Ponto-chō in Kyoto is famous as the place where you can see geisha and maiko (apprentice of geisha). When I was young, we often saw maiko there.

Last week, I visited there with two of my friends for the first time since I moved back to the Kansai region. The street has changed a lot, and I was fascinated to look around.

Fortunately, we didn't see so many tourists and could enjoy walking around.

The big brown ball-like object is called a "sugidama" in Japanese, which is a sign for a sake brewery and is hung at the entrance. The shop in the picture looked like a bar where you can drink sake.

I found a jazz bar that looked very stylish and I even checked its HP. I'm a big fan of jazz, and the HP made me want to visit there even though I don't drink alcohol.

The picture below show an ochaya (teahouse) where geisha and maiko are invited to perform. They dance, play Japanese musical instruments, sing Japanese traditional songs and more. I think the ochaya in the picture hasn't been used for years. 　

Here was the restaurant one of my friends had booked for us.

The location was great to look down at the view of Kawaramachi.

We sat at a counter and enjoyed teppanyaki.

I have experienced teppanyaki in the US as well, but Japanese teppanyaki doesn't show performance like you can see in the US.

After lunch, we had pancakes. It was fascinating to watch the chef made them on the teppan.

One of my friends ordered the matcha flavor, so the green ones were for her.

I'm not a fan of whipped cream, but the cream was good. I ate them with the cream and caramel sauce. They were very fluffy and delicious!

We were so full that we left the restaurant and headed to the station for our next purpose, which was looking at the porcelain art show one of my friends and I had entered.

On the way to the venue, we passed by a place where geisha and maiko practice dancing and musical instruments. It's called Kaburenjyo.

Then, we saw a real maiko. She had just come out of the exit and was walking into the crowd.

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