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Kyoto temple bans visitors from wearing kimono

Casey Baseel
Sep 4, 2026
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Visitors to 600-year-old temple prohibited from wearing traditional garment following problems caused by those prioritizing cool social media photos over basic manners.

Japan
(COK • culture • Gion • Japan travel • kimono • Kyoto • overtourism • Seiraiin • temples • tourism • travel)

Kyoto shop turns traditional Japanese kimono into teddy bears, with special meaning hidden in their patterns

Oona McGee
Aug 18, 2026

Mimirin in Gion gives us a new way to embrace Japanese culture… literally.

Japan
(chirimen • fabric • gifts • Gion • kimono • kimono teddy bear • Kyoto • Mimirin • souvenirs • teddy bear • Teddy Bears • yuzen)

Ramen for 99 yen?!? Best value-for-money noodles found at unlikely chain in Japan

Oona McGee
Mar 1, 2026

Not many people know about it, but there’s a way to get ramen for just 64 cents in Japan.

Japan
(COK • food • Gion • green tea • Kyoto • matcha • Noodles • ramen • restaurants)

Japan’s first all-matcha ramen restaurant is now open in Kyoto【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Feb 7, 2026

Ramen Nishiki Sui has a very fitting name.

Japan
(COK • food • Gion • green tea • Kyoto • matcha • Noodles • ramen • restaurants)

Is Kyoto less crowded with tourists after China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning?【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Dec 1, 2025

No city in Japan is more symbolic of overtourism these days than Kyoto, so is the travel downturn from China having a noticeable effect?

Japan
(China travel warning • COK • Gion • Japan travel • kiyomizu • Kyoto • Nishiki Market • politics • SNJO • society • tourism • travel)

Speed sutras and taxi-riding geisha preserve Kyoto’s traditions through scorching hot weather

Elliot Hale
Oct 6, 2025

Even weeks of record heat won’t keep Kyoto from carrying on its cherished rituals.

Japan
(COK • cool • cultural traditions • culture • geisha • Gion • Hassaku • Kamo River • Kyoto • maiko • Nishi Honganji temple • Noryo Yuka • summer • summer heat • sutra • taxi • tradition)

Tourist ban now in effect in Kyoto’s Gion geisha district…but are visitors obeying the rules?

SoraNews24
May 31, 2024

A recent video of a maiko being chased by a tourist in Gion proves why the ban is necessary.

Japan
(etiquette • geisha • Gion • Kyoto • Kyoto rules • maiko • news • overtourism • tourism • travel)

Kyoto bans tourists from geisha alleys in Gion, with fines for those who don’t follow rules

Oona McGee
Mar 20, 2024

Historic area wants foreign visitors to know it’s not a theme park.

Japan
(etiquette • geisha • Gion • Kyoto • Kyoto rules • maiko • news • overtourism • tourism • travel)

Have a refreshing summer night’s stay in Kyoto with the Yojiya Pretty Girl Room Stay in Gion

Dale Roll
Jun 12, 2023

Cooling beauty products, minty fresh sweets, and a beautiful hotel–what else could you want?

Japan
(beauty • chocolate mint • Gion • hotel • hotel plan • Kyoto • mint • OMO5 Kyoto Gion • summer • vacation • Yojiya)

Rainy day in Kyoto creates amazing photo of sakura above, below, and all around

Casey Baseel
Apr 7, 2023

Usually rain isn’t what you want when the cherry blossoms are blooming, but this is a very beautiful exception.

Japan
(beautiful • cherry blossoms • Gion • Kyoto • photography • rain • sakura)

Kyoto’s uniquely beautiful New Year’s tradition is being carried on by Starbucks Japan【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Dec 16, 2022

Before all of Japan had gacha machines, Kyoto had fukudama, and the coffeehouse chain is helping make sure the city still does.

