitan center of Kyoto lay at the bottom of this hill and was referred to as “the other side of the Kamogawa.” The center of city was the area “inside the castle grounds,” whereas this area was referred to “outside the capital” and encompassed the sprawling fields outside of Kyoto. Past these fields were vast burial grounds, which according to Buddhist beliefs, was rumored to connect this world to that of the spirits. As a result, many of the people who couldn’t live in the city for one reason or another resided in these fields.

“The Field people.” These people were forced to live on sloped land. The people of the hills earned money off of the people going to pray at Kiyomizu Temple and this became a place where the outsiders of society resided. Kyoto was separated into two sections by the river, fields and mountains. The difference between the height of land visually represented the difference in class between “inside the capital” and “outside the capital.”

This pathway holds the history of all this time. Enjoy a different atmosphere from the metropolitan area and explore the back streets!