In Kyoto, tourists flock to the picturesque Gion district to glimpse Geisha clip-clopping along cobbled streets. It's one of the most photographed parts of the ancient capital. But now the people ...

It was a little more than 25 years ago that I first walked the streets of Gion ... you will see that Kyoto, which is surrounded on three sides by hills, became Japan’s capital in 794.