It is only recently, when I have reached a good age, that I have come to enjoy frequently visiting Kyoto, and even though I was originally raised in the Kansai region, I know very little about this city. It is only recently that I came to know the word DUSHI.
DUSHI is a narrow street that weaves between the main streets, which run east-west and north-south in a grid-like pattern. More precisely, a street that reaches through from one street to the next is called a DUSHI, and a street that does not reach the next street is called a ROUJI.
According to this site, there are more than 13,000 such streets less than 4 meters wide in Kyoto City.
Among the many DUSHI and ROUJI, many of them are very quaint and typical of the ancient capital.
I had a chance to stop by Kyoto for a short time during my business trip to the Kansai region, so I took some pictures of DUSHI with my FUJIFILM XF10.
This is a Koyaku-DUSHI that runs in a north-south direction between Shijo and Ayakoji in the middle of Kyoto.
The DUSHI is lined with several stores and restaurants as well as private homes, but thanks to the efforts of local residents, the serene landscape with its rows of latticework of Kyoto old style MACHIYA houses is well preserved.
And a small Kanda Myojin shrine.
It is a short DUSHI, about 200 meters by eye along the way, but it was a very pleasant corner for a photo walk.
Next up, another famous Tatsumi-DUSHI near Gion Shirakawa.
The entrance is this “gap” between the townhouses lining Shinmachi where the woman is about to enter.
This is the view from the front. This is DUSHI, which turns crank on the way and passes to Shinmonzen on the north side.
This is a short DUSHI, but the road is really narrow here, so when I try to take a picture, I unconsciously end up with a vertical composition.
The stores are lined up in this narrow DUSHI, and the fact that they are doing business is a true testament to Kyoto.
XF10 is not good at high-contrast pictures, so the highlights are a little rough, but I hope I was able to convey at least the atmosphere.
I walked to the Shirakawa River, so here is a little something extra. This is not DUSHI, but a narrow cut on the south side seen from Tatsumi Bridge.
This is my favorite view of the city, which is quite picturesque.
It’s hard to stop visiting Kyoto.
