Sannenzaka (Sanneizaka, Sainenzaka)

This flight of stone-flagged steps leading from Yasaka up towards Kiyomizuzaka is also known as Sanneizaka or Sainenzaka.
The 1762 Kyo-Machi Kagami (Guide to Kyoto’s Neighborhoods) records it as “Third Year Hill [Sannenzaka], as it was created in the third year of Daido [808].” Its other common name of Sanneizaka, Hill of Safe Birth, came from the “childbirth pagoda” in Taisan-ji, a sub-temple of Kiyomizu-dera Temple at the top of the hill, where prayers for safe birth were believed to be answered.
The texts Kyo-Warabe and Rakuyo Meishoshu (Collection of Famous Places in the Capital) from 1658 describe it variously as Sannenzaka, Sanneizaka, or Sainenzaka. The term Sainenzaka (Pray Again Hill) appears to have come from people praying again as they descended this slope after first praying at Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
Superstitions such as if you trip and fall at Sannenzaka, you’ll die within three years, or your life will be cut short by three years, were already part of the Keishi Junranshu (Collection of Guides to the Capital) from 1679. There was a spell using a gourd to return the soul that escaped on falling, which is why this street used to be lined with shops selling gourds.
The Sanneizaka district was registered by Kyoto City in 1976 as a Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties , and it was also one of the first to be designated by the national government as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings.
Kyoto City