Day 3: Gion (祇園)

The small district of Gion (祇園) is famous for its Geishas and restaurants and sits on Kyoto’s east side. If you show up around sunset, you’ll see a number of maikos fully dressed, heading to tea houses. We admired and appreciated the ones we saw, but didn’t want to interrupt them with photo requests.

We wandered the streets, appreciating the small gardens and architecture that stood out in comparison to the rest of the city. One of the highlights of our adventures in Gion was a Maiko performance at Gion Corner. The short 1-hour performance showcases a number of arts including Kyo-mai Dance, Tea Ceremony, Koto Zither, Puppet Theater and Gagaku Court music.

Our two favorite finds in Gion were a small dessert shop (with no English signage) that gave us a chance to get off our feet and enjoy some tasty treats. The Gion Corner performance was amazing too. The only downside was that photography was allowed – which meant half the audience spent most of the performance taking photos. I didn’t take any protest to try to concentrate on what I was watching with all the distractions.