Manners, and why they exist

In the evening they are commuting between okiya and ochaya on a tight schedule; the Gion council cited chasing and blocking as reasons for the 2024 alley closure.

Kimono and obi are costly and easily damaged; residents reported torn kimono and a cigarette butt placed in a collar. The hairstyle is set weekly and cannot be fixed on the spot.

In October 2019 the Gion-machi Minamigawa district council placed signs in Japanese, English and Chinese on the private lanes off Hanamikoji after repeated unpermitted photography of geiko and maiko and trespassing. The 10,000 yen is a posted charge by the landowners, not a statutory fine.

In March 2024 the district council announced that from April tourists would be asked to keep out of the private alleys, with the same 10,000 yen notice, and the first no-entry signs went up at Kosode-koji on 29 May 2024. Residents said Gion 'is not a theme park'. Public streets such as Hanamikoji remain open.

Asking for permission means stopping someone who is commuting on a tight schedule, and flash at night dazzles a person walking in okobo on stone. Gion Corner's winter shows, booked experiences with a photo time and performances that allow it exist precisely so that photographs need not be taken from people at work.

Gion Corner and the odori theatres prohibit it; Gion Corner offers a photo with a maiko after winter shows instead.

The kagai are residential neighbourhoods and working venues; the 2024 measures were triggered by groups loitering and trespassing into homes.

Ichigen-san okotowari is a credit-and-trust system, so a first-timer without an introducer will be politely refused; this is not personal.

They are professional performers at work; the evening is structured as hospitality, not a date.

Residents' complaints and press coverage in 2024 mentioned costumed visitors adding to congestion around Hanamikoji; the Kyoto City tourism site lists makeover studios as a separate 'experience', not part of the kagai.