Gion is the most famous of Kyoto’s geisha districts, the narrow roads between bamboo fronted teahouses (ochaya), restaurants and traditional residences (machiya) dating from the late Edo period (circa ...

What do cataclysmic climate change … and geishas have in common? The city of Kyoto, of course. It was here in December of 1997 that the historic, extraordinarily important Kyoto Protocols (setting ...

Geisha are seen performing traditional dance to the piece "Shiokumi" at the Gion Corner theater in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward on Nov. 7, 2020. (Mainichi/Hiroshi Odanaka) KYOTO -- Special performances by ...

It's easy to spend an entire day exploring the beautiful area known as Higashiyama. To give you an idea of where to start, here is a one-day walking tour that will take you to some of the area's ...

As international tourism bounces back to pre-pandemic levels, some of Japan’s most visited cities are grappling with the challenges of overtourism. In Kyoto's historical Gion district specifically, ...

KYOTO--A geisha community here will put on its annual “Gion Odori” dance performance in November for the first time in three years. The Gion Higashi Kabukai association, based in one of Kyoto’s five ...

A towering float – complete with a wooden pole that easily rises six storeys – heaves into view. The float is elaborately decorated with tapestries festooned with gold, and has jet-black wheels taller ...

These traditional fukudama lucky balls each contains a charm or amulet, and are only sold at Starbucks in Gion, Kyoto To help keep this tradition alive, Starbucks outlets in Kyoto’s Gion district are ...

After a walk at dusk along the banks of the Kamo River, we climb a stone staircase to Gion, Kyoto's primary pleasure quarter -- a tiny floating world of bars, teahouses and theatres that have held ...