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Japan
This Week in AsiaLifestyle & Culture

Japan’s Kyoto to ban visitors from geisha district area after surge in ‘out-of-control’ incidents

  • Such incidents in Gion include tourists pulling kimonos worn by the geisha and forcing the traditional entertainers to pose for photos
  • Japan has seen a surge in foreign visitors in recent months, including in Kyoto, where the city’s geisha are a major tourist attraction

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Japanese geisha visit Minamiza Theatre in Kyoto to watch a kabuki performance. Photo: Kyodo
Julian Ryall
The local council in Kyoto’s historic Gion will ban sightseers from the district’s narrow backstreets where the Japanese city’s iconic geisha trot daintily between client engagements after a spike in cases of the traditional entertainers being accosted by “out-of-control” tourists.

Starting in April, the council will cordon off the maze of alleyways in Gion, which are lined by restaurants and tea houses where the geisha work. Entry will be limited to the geisha, their clients and residents.

It is the latest move to protect the entertainers after the local council and city government imposed restrictions on tourists coming into the area about a decade ago when visitor numbers soared and the “geisha paparazzi” started to make life difficult for the women.

There are numerous tales of geisha having their way blocked by groups of tourists as they took photos, of the women having their kimonos tugged and the delicate ornaments in their hair touched. Others have reported tourists demanding that the geisha pose for photos and stopping them from going into tea houses for their client appointments.

In 2019, the local authorities started putting up signs in multiple languages stating that taking photos of the geisha was prohibited and that a fine of 10,000 yen (US$66) would be imposed for non-compliance. The fine, however, is impossible to enforce.

Gion was relatively quiet during the pandemic. But the number of foreign arrivals in Japan has rebounded in the last six months, and it is on course this year to surpass a record 31.88 million in 2019. Millions of travellers have visited Kyoto in recent years, many of whom would try to get a glimpse of the geisha in the ancient capital.
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