A narrow street or passage between buildings, typically in a city or town.
A cat suddenly appeared from the alley.
This alley gets a bit dark at night.
path through a gate or garden
A narrow path or walkway within a garden, temple grounds, or leading from a gate; often implies a more scenic or traditional setting than a city alley.
Once through the gate, there was a path leading to the garden.
teahouse garden path
Only when written 路地
Specifically the path or garden area associated with a traditional teahouse; restricted to the 路地 kanji form.
Stepping stones were laid along the path leading to the teahouse.
He ducked into an alley as if fleeing.
I like walking through the alleys of old towns.
Going down the narrow alley, there was a small shop.
Passing through the alley, the station came into view.