Pontocho Alley, Kyoto

Pontocho Alley is a charming alley in Kyoto. Developed from a sandbar, it is a place where you can still see traditional architecture. The alley is best appreciated at dusk, when the lights are just turning on and the sky isn't completely dark. The place looks like it almost jumps out of a ukiyo-e print!

The formerly cobbled stone alley is today neatly tiled. It is still extremely narrow, and lined on both sides with geisha houses and traditional tea houses. This is a place where you can find bars, eating places and brothels.

Two of the sights worth seeing on Pontocho Alley are Tanuki Shrine and Kaburenjo Theatre.

Pontocho Alley at dusk, Kyoto

How to reach Pontocho Alley

Take the Hankyu Kyoto Line to the Kawaramachi Station. Alternatively take bus 5, 17 or 205 to Shijo-Kawaramachi.

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.