00:01 John Daub: Hey everybody, it's a really hot day here in Kyoto. Welcome to Gion. This is the area that has banned photography and access to some of the alleys as a result of constant harassment by tourists of the geisha and maiko. I'm walking around here. This is the first time in years I've been here since maybe 2016 or 2017, and I already can see some of the signs. They look like this. If you can see here, you're not allowed to go down this road. If you do enter, you can be fined up to 10,000 yen, approximately 65 or 70 dollars. But there's also a sign right off the main street that says no photography. So you have to be very careful and just be very responsible and respectful of the maiko or geisha that are actually working here.

00:47 John Daub: Now this is the afternoon. Probably in a couple of hours, you're gonna start to see them come out of the buildings. We really want to show a lot of respect to the residents of Kyoto. This is an ancient city with a lot of history. The alleys are really beautiful, and I wanted to show you a little bit of it today. Now there's a shrine just down the street called Yasaka Shrine (Yasaka Jinja). That's the one that's been under a lot of scrutiny because of a guide who went there and was disrupting, maybe vandalizing the shrine by pulling the rope way too strongly, thus disturbing the locals.

01:37 John Daub: Let's go down to the main road here. Let me show you where I am exactly in Kyoto. So you can see Fushimi Inari and Kyoto Station is between the red dot and the blue dot at Fushimi Inari. This is Gion. You can see most of the buildings here are low. This is for a reason. These are all historical buildings that are often more than three or four hundred years old. They've just been renovated over the years. Machiya (traditional wooden townhouses). And this is where the geisha train and live as well. You can see they're very narrow alleys. It's the way Kyoto was way back in the Edo period. It's so authentic. It's such a beautiful spot. But it's also where tourists seem to turn into paparazzi. And once they spot somebody with white makeup, it could even be a tourist dressed up like a geisha, they go crazy.

02:33 John Daub: And yeah, leading to some of the most interesting things. I'm going to show you some of those signs that you'll see all over this part of the city. So right here we got one sign. I want to be very respectful. I'm not going to enter it, but I think you need to see what it looks like. It's very clearly marked: do not enter private road. If you do enter with no business going down this road, you will be fined up to 10,000 yen. And it's pretty clearly marked.

03:12 John Daub: Now I went to the tourist office at Kyoto Station. They got a lot of flyers on everything. This is the entire area covered in flyers. And I waited for the lady. I asked her for a map. She said they don't have one. They can't tell me where the spots not to take photos are. She said if you go to Gion, they're clearly marked. Just don't go down those alleys and don't take photos when it tells you not to. I was a little disappointed they don't have a map. Because how are you supposed to really know? But I think you will know because it's really clearly marked. We'll go down the street a little bit more and I'll show you. If you want to support the geisha, there are ways to do that. You can go to the museum here. They also have performances where you pay to go see them. And that's the way they've been doing it for a very long time.

04:10 John Daub: This is called Mikikoji-dori. A lot of construction on the machiya going on here. But it's a very nice area. A lot of tourists, many of them dressed up in yukata (light cotton kimono), cosplaying or just enjoying the experience of traditional Japanese clothes. Here are some of the posters on the side of restaurants. There's a lot of restaurants here, pubs, places. The prices aren't too bad if you can find good ones. But you almost always need a reservation. Here comes a car. You have to be mindful. This is a road where people are walking. There's another sign right across the street. On the left side, no photography, no smartphones. It's a private road. They just don't want you to film.

05:32 John Daub: And it's very clearly marked. But it's hard to know exactly, like if you're standing from here, can you take a picture going down there? It's like if you're on the other side of the line, can you be here? It's not quite clear. And the tourist information has no information on this. None. So it's kind of hard. There's supposed to be somebody here that will help you with information if you do not know. Last time I was here, I walked down this road at night, and a geisha walked right by me. They really are like ninja. They're very nimble, very quick. They walk very fast. They don't want to be in pictures. And they just dart in and out. And that's kind of the mystique of it. You catch a glimpse, and that's all you really can do. You should be happy with that. You don't have to take a picture. I think it's just the experience of catching a glimpse and being really happy with just that.

