Gion

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Exclusive restaurants line the streets of Gion.
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Exclusive restaurants line the streets of Gion.

Gion (祇園 or 祇をん) is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the middle ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine.

This part of Kyoto has two hanamachi (geisha districts): Gion Kobu (祇園甲部) and Gion Higashi (祇園東). Despite the considerable decline in the number of geisha in Gion in the last one hundred years, it is still famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment. Part of this district has been declared a national historical preservation district.

There is a popular misconception that Gion was a red-light district. However, as it was a geisha district, and as geisha are entertainers, not prostitutes, Gion is not, and never was, a red-light district. Shimabara was Kyoto's red-light district.

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