Sumiya in Shimabara: Kyoto's last banquet house, between geiko and conspirators

When people talk about geisha and pleasure quarters in Kyoto, everyone thinks of Gion, with its paved streets and photographers lying in wait on every corner. Few know that Kyoto's historic entertainment quarter is in fact a different one, and it lies southwest of the station, in the Nishishinyashiki area (Shimogyo-ku), west of the great Nishi Honganji temple. It is called Shimabara. Founded in 1641 as a licensed pleasure quarter, today it is a quiet residential area: low houses, the odd shop, no windows for tourists. And yet it is right here that a building survives which no longer exists anywhere in Gion.

The last ageya

Sumiya (角屋) is the only ageya left in all of Japan. An ageya was not a geisha house but a banquet hall: the place where clients would summon the geiko (Kyoto's geisha) and the highest-ranking tayu to sing, dance and entertain the guests. In practice, a refined restaurant-salon of Edo-era entertainment culture. Built in 1641, Sumiya is the largest machiya (timber-latticed townhouse) in Kyoto and one of the very rare civic buildings, neither religious nor aristocratic, to have survived from the Edo period. For this reason it has been designated an Important Cultural Property at national level.

History and conspirators

The story that makes it truly special is that of the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate, around 1860. Sumiya was a salon frequented by men of politics, art and letters, and among them the anti-Tokugawa reformers: the celebrated Sakamoto Ryoma, Saigo Takamori, Kusaka Genzui. But their adversaries gathered here too, the Shinsengumi, the pro-shogunate militia. On the woodwork and pillars of the building you can still see today the marks left by sword blades: concrete traces of those heated meetings, not a legend told in words.

The visit

Today Sumiya is open as the Museum of Hospitality Culture (Sumiya Motenashi). You enter through the old kitchen, with its original clay stoves and period utensils, then take off your shoes to visit the exhibition rooms: ceramics, sake flasks, documents and lacquerware from the Edo period. The finest moment, for many, is the engawa (the narrow wooden veranda) that runs around the garden: raked gravel, a spreading pine and a late-blossoming cherry tree. The ground floor can be visited without booking during opening hours (ticket around 1,000 yen); the upper floor, with its more sumptuous rooms, requires a reservation and a separate fee. The volunteers' explanations are in Japanese, but printed brochures are available in English. If you just want a look without going in, the historic Omon gate, the quarter's old main entrance, can be seen for free from the street.

Practical information

A few practical details. The museum is open from 10:00 to 16:00, closed on Mondays, with two long seasonal closures (roughly 19 July-14 September and 16 December-14 March) decided in order to preserve the building: it is best to check before setting out on the official website (sumiyaho.sakura.ne.jp) or by phone. The address is 32 Ageya-cho, Shimogyo-ku. To get there, from JR Tambaguchi station (one stop from Kyoto on the Sagano/San-in line) you walk south along Senbon-dori for about ten minutes; alternatively it is a walk from Kyoto station. A few steps further on is the Wachigaiya, another historic okiya, normally closed to the public but interesting to see from the outside to understand what the quarter was like.

Related guides: Offbeat Japan: destinations and itineraries off the tourist trail.

How to get there

Sumiya lies in the old quarter of Shimabara, in the southwestern part of central Kyoto. The nearest railway station is JR Tanbaguchi, on the San'in line just one stop from Kyoto's central station, from which it is a short walk; alternatively you can reach it on foot from the north, passing beside the Nishi Honganji temple and crossing the old Shimabara gate. The reference airports are those of Osaka, Kansai (KIX) and Itami (ITM), connected to Kyoto by train or bus. The house can be visited as a museum, with days and hours to be checked before your visit.