The book Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden was set in this district. 

Gion

The geisha in the Gion district (and Kyoto generally) do not refer to themselves as geisha; instead, Gion geisha use the local term geiko. While the term geisha means "artist" or "person of the arts", the more direct term geiko means essentially "a child of the arts" or "a woman of art".

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gion