06:46 John Daub: A lot of tourists go a little crazy over it. Because you're seeing something so unique and extraordinary. Here's another one: no photography on the private road. But this one you can photograph. There's no sign here on the left or right. So I guess you can do it. Here's another sign: don't spread out and block the street. Don't touch lanterns, fences, or doors on private houses. Gionmachi South District Council. So there are signs to make sure that you are behaving yourself. Rolling down suitcases—that sound probably annoys the locals as well. So just be mindful of that.

08:16 John Daub: We can take a right or left down this road because filming seems OK. I've been here, I don't know, maybe 100 times. I've lost count. I've been here for 26 years and come to Kyoto quite a bit. I used to live not too far away. I'd never been this worried about being in a spot that I shouldn't be. The road is usually blocked or you can't go there—it's easy to know. But now you have to be a little careful because you want to be very respectful, but you don't actually know where or how. Here's another alley. See, I walked from there, and you can see it's a really beautiful alley. Just walking down it and filming it is special. I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to film the alley here. It's hard to know.

09:35 John Daub: Just walking through here is really cool. Maybe we can catch a geisha walking out of here. It's like that lady—do you remember? I think I have the video of it here. Here's that lady. She was off one of the side streets. Look at her eyes. She looks like she's in the zone. That poor woman. See, I usually point the camera down just to try to be respectful in these kinds of areas. But I think you're getting the vibe here. They're just narrow alleys of old wooden machiya buildings that have a lot of character. People live here. It's a residential area in many respects, and there are also a lot of tourists. They just want you to be respectful. And you can respect that.

10:55 John Daub: Oh, here's one of the old water pumps. This has been here for a hundred years. Of course it's been restored a little bit. These water pumps are the way they used to get water to take into the machiya. You can find them all over older neighborhoods in Tokyo too, like near where I live in Tsukuda. They have these every couple hundred meters where families would come out and get water for cooking or laundry. That's kind of neat to see. I'm kind of glad that I came. I wanted to get a handle on this issue. Most of the tourists I've seen in about 30 minutes are super respectful. They're kind of worried like me: where can I go and not go? Where can I take pictures? Am I being respectful? If I see somebody who looks like a local, I don't want to make them upset.

12:02 John Daub: So leaves me in a weird situation. I don't feel that omotenashi (hospitality) spirit in this area anymore. I don't feel welcome in Gion. It's weird. It's one of the most beautiful spots in Kyoto, walking around just the streets. I don't know where I can and can't go, and I don't want to get fined. That's kind of tough. Look at the traffic cones—they're like wrapped. These are the coolest traffic cones I've ever seen. It's the little things that are super cool. Real rights in here will cover the fines. It's more than just the money. Personally, if I got in trouble, I'd be more embarrassed by someone having to tell me not to photograph in a certain area. That to me is the issue. And I'm very mindful right now.

13:34 John Daub: Oh, that looks delicious. Crazy marble. Wow. Smells good. I just don't know where and what I can and cannot do. I'm going to make a left here because it looks like I can film down this road. Wow, I can hear a lot of Chinese. It sounds like someone's in charge—they're getting a reaming. But it sounds normal too. Sometimes it's hard to tell when I see Chinese tourists if they're angry or just talking normally. Here's another alley. Actually, I filmed an episode down that alley six years ago, Kyoto Night Restaurant Tour with my friends at Magical Trips. And it was fine back then. We didn't worry about that. And now you have to worry about everything, little things.

14:50 John Daub: Whenever they write Kobe beef, I'm always skeptical unless it's in Kobe. That means it's geared towards tourists who don't know what wagyu is. They probably pronounce it wei-gu, which is funny to me. I've seen internationally renowned chefs on YouTube call it wei-gu. I don't ask for A5—it's too oily. So let me show you the area here. I started off around this area. So this is Gion, on the side of the river. And Pontocho, which is this beautiful alley—that's where I took the thumbnail of this video because I knew I could film there. Yasaka Shrine right there—that's where there's been a ton of issues recently because this area is frequented by tourists. A lot of over-tourism, insensitivity, lack of respect.

