Statue & Monument · Sanjo / Kawaramachi
Takayama Hikokuro Statue (Dogeza-zo) 高山彦九郎像 (土下座像)
The "kneeling statue" at the east end of Sanjo Ohashi bridge, a samurai bowing toward the Imperial Palace, and Kyoto's best-known meeting spot.
About
Takayama Hikokuro (1747-1793) was an Edo-period loyalist scholar who travelled Japan advocating reverence for the emperor. Every time he entered Kyoto via Sanjo Ohashi bridge, the end of the Tokaido road, he would kneel and bow deeply in the direction of the Imperial Palace. The bronze statue, rebuilt in 1961 after the original was melted down in the war, captures that bow. Its nickname Dogeza-zo (the prostrating statue) makes it a famous meeting place: "meet at Dogeza" is classic Kyoto student slang. Sanjo Ohashi bridge itself still has original Momoyama-era stone pillar footings, and a scar on a railing ornament from the 1864 Ikedaya Incident.
Highlights
- Bronze statue of a samurai bowing toward the palace
- Kyoto's famous meeting spot
- Next to Sanjo Ohashi, end of the old Tokaido road
- Sword scar on the bridge's giboshi ornament
- Kamo riverside views
Tips
- Tell friends to meet "at Dogeza" and any Kyotoite will know where.
- Look for the sword scar on the second giboshi from the west on the south side of Sanjo Ohashi.
- Pontocho and Kiyamachi are a few minutes away.
- Free.
Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09
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Open in the appNearby
- Sanjo Ohashi BridgeBridge · 60 m away
- Coin Lockers · Sanjo Station (Keihan) & Sanjo KeihanLuggage Storage · 120 m away
- MenamiIzakaya · 150 m away
- Bar Cordon NoirBars & Nightlife · 150 m away
- Pontocho Kaburenjo TheatreShows & Entertainment · 160 m away
- Live Spot RAGLive Music & Karaoke · 160 m away
- Rokuyosha CoffeeCafé & Sweets · 240 m away
- Umezono KawaramachiCafé & Sweets · 250 m away