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. But with the burst of the bubble economy in the late 1980s dealing a heavy blow to the local economy, the number has ...
American photographer on geisha cluture and the art of taking a great picture.
In modern times joining the fascinating yet cloistered world of a geisha — even for young Japanese girls — is rare indeed. But if you weren't born Japanese and still harbor aspirations of becoming one of the traditional teahouse entertainers, though it's probably easier than ...
It's hard playing second fiddle when you used to be first chair. Just ask Nara, Kyoto's underpraised southern neighbor. In 710, Japan's seat of power settled in Nara, on the plains of the Yamato Province. While previous centuries had seen the capital move after the ...
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 ...
100 YEARS AGO Wednesday, May 17, 1916 Few realize the menace of resident Germans Count Okuma, judging from his utterances a few days ago, is not unaware of the menace of the German in Japan. He says the German is to be eliminated as a factor or ...
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. The Ookini Foundation said from the new fiscal year starting April 1 it will pay up ...
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) ...
"No matter what happens / I am in love with Gion. / Even when I sleep, / Beneath my pillow / The waters ripple."
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. Last summer, Hamacho, a "ryotei" (traditional high-class restaurant) in Kochi, began offering a women-only group ...
Being a talented conversationalist is a vital part of the skill set of any accomplished hostess. The same goes for top-class geisha. Veteran geisha Ikuko, for example, recalls scouring newspapers avidly for potential conversation topics, dining with her apprentices every morning, and even frequenting ...
Lesley Downer's seven books range widely in genre and subject. Here she reflects on their inspiration and her experiences writing them. "On the Narrow Road to the Deep North: Journey into a Lost Japan" (1989): Downer's first book, a travelogue, recounts a journey she made ...
