Japan · Kyoto Prefecture · Kyoto
Gion, Kyoto — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Gion is the old entertainment quarter of Higashiyama-ku in Kyoto, laid out in front of Yasaka Shrine and long known as a geisha district.
About Gion
Where to stay in Gion
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
A bed inside Gion puts Yasaka Shrine at one end of the day and the Hosomi Museum at the other, which suits anyone planning to walk rather than ride between the sights of Higashiyama-ku. Choices divide by distance. Rooms toward the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art and the Kyoto City Zoo put the collections first, while the lanes closest to Yasaka Shrine keep the evening life the district is known for.
About Gion
What are the main landmarks in Gion?
Museums crowd the district. The Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art and the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto belong to the same short walk as the Hosomi Museum and the Kahitsukan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art, while the Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum and the Ryozen Museum of History take the historical side. Yasaka Shrine fronts it all.
Smaller collections fill the gaps, among them the Japan Kanji Museum & Library, the Namikawa Cloisonné Museum of Kyoto, the Kyoto Gion Lamp Museum and Kawai Kanjiro's House, and the Kyoto City Zoo sits within the same ward.
What is the history of Gion?
Gion began in the Sengoku period as an entertainment district serving travellers who had come to Yasaka Shrine, and what started as provision for pilgrims grew into one of the most exclusive geisha districts in Japan. The name is older still. Gion renders the Buddhist term Jetavana into Japanese, and Yasaka Shrine, standing within the district, is the centre of the Gion faith.
Where is Gion?
Gion occupies part of Higashiyama-ku in Kyoto, the ground in front of Yasaka Shrine, with museums such as the Hosomi Museum standing among its streets.
Good for
More areas in Kyoto
Updated September 2026