Sannenzaka (Kyoto)

Sannenzaka is a short, steep lane of stone steps and paving that climbs through the Higashiyama district of eastern Kyoto towards the hillside temple of Kiyomizu-dera. Its beauty lies in its unbroken frontage: two rows of low wooden townhouses of the machiya type, with lattice doors, paper screens, clay walls and deep eaves, stepping up the slope one after another. Some are the plain single-storey kind, others taller two-storey houses of the Meiji period or lighter buildings in the refined sukiya manner, and the small variations between them are what keeps the eye moving as you climb.

The name is usually written with characters meaning "safe childbirth slope". Tradition connects it with the Kannon of safe delivery enshrined at Kiyomizu-dera, to which expectant mothers climbed to pray; one story has Empress Kōmyō dreaming of a monk who promised her an easy birth and then finding a small golden image on her pillow, which was later placed at the temple. The popular reading, "Three-Year Slope", comes with its own superstition: stumble on these steps and you will die within three years.

Sannenzaka matters beyond its looks. In the 1970s the surrounding streets became the first area in Kyoto protected as a historic townscape, and in 1976 they were designated one of Japan's national Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings, later enlarged to take in the stone-walled Ishibe-koji alleys. Today about sixty shops and eateries occupy the old houses, selling pottery, pickles, sweets and tea. The lane continues downhill as Ninenzaka, and a short walk links the pair with Kōdai-ji, Yasaka Shrine and the pagoda of Hōkan-ji, which rises above the rooftops of the quarter. Early morning, before the crowds climb to the temple, is when the steps and shuttered facades are seen at their quietest.

Getting there

Sannenzaka lies inside Kyoto, about 4 km east of the city centre. The nearest airport is Osaka Itami (ITM), roughly 39 km away. From Kyoto Station, city buses 100 and 206 run to the Kiyomizu-michi and Gojo-zaka stops, a walk of five to fifteen minutes uphill; the nearest rail stations are Keihan Shijo and Hankyu Kyoto-kawaramachi, from where the lane can be reached on foot through Gion. The street itself is pedestrian only.