Gion and Fushimi Inari Shrine Kyoto Highlights with Government-Licensed Guide

For the time and budget-conscious traveler, experience the Gion district with our government-licensed and experienced multilingual tour guides.

You’ll start your day by meeting your guide at the Tatsumi Daimyojin Shrine, the center of Gion. While exploring Gion, your guide will show you the history and culture of geisha―from their kimonos and hairstyles to rules and daily rituals.

You’ll walk down the cobbled streets of three Geisha areas in total―Gion, Pontocho, and Miyagawacho―while you listen to stories of Kyoto’s ancient past. If you’re lucky, you may even spot a geisha on the street!

This short but value-packed trip is a fantastic way of experiencing a side of Kyoto that most tourists do not get to see.

This private tour is a walking day tour with a guide. A private vehicle is not included.

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds.

Gion (祇園) is Kyoto’s most famous geisha district, located around Shijo Avenue between Yasaka Shrine in the east and the Kamo River in the west. It is filled with shops, restaurants and ochaya (teahouses), where geiko (Kyoto dialect for geisha) and maiko (geiko apprentices) entertain.

Gion attracts tourists with its high concentration of traditional wooden machiya merchant houses. Due to the fact that property taxes were formerly based upon street frontage, the houses were built with narrow facades only five to six meters wide, but extend up to twenty meters in from the street.

Another scenic part of Gion is the Shirakawa Area which runs along the Shirakawa Canal parallel to Shijo Avenue. The canal is lined by willow trees, high class restaurants and ochaya, many of which have rooms overlooking the canal. As it is a little off the beaten path, the Shirakawa Area is typically somewhat quieter than Hanami-koji Street.

Many tourists visit Gion hoping to catch a glimpse of a geiko or maiko on their way to or from an engagement at an ochaya in the evenings or while running errands during the day. However, if you spot a geiko or maiko, act respectfully. Complaints about tourists behaving like ruthless paparazzi are on the increase in recent years.

Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社, Yasaka Jinja), also known as Gion Shrine, is one of the most famous shrines in Kyoto. Founded over 1350 years ago, the shrine is located between the popular Gion District and Higashiyama District, and is often visited by tourists walking between the two districts.

The shrine’s main hall combines the honden (inner sanctuary) and haiden (offering hall) into a single building. In front of it stands a dance stage with hundreds of lanterns that get lit in the evenings. Each lantern bears the name of a local business in return for a donation.

Yasaka Shrine is well known for its summer festival, the Gion Matsuri, which is celebrated every July. Arguably the most famous festival in the whole country, the Gion Matsuri dates back over a thousand years and involves a procession with massive floats and hundreds of participants. The shrine also becomes busy during the cherry blossom season around early April, as the adjacent Maruyama Park is one of the most famous cherry blossom spots in Kyoto.

The inner torii of the Tatsumi Daimyojin shrine in the Gion area of Kyoto. It is located near Shira-kawa, an area famous for ochaya (tea houses) and geisha activity. The story behind the shrine seems vague to me, but it appears that it was built to appease an foul-tempered tanuki who was bothering the geiko crossing the Kamo-gawa.

Over 1250 years have passed since the foundation of Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Halfway up Mt. Otowa,
one of the peaks in Kyoto’s Higashiyama mountain range, stands the temple, to which large numbers of visitors
come to pay their respects to Kannon, a deity of great mercy and compassion. For this reason, our temple is
known as a “Kannon Reijo.” “Reijo” is a Japanese word meaning a “holy place”
with which the Kannon’s compassion is abundant.

Kenninji Temple (建仁寺) locates very close to the bustle of Hanamikoji and Shijo streets, the grounds of Kenninji Temple are expansive and pleasant to walk, and the two karesansui (dry landscape gardens) here offer the visitor an oasis of tranquility. It is thought to be the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto.

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
• All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• This is a walking tour. Pick up is on foot.

• Gion and Fushimi Inari Shrine Kyoto Highlights with Government-Licensed Guide
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• Licensed Local English Speaking Guide
• The pick up/drop off for this tour is on foot.

• Meet up with guide on foot within designated area of
• Private Vehicle
• You cannot combine multiple tour groups.
• Guide Entry fees are only covered for sights listed under What to Expect.

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• This Tour is Provided by Japan Guide Agency.
• Tour Timezone & Starts at Asia/Tokyo.
• Mobile or paper ticket accepted.
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
• This Tour is Rated 4 Stars based on 20 valid reviews on VIATOR.
• Minimum 1 Travelers is required to book.
• Maximum 10 Travelers is accepted for booking.