For four nights in the Gion district of Kyoto we stayed in a Machiya (town house). Basically a little house, it was nice to be out of a hotel or Ryokan and have a space to ourselves for a change.
The Machiya is located down a tiny alleyway, alongside another similarly modest property occupied by a man who seemed to spend all his time outside his front door smoking and coughing up his lungs. He needs to stop.
Inside it’s a tiny maze of rooms, some hidden (ninja-style). The main room is 6 tatami mats big (6-jo). The tatami mat is the way the Japanese measure room size, and it’s literally a flooring mat 1.653 square metres made from rush and cloth – think a smooth wicker surface.
Furnished only with a table and 4 floor chairs, a pair of futons were the adults’ sleeping arrangement each night. Sadly the mattress was nowhere near as comfortable as others we’d experienced so we had to call for help and a second mattress. To be honest it was still inadequate – they need to invest in far better futon mattresses!!
Off the main room are the kitchen, a large store cupboard and the main bathroom – all hidden behind 4 huge moving screens. Very clever.
Upstairs is a western-style bedroom (real beds for the kids) and a toilet, with another toilet downstairs for the adults. There is also a 2-jo secret room – we used it to store luggage!
The property also had a tiny garden – enclosed in a courtyard, which can be seen from the bath!
Location was ideal, being very close to an underground station, a little shop, the tourist area of Gion and huge numbers of restaurants – however not so close it was noisy.
Overall, a really nice property – the futon mattresses were truly rubbish though, and the owners need to speak to the futon suppliers at the Fujioto Ryokan in Tsumago.