Kyoto : Sights Around Nakagyo 中京

11th December 2010. Written by Xin Li.
Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, Japan
YY and I wanted to see the Nijo Castle just before it closes and we made the wrong decision of taking the bus. It got stuck in a traffic jam along Shijo and Karasuma streets.

As it turned out, we were only there to see it closing. Hence we decided to walk to Karasuma Dori along Oike Dori. Where we encountered this interesting museum, where we saw anime fans having some sort of cosplay outside the museum.

For YY, I think he has found heaven. It was the International Manga Museum. Housed in a the former Tatsuike Primary School building, the museum has a collection of more than 50000 publications dating from the 1970s to the present day. Imagine a place walls of manga. That was what YY described to me as I am not a fan of manga.

While YY was enjoying himself in manga paradise, I found myself attracted to a series of buildings constructed in the 19th or early 20th century. Built in the Meiji Era with Western style architecture, Aneyakoji Dori was dotted with these elegant looking brick structures. The significance of these buildings was its indication of the wave of Westernization that was going on in Japan in the 19th century after Japan opened its doors to the world. Some present-day buildings tried to blend in by adopting a similar style too.

One such example is the Nakagyo Post Office 中京郵便局, which still functions as a post office today. These buildings are important in the architectural history of Japan.

The Museum of Kyoto 京都府京都文化博物館 is another piece of Western style architecture built during the Meiji Era. Part of the museum is housed in the former Nippon Bank (Kyoto Branch). Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations till July 2011.

The street leads to the sheltered shopping streets of Teramachi Dori and Shinkyogoku. Therefore, there quite a fair bit of human traffic, the sight of cafes and clubs along the street next to these Meiji era structures reminds me of Ann Siang Hill and Bukit Pasoh.