The History of Kawaramachi Dori – Almost 300 years!

The exact opening period of Kawaramachi Dori is unknown but because it runs parallel to “odoi”, the Kamogawa breakwater, it is thought to have opened after Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s major reform of Kyoto. At the end of the Edo period, samurai residences occupied the east side and temples filled the west side. The basic form of Kawaramachi that we see today was completed during the Meiji period’s city amendment plans to maintenance the streets.

Trams used to run the street!

In 1926 (Showa 1), the city-run Kawaramachi line running from Imadegawa to Shiokouji Dori opened. Then with the transportation infrastructure in place, many shops opened and soon blossomed into the liveliest downtown district in Kyoto. In 1962 (Showa 37), the first shopping district promotion association in Kyoto was established. This allowed Kawaramachi Dori to develop into the main street by securing a good spirit of helping each other and facilitating the shifting of shops.
*courtesy of The Kyoto Shimbun Newspaper Co.,Ltd.

Today, even Yamahoko runs the street during the Gion Festival!

The Yamahoko procession in the Gion Festival that used to run Teramachi Dori north, from Shijo Dori to Oike Dori, was changed in 1961 to run Teramachi Dori up north. The “atomatsuri” (literally, after-festival, i.e. the festival taking place after the main event) that was combined with the July 17th “sakimatsuri” (literally, before-festival, i.e. the festival taking place before the main event) since 1966 (Showa 41) was brought back in 2014 (Heisei 26). The atomatsuri will be taking place on July 24th and this allows us to enjoy the procession twice! During the Festival, the whole street is full of people eager to take a look at the Yamahoko.