Kyoto · Higashiyama and Gion
Gion and Hanamikoji Street
Hanamikoji runs south from Shijo street between teahouses (ochaya) and restaurants with wooden fronts, and it is the main street of the Gion geisha district. The street itself is public and open to everyone. The lanes that branch off it, like Kosuda-koji, are private roads with homes and teahouses.
In 2024 signs were put up at the entrance to Kosuda-koji that forbid passage and warn of a ¥10,000 fine, after years of tourist groups entering courtyards and chasing maiko with cameras. Photography on the district's private roads has been forbidden since 2019.
On the Shijo corner stands Ichiriki-tei, the teahouse with the red walls, where an act of the play about the 47 ronin takes place. On 20 March, the anniversary of the death of their leader Oishi Kuranosuke, a memorial ceremony is held there. In the southern part of the street is the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo theater, where every April since 1872 Miyako Odori, the dance performance of the geiko and maiko, is staged.
Good to know
- Do not stop geiko or maiko in the street and do not photograph them without permission. According to the district, it disturbs them at work and in their private lives.
- Hanamikoji is an active road with taxis driving through it. Walk along the sides and do not stop in the middle to take photos.
- If you want to see the arts of Gion on stage, you can go to Gion Corner in the evening, or to Miyako Odori in April.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Gion and Hanamikoji Street.
- HereGion and Hanamikoji Street
- 1 min
Saryo Tsujiri Gion Honten Cafe
The teahouse of the tea merchant Gion Tsujiri, on floors 2 and 3 above the shop on Shijo street. Matcha parfait and sweet dishes made with green tea.
- ~3 min
Kagizen Yoshifusa Shijo Honten Cafe
A long-established Japanese confectioner on Shijo street. In the tea room at the back of the shop they serve kuzukiri, clear, cold noodles made from kuzu starch.
- ~5 min
Gion Corner More to see
A show of about 50 minutes that presents, in one evening, Kyoto dance, tea ceremony, flower arranging, koto music, bugaku and kyogen comedy, and depending on the month also bunraku puppets or noh. Shows at 18:00 and at 19:00.
- ~5 min
Izuu Food
A Kyoto sushi restaurant from 1781 that started with deliveries to the teahouses of Gion. The dish is saba sugata-zushi, a whole pickled mackerel on rice. You can eat in or take away.
- ~6 min
Gion Shinbashi and Shirakawa Street
A preservation district north of Shijo street: wooden teahouses in a neat row along the Shirakawa canal, a stone-paved street and cherry trees.
More in Higashiyama and Gion
Appears in: Higashiyama: Kiyomizu-dera in the morning, the Sannenzaka lanes, and Gion in the evening