This impossibly narrow lane running parallel to the Kamo River is unremarkable by day but transforms at night into one of Kyoto's most atmospheric dining streets. Paper lanterns cast a warm glow on traditional wooden facades, and elegant Kyotoites vanish through discreet doorways into restaurants and bars invisible from outside. In summer, many restaurants extend wooden platforms over the river for kawadoko dining, letting you eat kaiseki while the river murmurs below. A stroll here on a warm evening, with the lanterns reflecting in rain-slicked cobblestones, is quintessential Kyoto.