Morioka, the capital of Iwate Prefecture, is striving to preserve and revitalize the time-honored tradition of geisha entertainers for which the city was once famous.
From the late 19th century through much of the 20th century, Morioka was a hub for outstanding geigi — synonymous with geisha — drawing political and business heavyweights to the area's high-end traditional Japanese restaurants, known as ryotei, where the geigi performed.
At the peak of their popularity, there were more than 90 geigi at dozens of ryotei in the region, but as the tradition faded and expense accounts were trimmed, the number of geigi declined and many ryotei were pushed out of business.