16:36 John Daub: I don't know if it's just over-tourism. Kyoto is so used to tourists. Wow, this is so beautiful. Look at this one house on the corner. I'm still not a huge Kyoto fan. You could give me the most beautiful spot in Kyoto, and I probably would still not be a fan. Overrated. Like this show. I can tease myself and the city, so nobody takes it that seriously. But there's an ounce of truth in that—Kyoto is mostly overrated. If you didn't see it this morning, it was a pretty ridiculous livestream at Nara Deer Park. We got some senbei (rice crackers), and I showed you why those deer are gangster. You're going to want to see that one. Things went worse than I thought.

17:51 John Daub: It's been a really hot day. Okay, let's walk down this alley for a minute. Look at the way they put the holes in there for the bicycle to come out. That's funny and smart. It's a nice feeling walking around. Well, that's all I got for you today. I just wanted to give you a taste of Kyoto. If you're coming here, the rules on where to go and not to go, what to take pictures of—you know, that lady, she's been getting a lot of air time. She kind of deserves it. But it's hard to know exactly where to go. But if you see a geisha or maiko, the glimpse of it is worth it. Like wow—it really is because it just suddenly happens. There she is. And she's a symbol of Japan. They're cultural treasures. But they're also human beings. You don't need to take their picture.

19:25 John Daub: If you want to, you can go to the show and maybe get a chance to take pictures there. We want to support them because if we keep harassing them, no one's going to want to be a geisha or maiko anymore. It's not an easy job, especially with tourists. So show some respect. You can just say kirei desu ne (you're beautiful) or suteki na kimono desu (what a gorgeous kimono). They're going to be very happy. Arigato gozaimasu (thank you very much). And they'll just walk right by. Some might not even want to say anything—they just want to get to work. They were talking about where they can take photos. And the guy said, is it everywhere here? Not according to what I read. That's so funny. It's not just me. There are other tourists wondering the same thing: where can I take pictures? Where can I use my camera?

20:36 John Daub: I opened this livestream telling you I went to the tourist office—they didn't know. I waited in line, spoke in Japanese, asked where I can take pictures of Gion, if they have a map. No. She asked some guy and told me it's clearly marked and you will know. So alright, I guess that's enough information. But that's scary. Before I leave, check out this walkway from Shijo Station subway in Kyoto all the way to here. There's an underground walkway and then a passageway of about 500 meters: on the left side Retro Mario, Super Mario Brothers, and on the right like the Mario movie version from 2024. That was super cool. In the background you can hear the Nintendo music lightly. Nintendo is based here in Kyoto—that's why. I thought that was a cool micro experience. And I still don't like this place. You can keep your Nintendo. Give me Tokyo any day. This place is too pretentious.

22:16 John Daub: All right, everybody. Here we are on the main street leading to Gion and the subway station that'll take me back to Kyoto Station. I'm done for the day. I'm heading back to Tokyo. I'm kind of glad I brought you with me just to check this out. It's an interesting experience to try to figure out, to decode what it all means: tourist bans and photo bans and how do I feel about it. The only way to know is to actually come here and experience it. Now that I've done that, I just feel like Japan is losing that omotenashi spirit, that welcoming feeling. Because I just don't know what to do. The tourist office is not prepared for it. And I'm just a little bit lost, just like a lot of other people walking around this area.

23:00 John Daub: The majority of tourists want to stay out of trouble. They've all seen the news, the social media stuff. They just don't know where you can and can't do stuff. Like I don't know myself. And here they've got like this sign—I just don't know where you can and can't. Does that mean this street is okay? Is this whole livestream kaizokuban (pirated)? I got a green light here—what does it all mean? Did I just do something wrong by livestreaming and telling people to be careful? Did I break the laws? Did I step on someone's toes? There were surveillance cameras. Maybe just don't harass the geisha? Where's the line? It's so confusing. This whole law, the rules are so confusing. As a tourist walking around that area, what all of it means, what the lines are—it's non-defined. It's very Japanese in that way. I'm not comfortable in Gion anymore. Omotenashi spirit feels like it's evaporated.

24:42 John Daub: Pay to play? I don't get it. How are they going to catch the money if they fine me? Because I seriously did not know what is good and what's not. And there you have it—the experience. Anyways, I hope you learned something. I'm going back to Tokyo. This is the Gion Shijo area. Kyoto is more of a city than you think it is. I got more on the bus system—they have a new one for tourists that's more expensive but not as crowded. And I'll be talking about that in podcast variety episodes soon. See you.