Since Takayama has so many sake breweries, we took the time to stroll in the old street and visit a couple before departing the town.

Kyoto was our next stop, the cultural capital of Japan, and also its old capital. Our guide informed us that Tokyo in fact means “New Kyoto”, and was renamed from “Edo” when it became capital.

It was pouring down when we arrived but we still braved the rain fully equipped with Norwegian rain gear, and walked to Gion, the geisha district. There was a performance showing 6 of the typical art forms, so we got a tidbit of each. Some were performed by actual maiko (geisha apprentices). There are only a couple hundred geisha left. We only saw one maiko in the street “in the wild”. It’s a difficult but highly respected education and profession. Fewer women choose it because of the dedication it requires. And there are few opportunities to experience geisha tea houses because you have to be especially invited because the geisha take pride in knowing their customers very well and therefore don’t receive one-timers. It’s quite fascinating.