Kagurazaka: the geisha hill
A stone slope, cobbled ryotei lanes, French patisseries, and a shrine Kengo Kuma rebuilt in glass. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Iidabashi Station
Start at the bottom of the hill where the moat and the canal meet. The slope rises ahead of you; everything good is uphill, so take it slowly and let the lanes pull you off to the sides.

2. Zenkoku-ji (Bishamonten)
The temple to *Bishamonten*, guardian of warriors, set back behind a red gate partway up the slope. The heart of old *Kagurazaka* and the reason the festivals still gather here; step into the courtyard for a minute of stillness.

3. Hyogo Yokocho
A cobbled lane off the main slope — black timber walls, lanterns, the discreet fronts of *ryotei* (exclusive traditional restaurants). You can't go in without an introduction and a fortune; you can absolutely walk it slowly at dusk.

4. Kakurenbo Yokocho
'Hide-and-seek alley', named for how the lanes fold back on themselves so a *geisha* could slip a follower. Cobbles, walls, the occasional taxi waiting; this is the *Kagurazaka* people mean when they call it secretive.

5. The French quarter
Kagurazaka is half 'little Paris' — bistros, a Catholic university nearby, and patisseries that take the craft as seriously as Tokyo takes anything. Pick one for a coffee and a tart; the French here is not a gimmick.

6. Akagi-jinja
The *jinja* (shrine) Kengo Kuma rebuilt in 2010 — glass, timber and a café where the social hall used to be. A shrine that looks forward instead of back; the contrast with the *ryotei* lanes downhill is the walk in one frame.

Kagurazaka: the geisha hill