Gion Kobu

…Specialties such as Gion tofu and Gion kousen were born, and there was also a teahouse like Mantei, which appeared in Kanadehon Chushingura as Ichirikijiya and became famous. In the Meiji period, Gion was divided into Kobu and Otsubu, and Gion Kobu, excluding an area called Sezeura, was considered the most prestigious geisha district in Japan, and its training event, the Miyako Odori, became a sight in Kyoto in the spring. The term maiko is often mistakenly thought to be unique to Gion, but we cannot forget the role that Yoshii Isamu's poetry collection Sake Hogai, Nagata Mikihiko's novel Gion Yawa, and the popular song Gion Kouta played in forming this yearning-like sense. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Gion Kobu" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…祇園豆腐や祇園香煎（こうせん）などの名物も生まれ，〈一力茶屋（いちりきぢやや）〉として《仮名手本忠臣蔵（かなでほんちゆうしんぐら）》に登場して人口に膾炙（かいしや）した〈万亭（まんてい）〉のような茶屋もある。明治になって祇園は甲部と乙部に分かれ，膳所裏（せぜうら）と呼ぶ一区域を除いた祇園甲部は，日本で最も格式の高い花街とされ，その温習会である〈都をどり〉は陽春の京都の景物となっている。舞妓という呼称も祇園だけのものと錯覚されるほどであるが，そうした憧憬のごとき感覚の形成にとって，吉井勇の歌集《酒ほがひ》や長田幹彦の小説《祇園夜話》や歌謡曲《祇園小唄》の果たした役割も忘れることができない。…

※「祇園甲部」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報