Hiking Fushimi in Kimonos
fushimi inari in kimono
Whenever I thought of Japan, I always wonder when I will get the chance to walk through the thousand Tori gates. Yet never have I thought that I would walk through them while wearing a kimono and sweating terribly under the Spring sun.
Got up early in the morning to head down to Yumeyakata Gojō, which I’ve booked a day in advance. While I did thought of booking it online, but the site seemed a little complicated with all sorts of options and the impending gloomy forecast left me to book our rentals directly at the shop instead. It was much easier when you actually have someone to talk to instead of second-guessing all the options online.
Yumeyakata gojo, kyoto kimono
Unfortunately, because it was #goldenweek hair make over was fully booked. I could only make do with my random bun. Oh the shop gave us free flower clips for our hair instead 😆
No photos were allowed once inside. I only managed to sneak one while we were picking up accessories. They were an extra topup if you decide to pick one at 200+¥?
It was huge with 5 levels for you to pick up a piece of your kimono fabric and then dedicated dressing rooms, for men and women separately of course. So basically, you choose your kimono print, and then pick an Obi (sash). If you’re feeling fancy, there are more options for you to layer too! But personally, it was almost a headache to choose amongst all the patterns they had in store. Of course, you won’t be alone because there will be other tourists, locals picking out their piece. So if you like one, don’t hesitate to pick it up before someone else does!
Then you’ll get your little basket of items, for ladies you will be redirected upstairs and follow a queue to the dressing room. Inside, you’d be greeted by cute oba-samas who will dress you up in gazillion layers of fabrics to make you look pretty ✨Of course, you’ll be given a pair of inner linen (the first layer you wear before anything else) and a free pair of socks to match your sandals later. And so- while dressing you up, you can start to feel the pressure given onto your backs as they wrap and tie up layers of cloth. Once you’re done, go back down to level 1 to pick your sandals and then make your payment.
Before we actually leave the place, my dad was already complaining about the strain on his back 😂I didn’t really believe him because I felt that kimono for women was way much worse seeing how many layers we had…
Yumeyakata gojo, kyoto kimono
Yumeyakata gojo, kyoto kimono
Yumeyakata gojo, kyoto kimono
There’s a little sitting space next to the store outside with this fake-Gion-district backdrop. There’s also a mirror-table space that seems to say “welcome to touch up your makeup/hair here”. Ahh… japanese, always so attentive to little details! Here’s us in our traditional outfit sticking out so much in this urban jungle! 😆
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono, where my mom’s the happiest
“Golden week just spells people everywhere!”
So yup, almost impossible to get that emptiness that you’ve seen on google images 😂
There were simply too many people around. Tourists and locals alike, everyone just walk through the gates and snapping pictures including myself. Hey, I just spent a little fortune renting my outfit, I deserve it right? Besides, my friend who’s living in Kobe came to join us! I was so grateful for another young one to be around 🙊
The hike up was rather long and not without difficulties with sandals and small strides 😂There seems to be hundreds or maybe thousands of little shrines all the way up. Growing up watching animes, I can’t help but feel rather curious of their deities and legends which I’m pretty sure not even the locals know everything about them either. We took our time going up towards the peak and paused from time to time to get drinks. Thank god for their vending machines!
Gosh, even if it’s Spring at some 25-26º degrees celsius, we were sweating like crazy under our layers. However we were not alone in our dresses, which gave us a little comfort
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono
fushimi inari in kimono
From time to time, you will be able to take a peek out of the clustered trees and look at city of Kyoto! The more you hike up further… the more the crowd is dispersed, which was really nice to enjoy the calm and fresh air.
I can’t remember where exactly, but by following the trail you’ll reach the “middle-rest-point” where an old oji-san holds onto a directional board to help tourist with directions. You can choose to hike up an easy route which takes a longer time or a shorter route but more steeper roads. We took the challenge and took the shorter route— and lost our breathe many times… (also considering that my dad’s knee wasn’t very good 😅)
But hum, we got a little disappointed when we finally reached the peak. There was a slightly bigger shrine that everyone seems to want to pay their respects to. But the queue was so long that it went down of the other side of the hill 😅We decided to catch our breathe a little before heading back down… It was one of the instagram vs reality moments because the old folks couldn’t stand being in a kimono any longer 🙊They were too tired. And so, we kinda spent the whole afternoon at Fushimi and missed our chance to the Bamboo Grove.
In any case, it was an interesting experience. I wouldn’t mind doing it again when it’s less crowded and most preferably when it’s cooler too.
Whenever I thought of Japan, I always wonder when I will get the chance to walk through the thousand Tori gates. Yet never have I thought that I would walk through them while wearing a kimono…