In Kyoto, there are many monuments showing the sites of historical lands and buildings, and many of them are hardly known even by Kyoto residents. One of them, the monument for the site of Higashi Korokan (東鴻臚館), is located near the Kyoto Central Wholesale Market.

In the Heian (平安) era, there was the main avenue called Suzaku-oji (朱雀大路) with 85 meters width, running through the city from the north to the south. On the both side of the intersection of the Suzaku-oji and the Nanajo (七条) street, the national guest houses called Higashi Korokan (東鴻臚館) and Nishi Korokan (西鴻臚館) were located.

Now that those buildings are buried deep under the soil, I still found a joy in visiting these monuments. I love to learn from the description on them and use my imagination about the world of the ancient Japan.

Akane Kibune

Access:

5 mins. from Tabaguchi station, JR Sai-in line