Gion: the lanes and the willows
Hanami-koji's teahouses, the willow-lined Shirakawa canal, and the shrine the district grew around. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Hanami-koji
The main lane of *Gion*, *machiya* (wooden townhouses) turned *ochaya* teahouses running south from Shijo. Walk it at dusk when the lanterns light; the private alleys off it are signed against photography, so keep the camera for the street and respect the rest.

2. Yasaka Shrine
The vermilion *jinja* (Shinto shrine) at the east end of Shijo that *Gion* takes its name and its festival from. The lantern-hung dance stage in the centre lights at night; walk straight through the west gate to start or end here.

3. Shirakawa canal
A narrow stone-lined canal off the tourist run, willows leaning over the water and teahouses backing onto it. The quietest, prettiest stretch of *Gion* — and in early April the cherry trees along it are the reason to come at all.

4. Tatsumi Bridge and Tatsumi Daimyojin
The small humped bridge over the *Shirakawa* with a tiny shrine beside it, the one favoured by performers of the quarter. The single most photographed corner of *Gion*; come early evening before the wedding-photo queue forms.

5. Shinbashi-dori
The short run of two-storey *ochaya* along the canal — arguably the best-preserved townhouse frontage in the city. Lit lanterns, latticed fronts, no shops. Walk it slowly; there's nothing to buy and that's the point.

6. Pontocho
Across the Kamo river by Sanjo, the narrow dining alley strung between Shijo and Sanjo, river terraces out the back in summer. A *geiko* or *maiko* — Kyoto's geisha and her apprentice — sometimes crosses between engagements at dusk; you don't chase, you just happen to be there.

Gion: the lanes and the willows