Japan’s Geisha Go More Public

Hoping to revive a long-declining business that took a further hit from the pandemic, the entertainers are performing for large dinner shows and appearing in advertisements

By Miho Inada
May 16, 2022
Tap story

On Christmas Day last year, three dozen geisha danced, sang and talked before several hundred guests at a luxury hotel in Kyoto. Their ancient sisters would have been shocked.

Kyoto Traditional Musical Art Public Foundation

For centuries, Kyoto’s geisha reserved their art for a moneyed few behind closed paper doors. Dressed in ornate kimono, they danced in customary styles, played the stringed shamisen and served drinks while conversing. Always discreetly.

Yet, here they were under spotlights onstage at a hotel dinner show that was open to attendees who paid the yen equivalent of $200 upfront. Some fans traveled from as far away as Tokyo.

The women greeted customers, handed out business cards and posed for pictures. The scene was reminiscent of a celebrity singer’s dinner show, a popular form of entertainment in Japan. Guests went home with gifts of a local treat and an autographed hand towel.

Kyoto Traditional Musical Art Public Foundation

Kyoto, which was Japan’s capital for more than 1,000 years, is a center of geisha culture with its own traditions. People here are quick to point out that geisha is the Tokyo term— that the correct Kyoto word is geiko.

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

The city is dotted with establishments known as okiya, or maiko houses, which bring teenage girls from across the country to train as maiko. They can be seen in the evening walking to work in their elaborate chignons, white face makeup, kimonos and wooden clogs.

Miho Inada/The Wall Street Journal

There is no price list for a gathering at a teahouse. People familiar with the business say service by a geiko typically costs the equivalent of around $160 an hour, plus $80 to $160 a customer for food and drink and a tip of a similar amount to each geiko for her performance of traditional music and dancing.

Traditionally, would-be admirers needed an introduction from an existing patron to visit the teahouses where geisha serve and perform. The bill would be sent discreetly a month or two later.

These days such lavish spenders are hard to find.

While interest overseas in geisha culture has grown, the business itself has been in declining health for decades. Even before the pandemic, travel agents arranged performing events on a small scale, typically at restaurants for tourists.

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

The pandemic added to the trade’s problems, especially during periods when the government was restricting operations of nighttime establishments. Many teahouses in Kyoto’s geisha districts were closed.

Miho Inada/The Wall Street Journal

It also sparked new business ideas, such as small-group maiko photo sessions costing $200 to $300 a person, crowdfunded online performances and Instagram accounts that promote geisha-themed products such as tote bags.

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Toshimana, a 31-year-old geiko, appeared in a promotional video on Instagram for ready-made curry in a package.

She said she did her best to keep a “mysterious vibe” while pitching the product. “We should be mindful of maintaining our dignity.”

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