Pontochō (先斗町) is a district in
Kyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area....
,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, known for
geisha, or are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
and home to many geisha houses and traditional tea houses. Like
Gion'Gion' is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine...
, Pontochō is famous for the preservation of forms of traditional
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
and entertainment.
The name Pontochō is said to be a portmanteau of the
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
word "point" or the
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
word "ponto" (also meaning point) and the
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
word meaning town, street, or road.
Pontochō (先斗町) is a district in
Kyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area....
,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, known for
geisha, or are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
and home to many geisha houses and traditional tea houses. Like
Gion'Gion' is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine...
, Pontochō is famous for the preservation of forms of traditional
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
and entertainment.
The name Pontochō is said to be a portmanteau of the
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
word "point" or the
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
word "ponto" (also meaning point) and the
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
word meaning town, street, or road. The district crest is a stylized water
ploverPlovers are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. They are known to dive in lakes looking for fish. There are about 40 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel"...
or
chidori.
Pontochō centres around one long, narrow, cobbled alley running from Shijo-dōri to Sanjo-dōri, one block west of the
Kamo RiverThe Kamo River is a river in Kyoto, Japan. Called Kamo-gawa in Japanese, it is approximately 23 km long and covers a land area of approximately 20.7 square kilometers. The riverbanks are popular walks for residents and tourists. In summer, restaurants open balconies looking out to the river. There...
(
Kamogawa). This is also the traditional location of the start of
kabukiis the highly stylized classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers....
, and a statue of
Okuniwas the originator of kabuki theater. She was believed to be a miko at the Grand Shrine of Izumo who began performing this new style of dancing, singing, and acting in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto.-Early years:...
still stands on the opposite side of the river.
Geisha have existed in Pontochō since at least the 1500s, as have
prostitutionProstitution in Japan has existed through the country's history.While the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956 states that: "No person may either do prostitution or become the customer of it", various loopholes, liberal interpretations of the law and loose enforcement have allowed the sex industry to...
and other forms of entertainment. Today the area, lit by traditional lanterns at night, contains a mix of very expensive restaurants—often featuring outdoor riverside dining on wooden patios—geisha houses and tea houses, brothels, bars, and cheap eateries.
The area is also home to the Pontochō Kaburenjō Theatre at the Sanjo-dōri end of the street. This theatre functions as a practice hall for geisha and twice a year since the 1870s Kyoto geisha perform the Kamogawa Odori—Kamogawa river dancing, a combination of traditional dance, kabuki-like theatre, singing and the playing of traditional instruments—there, offering a rare chance for ordinary people to see performances by real geisha.
Pontochō is also the location of the geisha house where American anthropologist
Liza DalbyLiza Crihfield Dalby is an American anthropologist and novelist specializing in Japanese culture.She is a 1972 graduate of Swarthmore College, receiving her Masters in 1974 and her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1978. The title of her dissertation is The Institution of the Geisha in Modern...
apprenticed.
See also
- 5 famous Hanamachi in Kyoto ("Gokagai")
- Gion
'Gion' is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine...
-Kohbu
- Gion
'Gion' is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine...
-Higashi
- Kamishichiken
is a district of Kyoto, Japan. It is the oldest hanamachi in northwest Kyoto, just east of the Kitano Tenman-gū Shrine. The name Kamishichiken literally means "Seven Upper Houses." These refer to the seven teahouses built from the equipment and material leftover from the rebuilding of the Kitano...
- Miyagawacho
Miyagawachō is one of the hanamachi or geisha districts in Kyoto. Miya-gawa means “Shrine River”, referring to the nickname of the Kamo River just south of Shijō...
- Pontocho
- Another in Kyoto
- Shimabara
Shimabara can refer to any of the following:* Shimabara, Nagasaki, a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan* Shimabara Peninsula, the geographic feature that hosts Shimabara, Nagasaki* Shimabara Castle, in Shimabara, Nagasaki...
External links
(Pontochō Kaburenjō Theater)