Maruyama Park, then Yasaka Pagoda, then the stone steps of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, and finally the wooden houses along Gion Shirakawa. That was the route this couple and I walked together — and it all started with a proposal.
He and I had chosen a quiet corner of Maruyama Park for the moment itself. He arrived right on time, and there was not a single other person around when he asked. She had no idea it was coming. Her surprise was immediate and complete, and the happiness that followed was the kind you can see from across a garden. I kept shooting through all of it.
When it was over, I walked over to congratulate them and showed them a few of the frames on the back of the camera. Watching them look at those first photos together — still a little stunned, still smiling — is one of my favourite parts of any proposal.
From there, we started walking. It was their first time in this part of Kyoto, so everything was new to them: the pagoda rising above the rooftops, the old shopfronts along Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, the slow climb of the stone slopes. They kept stopping to take it all in, and at one point they told me how happy they were to have photos somewhere that felt so unmistakably Japanese. That meant a lot to hear.
We did not stop there. We kept going all the way to Gion Shirakawa, where the old wooden machiya houses line the canal. It was quieter than I had expected, which gave us room to slow down and take our time. They were completely up for every idea, and the photos from that stretch are full of relaxed, genuine laughter.
What stayed with me most, though, was how they moved through these places. They were polite, careful, and clearly respectful of the neighbourhoods we were walking through — the kind of visitors Kyoto quietly hopes for. It made the whole morning feel easy and good.
Thank you both for choosing me to be part of this day, and for walking all those streets with me. Congratulations — I hope life brings you back to Japan again soon.
If you are dreaming up a proposal in Gion with a walk through old Kyoto afterwards, my Kyoto packages are one click away.
