In front of Gion Yasaka Shrine

Yasaka Shrine, at the eastern end of Shijo-dori in the Gion district, is approached through a vermilion two-story romon gate that stands directly above the pavement of the street. Kotozuka's view places the spectator in the street itself, looking up at or across the gate, so that the architecture and the everyday traffic of Gion -- pedestrians, perhaps a few figures in summer or festival dress -- share the picture. The vermilion of the gate and the white plaster panels of its upper storey carry most of the color, set against a bokashi-graded sky and the dark tile of the roof. Lanterns hung at the entrance, often inscribed with shrine or merchant names, would be cut as small rectangular reserves filled with red or off-white. Yasaka is also the spiritual home of the Gion Matsuri, and this kind of street-level view of its gate falls within Kotozuka's larger project of recording the religious and ceremonial life of Kyoto from the perspective of its inhabitants rather than the tourist.