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April 25, 2024
 

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GEISHA

Visitors will be banned from entering private alleys in Kyoto's famous geisha district, Gion, after the district council urged the city to tackle the issue, saying their neighborhood "is not a theme park."
JAPAN / Society
Mar 7, 2024
Tourists banned from private alleys in Kyoto's geisha district
Gion's main Hanamikoji Street, which is public, will remain open to tourists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 12, 2023
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s ‘The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House’ is light and dusted with sugar
The Palme d'Or-winning filmmaker acts as showrunner and co-writer on this Netflix series that peacefully drifts through a year in a shared residence for apprentice geisha in Kyoto.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jan 28, 2021
Geisha-turned-YouTuber Kimono Mom taps into the heart of parenting
The life of a geisha in Japan is often perceived as being shrouded in mystery, the exact opposite of what you'd imagine life is like for a YouTuber. It's a contradiction that “Kimono Mom” knows well.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 9, 2019
Kafu Nagai's 'Geisha in Rivalry' abounds with scheming, manipulation and, yes, sex
Although this edition of 'Geisha in Rivalry' is a translation of a censored version of the more racy original, it represents Nagai's rediscovery of the fast-disappearing traditional culture of Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 14, 2019
Torn between airplanes and Japanese arts, former Air Self-Defense Force officer debuts as geisha in Gifu
A 32-year-old woman who used to serve in the Air Self-Defense Force debuted last month as a geiko — another term used to refer to geisha — in Gifu, a city known for having a unique tradition of entertaining guests on riverboats with geisha performances and ukai cormorant fishing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 9, 2017
'Now a Geisha' follows the graduation of an apprentice maiko
Shelves of books on geisha are already overflowing, but "Now A Geisha" still deserves a space.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 25, 2017
Japan's geisha battle to protect their future
A handful of traditional female entertainers across the country are experimenting with innovative ways of preserving their culture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2017
Small Japanese credit union outperforms mega-banks by lending to geisha and local startups
Kikuno Kashima, a Tokyo geisha, couldn't get a bank loan to open a club for her patrons and select guests until a tiny credit union agreed to lend her the money. Now she's part of a lending model that's doling out cash to startup companies and yielding surprisingly high profits in the process.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2017
Geisha taps Sapporo businesses to keep tradition alive
Sapporo's Susukino entertainment district used to host one of the nation's biggest red-light districts with more than 300 geisha in the 1950s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 28, 2017
Photographer John Paul Foster: 'Little details separate a good photograph from a great one'
American photographer on geisha cluture and the art of taking a great picture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 18, 2017
American aspires to fulfill childhood dream as geisha in Japan
In modern times joining the fascinating yet cloistered world of a geisha — even for young Japanese girls — is rare indeed.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 3, 2016
Strolling the quiet alleyways of Nara, Japan's forgotten capital
It's hard playing second fiddle when you used to be first chair. Just ask Nara, Kyoto's underpraised southern neighbor.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2016
Morioka embraces new young talent to keep geisha tradition alive
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Apr 30, 2016
The German mischief maker here; Eating in London is real problem; New effort to rectify Japan's image planned; Ad-zapping VCR gains popularity
100 YEARS AGOWednesday, May 17, 1916
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2016
Kyoto's famous geisha to get a helping hand with subsidized business cards
A foundation in Kyoto said Friday it will start subsidizing business cards for local geisha in an effort to promote the culture of female entertainers in the ancient capital.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 17, 2015
'Little Songs of the Geisha' collected by an American anthropologist
The label kouta (which roughly translates as, "little song") has been applied to any number of popular Japanese music forms over the centuries. But these days, the word usually refers to a specific genre of shamisen music that evolved in 19th-century Edo (present-day Tokyo) from existing popular styles, particularly hauta (roughly, "short songs"). The first kouta is traditionally said to have been "Chiru wa Uki" ("Those that fall float"), composed in 1855 by "Joruri" puppet theater singer Kiyomoto Oyo (1840-1901), and by the early 20th century kouta was a lively and varied form — and a vital part of a geisha's repertoire of light entertainment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2014
Review: Wails to Whispers at SuperDeluxe, Tokyo
Visitors to Roppongi's SuperDeluxe last Friday arrived to find the basement venue decked out with tatami mats and a polite sign at the door asking them to remove their shoes on the way in. This was the setting for Wails to Whispers, one of the more conceptually ambitious events held during Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo, in which an evening of aural extremity featuring some of Japan's most abrasive underground icons gave way to an all-night ambient slumber party.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 17, 2014
'My Fair Lady' wrapped in a geisha's kimono
The musical used to be among the rarest of Japanese film genres. Plenty of films here — going back to the early talkies — featured singing and dancing, but Broadway-style musicals, which integrate the songs into the story, never really caught on.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2013
A world of flowers and willows in Kyoto's geisha districts
'No matter what happens / I am in love with Gion. / Even when I sleep, / Beneath my pillow / The waters ripple.'
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2013
Geisha establishments begin wooing women
Faced with flagging demand from their usual customer base of wealthy male patrons, a number of establishments employing traditional geisha entertainers are enthusiastically courting interest in their services from women.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan's former PM Aso meets Trump for talks on security and economy
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Taro Aso, vice president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in New York on Tuesday. The Japanese government’s top spokesman on Wednesday played down the meeting as one conducted "in the capacity of one lawmaker" and “without the government’s involvement.”
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa
A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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