We stayed at Gagakuan during Kyoto's cherry blossom season, which was brilliant and recommended for all travellers to Japan! Gagakuan is a renovated period style Japanese townhouse, very centrally located to trains (Gojo station), cool areas of Kyoto (Nishiki Market, Gion, Teramachi, supermarket, local restaurants), and very safe. Mako san, the owner, helped make our stay a fabulous one - from before we arrived (maps in Japanese, giving taxi driver directions in Japanese), to making us comfortable in the house, guiding us to local sights and activities, with great communication during our stay. The house has everything you need and so much better than a hotel. We loved the separate living spaces, very comfortable beds, cooking facilities and the deep bath! Taxis to most of the major sights was ridiculously cheap as Gagakuan was in close proximity to everything, and you can flag them down in the street one block away from the house. We had a fantastic time and would definitely stay here again, as well as recommend this place to others.