Gion Manners MAP (English)

Please refrain from stopping on the road or walking on the roadway. The Gion area gets very crowded and roads are used by locals, cars serving the local business, and of course, many other tourists. Stopping to take pictures, spreading across the sidewalk or walking on the roadway further contributes to the overcrowding of the area even if it is for a short time.

Please refrain from taking pictures on the private roads.

As you can see on the reverse side of this lantern, many roads in the Gion area are actually private roads. Stopping in front of someone’s house, in front of their doors, or just to take a picture on the street is not only negatively affecting the everyday life of the locals or infringing on their privacy, but as these roads are narrow, it further contributes to the overcrowding of the area as well.

It is really tempting to get a nice shot when you see a maiko in her beautiful dress walking down the streets of Gion. However, seeing them in their traditional dresses and with make-up also means that they are at work (their appointment actually starts when they leave their house, not when they arrive to an ochaya or restaurant). Thus, asking them for a photo, blocking their way or touching them means – besides infringement of their privacy – that you obstruct their work. Watch an interview with local maiko Katsumomo-san as well as others on this webpage.

The area of Gion has several private roads (marked by blue color on the map), with some of them being very narrow and getting easily overcrowded. These streets used to be much quieter during the day hours and frequented only by restaurant and ochaya guests or few others in the evenings. This is what local residents still living in these houses are used to and expect from their living environment, so please respect their privacy and help to preserve the life envrionment of the locals.

This plate means that the house is a ochaya (or tea house) where the traditional dinners with entertainement provided by Maiko and Geiko takes place. These plates are relatively small and might be hard to spot. However, ochaya are not places meant to be visited randomly by passerby, but requires reservations which are still often available only to regular customers. As ochaya is also a residential house where the owner lives, please respect their privacy and the traditional reservation system and do not try to enter these houses.

Although many can easily overlook it, the streets of Gion are not exclusively pedestrian zones and especially the main street is used by cars quite frequently. The roadway and sidewalks are separated by different tiles and a line, so make sure to not walk on the roadway or stop and block the relatively narrow sidewalks.

Traditional houses in Gion area have two sorts of wooden structures in front as can be seen on the photograph – inuyarai (on the left) and komayose (on the right). As these structures are wooden, please take care and do not sit or lean on them.

If you want to see maiko in their dresses and the traditional performance, make sure to visit the Gion corner (click the mark above) which hosts shows with traditional arts performances. The Gion corner is located near the southern end of the main street (Hanamikoji street) of the Gion area.