Pontocho is barely a metre wide and entirely the point. This is the after-dark walk through the old entertainment quarter — a single lantern-lit alley, the canal beside it, and the machiya (wooden townhouses) that have become some of the best restaurants in the city. Under three kilometres, and unmistakably an evening walk.
Find the north entrance off Sanjo — look for the plover crest, the alley's emblem — and slip in. Pontocho-dori is one long thread of lanterns and timber fronts; the trick is to walk it slowly and not to gawp through every doorway. At the south end stands the Kaburenjo, the geiko theatre where the spring dances are held.
Then cross to Kiyamachi-dori and the Takase-gawa, the canal dug to bring boats up from Fushimi. Cherry trees lean over the water the length of it — in early April, the finest blossom block in the centre. Pause at the restored boat basin, then follow the canal down toward Shijo, where Kiyamachi turns brash and modern. End there, or cut west to Kawaramachi and the Hankyu line.
