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Shirakawa and Gion

Shirakawa and Gion Area

Home to geisha, kabuki, and narrow teahouses, the district of Gion is considered by many in Japan to be the heart and soul of Kyoto.

Stretching west of Yasaka Shrine, called Gion-san by locals, from the middle-ages much of the neighborhood was given over primarily to teahouses for visitors to the shrine. Though the district has succumbed repeatedly to fire and war over the centuries, this is still a superb place to see old urban architecture at its best.

The shrine itself is a good place to begin. A large, colorful shrine, Yasaka is probably the most popular destination in Kyoto for people making hatsumoude, of the first prayers of the New Year. It is also host to the Gion Festival, one of Kyoto’s three most important. Held in mid-July, the festival is more than 1,100 years old, with its origins in an attempt to stem a fierce plague that swept through the city in 869 AD. The head priest of the shrine led a procession of worshipers through the city, praying to the god of the shrine, and shortly afterward the plague subsided.

gion street

Gion is bisected east to west by Shijo Dori, which runs from Yasaka Shrine to the Kamogawa River before crossing into the Pontocho district. Walking west along Shijo Dori, visitors should first head south along Hanami-koji. Luckily, Kyoto is virtually unique in Japan in that its streets have both names and signs. This section of Hanami-koji has a scenic collection of expensive restaurants and teahouses in beautiful traditional buildings. Toward the southern end of this little street, geisha perform for the public each April during the Miyako Odori. Geisha entertainment is famously exclusive and incredibly expensive, and this is one of the few chances most people have to see the dances.

shirakwa

Next, go west down Shijo Dori a little farther until you come to Kiri Doshi. Walk north here until you come to Tatsumi Shrine, a favorite with local business owners and entertainers and a likely spot to catch a glimpse of a geisha or maiko pausing to make a private prayer. You’re now close to some of Kyoto’s most beautiful traditional buildings, situated along the little Shirakawa Canal that runs west down Shirakawa-Minami Dori. This is a very pleasant area, with expensive restaurants and clubs hidden behind the wood-slatted windows of old buildings. Willow and cherry trees stretch their branches over the canal, and the atmosphere is pure Gion.

kaabukiza

When you reach Nawate-dori, turn left and head south on Nawate-dori, a flashy street of bars and restaurants. Coming once again to Shijo Dori, turn right towards the river. On the left, just before the bridge, Minami-za is the oldest and most famous kabuki theater in the country. According to tradition, kabuki was born very close by in the 16th century, when a troupe of female dancers devised and performed the dances on the banks of the river. Today, of course, kabuki is restricted to male performers, and the best of them perform here in a major kabuki festival each December.

Now, if you’re still feeling up to it, you’re ready to cross the river and enter Pontocho, another of the city’s most atmospheric (and exclusive) districts.

>>Access
Bus
Kyoto station===(City bus, No.206, 15min.)===Gion

>>Map
Kyoto city map>>Click here to view.

-Matt Mangham