Japan
(beautiful • capsule toys • coffee • cool • culture • fukudama • Gion • Kyoto • New Yaar's • Oshogatsu • Starbucks • Starbucks Japan • Starbucks Jimoto Made • Year of the Rabbit)

A first-time visit to Kyoto’s Gion Festival becomes a night to remember

Oona McGee
Jul 25, 2022

There’s more to these giant Yamahoko floats than first meets the eye.

Japan
(chimaki • COK • culture • Egawa Tasuku • festivals • floats • Gion • Gion Festival • Gion Matsuri • Kyoto • SNJO • sweets • tradition • travel)

Japan respectfully says goodbye to a single bamboo shoot in Kyoto

Casey Baseel
May 21, 2022

Takenokone given death poem, posthumous name.

Japan
(bamboo shoots • cool • Gion • Kyoto • moving • touching • video • weird)

We eat Japan’s oldest sweet, available at only one store in all of Japan

Oona McGee
Feb 2, 2021

Edo period confectionery store learnt the secret recipe from a monk on a mountain in Kyoto.

Japan
(culture • food • Gion • history • Japanese history • Japanese sweets • Kyoto • SNJO • taste test • traditional • unusual • unusual food • wagashi)

Disney collaborates with traditional Kyoto designers for exhibition series【Photos】

Shannon
Jan 28, 2021

Ever wanted to rock Disney and traditional Japanese style at the same time? Now you can.

Japan
(beautiful • cool • crafts • culture • Disney • Gion • japanese design • Kyoto)

Jamaican-style ramen in Kyoto: A cross-cultural hit, or just jerking your taste buds around?

Casey Baseel
Oct 30, 2019

Ramen and jerk chicken are delicious on their own, but do they play nice together?

Japan
(COK • cool • food • Gion • Jamaica • jerk chicken • Kyoto • ramen • restaurants • SNJO • taste test • weird)

Kyoto’s popular tourist spot Gion to forbid photos on private roads, 10,000 yen fine to violators

Scott Wilson
Oct 27, 2019

Trespassing of both property and people have led to this development.

Japan
(bad manners • geisha • Gion • Kyoto • maiko • photography • tourism • traditional Japan)

Beautiful Kyoto Hard Rock Cafe, and we stopped by to try its exclusive signature burger【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Jul 23, 2019

And check out the cool Kyoto-themed merch, of course.

Japan
(burgers • COK • food • Gion • Hard Rock Cafe • Kyoto • machiya • music • restaurants • SNOJ)

The quintessential Kyoto experience: becoming a maiko for the day! 【Pics & video】

Evie Nyan
Aug 4, 2015

They say that it’s rare to see a real maiko walking the streets of Kyoto, since these artists usually work at night and live in their own secluded world, far from the rest of Japanese society. In fact, if you spot a maiko strolling around Gion during the day, there’s a good chance she’s a tourist who’s undergone a fabulously elaborate makeover.

We took our Japan Wish competition winner Ashley to a studio in Kyoto’s Gion neighborhood to have a maiko-over and be transformed in an amazing process that yielded completely stunning results. Ashley was able to choose her own kimono and obi sash, and as part of the deal she was treated to a professional photography session and the opportunity to take a stroll around the streets of Gion in full maiko garb!

Internet, Japan, USA
(geisha • Gion • Japan Wish • kimono • Kyoto • maiko • makeover)

Despite raging typhoon, Gion Matsuri goes on as it has for over 1,000 years【Video】

Cara Clegg
Aug 2, 2015

The Gion Festival, or Gion Matsuri, has been celebrated consistently for over a thousand years and is one of the most famous festivals in Japan. The highlight is the Yamahoko Parade which occurs twice, on July 17 and July 24, and our competition winner’s wish was to see it happen with her own eyes here in Japan. This year, with a incoming typhoon, there were rumors swirling about the festival being cancelled, but with hardly any interruptions in its long history, this parade wasn’t about to be stopped by mere weather!
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