Gion and Hanamikoji-dori

photo by yasui · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by bangdoll · CC BY-SA 2.0

Since 2019 photography in the alleys has been banned; since 2024 the stated fine is 10,000 yen.

Gion is the last of Kyoto's five districts where geiko (the local term for ‘geisha’) and maiko, the apprentices who work alongside them before becoming geiko themselves, are still trained today. Hanamikoji-dori, the main street, paved with stone and lined with wooden houses (machiya), is public; but the side alleys are private, and since 2019 the residents' association has banned photography there to stop people chasing maiko down the street. Since 2024 signs have appeared stating a fine of 10,000 yen for anyone who enters the private alleys: it has no legal force, but it shows how high the tension had risen.

Gion began in the seventeenth century as a district offering rest and refreshment to pilgrims heading to Yasaka Shrine, right next door, and soon became the city's largest entertainment district. Some of the machiya-style terraced houses that line it are still working teahouses (ochaya).

ℹ️ Public street, open at all times. ⚠️ Photography is banned in the private side alleys (not on Hanamikoji-dori itself); touching or stopping geiko and maiko is forbidden. The best time to see them is between 17:00 and 18:00, when they go out to their evening appointments.

🚉 Kyoto Kawaramachi · 7 min walk

Sources: ktv.jp · bunshun.jp

All series · Open the map