Arashiyama : The “NEW” Old (Bamboo Groove Illumination & Kimono Forest)

Having been to Arashiyama few years back didn’t quite prepare me for this trip. There were a few “NEW” old places that I rediscovered in this trip, namely the Bamboo Groove and Kimono Forest.

Truthfully I am rather impress with what the Kansai Tourism embarked in ensuring the return and growth of local and domestic tourist. An act I hope that our Tourism Malaysia will consider and perhaps consider to implement in Malaysia, I am sure it will be greatly welcomed by us Malaysian and tourist alike.

Bamboo Groove Illumination / Arashiyama Hanatoro 2015

Arashiyama celebrates Hanatoro every December for a duration of 10 days whereby lanterns and spotlights were placed at the Bamboo Groove pathway and lit up at dusk. During this period, the visiting hours are extended to greet the tourists. It created a magical and whimsical feel thus became a crowd puller every December.

I like the idea of how Tourism Kansai regenerates crowd interest by creating a new feel of an existing attraction. It increases the demand for the shops and restaurants to open till late hours that translate into business growth and high profit.

Kimono Forest

Located at Randen Tram Station on Kyoto’s Keifuku Arashiyama line, Kimono Forest stood beautifully still. It is a collection of kimono textile selected by Yasumichi Morita, places in a lit up cylinder-shaped pillars. It is best viewed from dusk till dark.

The objective is to create awareness on Japanese kimono art, giving the train station a new and unique ambience and feel, plus generating interest among the younger generation to appreciate Japan greatest icon, identity and heritage; Kimono.

As you can guess, we can do the same in Malaysia with our batik print, batik canting, pua kumbu print etc. Perhaps around KLCC or Masjid Jamek.

Interesting right? I will share more on activities in Arashiyama in my next post.