Gion Recollections Museum

Highlight

These paper dolls beautifully reproduce the robes and hairstyles worn by maiko and kabuki actors

Introducing the sparkling success of Gion

In the area around Shijo and Kawabata streets, once home to many small theatres, Izutsu Yatsuhashi, a confectionary, has its headquarters. And, here, on the 5th floor, there is a museum dedicated to recollections of Gion, the famed nightlife area of Kyoto. The permanent collection lets visitors see how Gion and the Shijo-Kawaramachi areas have changed since Edo times to the present day.
The museum’s sections include a photo display commemorating 400 years of history in the Gion neighborhood; a traditional hairstyle corner introducing the hairstyles worn by maiko; a corner on the colorful predecessors of Gion introducing the men of culture with connections to Gion; Okuni kabuki performers depicted as washi paper dolls by Aiko Fujimura, and a corner on the renowned 17th century geisha Yugiri of the Tayu rank of Shimabara, Kyoto. The museum also holds special exhibitions over set periods where all sorts of materials on kabuki, maiko and Gion are displayed.
The “Kitaza Shoten” bookstore is part of the complex and can be entered free of charge for the enjoyment on the books about Kyoto stocked on its shelves.