It was only the morning of my second day in Kyoto, but it was also January 31, which meant there was much to be done. New Year's Day is the number-one holiday in Japan—imagine Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Chinese New Year all rolled into one, and you'll have some idea of how big a deal it is.

The Tanaka family would have probably just slept in if I hadn't been visiting, but we had a lot of sightseeing planned, so the crack of dawn it would be. We split into two groups, with me, Mr. Tanaka, Maiko and Kazuo heading out for another day of temple-gazing, while Mrs. Tanaka and Uena stayed behind to prepare the traditional New Year's Day feast. They would be joining us later on that evening.

A monk-in-training stands watch on the bridge to Gion.

Unlike yesterday, we were going to do the entirety of today's tour on foot, which lent a more organic quality to the proceedings, with each magnificent vista slowly transitioning into the next. First stop, the traditional-yet-chic neighborhood of Gion.

Traditional.		Chic.

In America, our idea of a traditional neighboohood involves putting up "Ye Olde Shoppe" signs everywhere, but Japan's got about a millennium of history on us, so their idea of an old-fashioned town is a little bit classier. Actually, it's a lot classier. Intimidatingly so.

It's not just the stores. Even the residential areas look like this.

Named after a Buddhist saint, Gion is the base of operations for the geisha, Japan's famous hostess/entertainers, and their white-faced teenage apprentices, the maiko (no relation to the Tanakas' daughter). Unfortunately for my photographic records, during the hour of 4:00pm, when the streets are filled with silent, kimono-clad women on their way to work, the Tanakas and I were already on the outskirts of town, where Gion gives way to the mountain temples. So, maybe next time. (No shortage of images elsewhere...)

This ain't Fisherman's Wharf.

Gion is popular any day of the year, but this was New Year's Eve, so the streets were just choked. Despite the cold, the district's wooden maze of shops and restaurants teemed with Japanese and gaijin tourists alike, all feeling the buzz of the impending festivities. But it wasn't until we reached the edge of the city, when the marketplace parted to reveal a glimpse of the spendor that awaited us, that I really started to get excited.

This is gonna be big...