Arashiyama Hanatouro 嵐山花灯路

10th December 2010. Written by Xin Li
Arashiyama, Kyoto.
The Hanatouro is an event held only twice a year for two different locations. The Higashiyama Hanatouro takes place yearly around March to April during the cherry blossoms period while the Arashiyama Hanatouro takes place in December from the 10th to 19th of December.

The highlight of the event is the lighting up of these places with Japanese lanterns, creating a different kind of perspective of these well-known venues. YY and I had the fortune of visiting this bi-annual event during our visit to Kyoto.

The focal point of the Arashiyama Hanatouro is no doubt the autumn foliage, and the event has drawn a huge crowd of foreigners and locals alike, equipped with tripods, cameras of various brands or the very least, a camera hand phone.

The Togetsukyo Bridge even needs personnel to control the traffic flow of humans and vehicles. It was a very lively event and the crowd doesn’t seem to be bothered by the cold weather.

The area was very cold because of the winds and it was nightfall especially on the bridge. In fact, my Nikon camera was behaving strangely perhaps to the cold temperatures.

Nonetheless, it was quite a beautiful sight to see the mountains illuminated by flood lights and the pathways along the bamboo groves lined with lanterns. There were food stalls as well offering snacks for the hungry visitors.

Needless to say, it was very challenging to take any photographs without a tripod. I had to make do with rocks, bridge posts, fences and electrical boxes to get a stable surface.

By the time we decided to have dinner, most of the restaurants were closing. We make do with this restaurant that offers affordable set meals. Bad choice, the food was disappointing.

The tempura that I had wasn’t clean (they never change the oil), it was too soggy and the interior was overcooked (bad control of the temperature). The damage was 1200 Yen. The soba noodles was only so-so. My friend did not seem to enjoy his meal too.