The bridge from Memoirs of a Geisha, Tatsumi Bashi

Before flowing into the Kamo River, the small Shirakawa canal crosses the geisha district of Gion, one of the best known places from Kyoto. Several bridges are built over the canal, the largest of them and at the same time the most famous being Tatsumi Bashi, nearby the similarly named Tatsumi Shrine.

Many people are coming here to take pictures, especially in the last years, because a scene from the movie made after Arthur Golden's novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" was evoking exactly this place (although the Gion seen in the movie was a set built near Los Angeles). The place has a special charm during the evening, when the red lanterns are lighting the bridge... and if you catch a slightly rainy day, like in my photo, the light becomes magical.