From the architect. Until some time ago, there were, as we were told, 12 bars spread over three 2-storey houses on this 50 m2 plot on Kiyamachidori, adjacent to one of Kyoto's most intricate network of night alleys, Pontocho, where a vibrant mixture of bars, brothels, inns, dwellings, shops have for centuries created an urban atmosphere of essential Kyoto nightlife. With an unobtrusive high-end restaurant next to a (visually less subtle) cheap yakitori, with a hidden gem of a ryokan at the end of the narrowest of side-alleys across an enigmatic place commanding courage to enter, any walk here leads to eventual surprises.