Gion Shirakawa

Shirakawa is a narrow canal running through northern Gion, with wooden teahouses on one side and weeping willows and cherry trees on the other. The small Tatsumi bridge and the stone-paved lane beside the water make a compact, graceful setting, lovely in blossom season and in the lamplit hour after dusk.

Gion is also a working district, home to the teahouses where geiko and maiko work. They are on their way to appointments, not on display: never photograph or follow them without consent. Some private lanes off Hanamikoji ban photography, with signs and fines — keep the session to public streets like Shirakawa and read the signs.

Early morning gives you the canal almost to yourselves; in the evening the lanterns come on, and the street is lively but still easy to walk.