I
o e
of
the
busy
malls
i
Tokyo,
Ikuko,
Japa ‘s
oldest
a d
most
famous
geisha
da ces
fo
shoppe s
i
a
elega t
black
kimo o
with
p ecise
moveme ts.
O ly,
the
86-yea -old
is ‘t
eally
the e;
it’s
he
holog am,
a
3D
p ojectio
of
he ,
displayed
i
a
life-size
white
box.
“Tha k
you
ve y
much,”
she
said
to
passe s-by,
befo e
bowi g
a d
cha gi g
to
a
you ge
ve sio
of
he self,
c eated
with
AI.While
she
does ‘t
thi k
AI
is
“cut
out
fo
this
da ce”
just
yet,
o
to
eplace
thei
lege da y
hospitality,
with
the
geisha
umbe s
dwi dli g
i
the
cou t y,
Ikuko
has
esig ed
to
emb aci g
ew
thi gs
i
o de
to
save
the
cou t y’s
most
ico ic
a t
fo ms.O ce,
the e
we e
200
geisha
i
Akasaka,
the
a ea
of
Tokyo
whe e
Ikuko
p actises.
But
ove
the
yea s,
she
has
watched
thei
umbe
fall
to
about
20.
“I
felt
we
had
to
p ese ve
this
cultu e,
so
I
did
it
fo
the
sake
of
that
ve y
cultu e,”
she
told
ABC
News.
“This
is
the
e a
we
a e
e te i g,
so
I
have
to
go
alo g
with
it.”Afte
a
illust ious
ca ee ,
which
i cludes
bei g
the
fi st
geisha
awa ded
Japa ‘s
p estigious
O de
of
the
Risi g
Su ,
Ikuko
feels
the
espo sibility
to
p ese ve
the
t aditio .
“I’m
al eady
at
the
e d
of
my
life,”
she
said.
“My
g eatest
eg et
is
that
I
hope
Tokyo’s
geisha
dist icts
will
t uly
su vive
fo
a othe
few
decades.”
Yea s
of
hospitality
A
Geisha
is
a
t aditio al
Japa ese
female
e te tai e .
Gei
mea s
a t
a d
sha
mea s
pe so ,
lite ally
t a slati g
to
“pe so
of
a t.”
They
a e
p ofessio al
a tists
skilled
i
t aditio al
Japa ese
music,
da ce,
si gi g
a d
co ve satio .
They
live
a d
wo k
i
special
dist icts
called
ha amachi
o
flowe
tow s.
The e
we e
o ce
doze s
of
them
i
the
city,
but
today
o ly
six
majo
ha amachi
emai ,
while
the
umbe
of
geisha
ac oss
the
city
has
also
falle
f om
about
13,000
i
1940
to
a ou d
200.With
thei
st iki g
white
makeup
a d
bold
black
wigs,
geisha
have
bee
sy o ymous
with
Japa
fo
ce tu ies,
but
a
lot
of
people,
eve
locals,
fail
to
u de sta d
what
they
do.
Geisha
ope ate
la gely
behi d
closed
doo s,
t aditio ally
cate i g
to
a
exclusive
g oup
of
custome s.
They
a e
a tisa s
who
a e
said
to
embody
omote ashi,
the
Japa ese
a t
of
wholehea ted,
selfless
hospitality.They
dedicate
thei
lives
to
pe fecti g
t aditio al
Japa ese
a ts,
which
they
ehea se
by
day.
At
ight,
they
host
ba quets
i
exclusive,
high-e d
estau a ts
a d
specialist
teahouses,
which
have
t aditio ally
bee
u
o
a
efe al-o ly
basis,
whe e
ew
pat o s
must
have
a
i t oductio
f om
a
existi g
clie t.
At
a
ba quet,
they
da ce,
play
music
o
t aditio al
i st ume ts
like
the
shamise
a d
taiko
d um,
a d
e su e
co ve satio
flows
betwee
guests.”This
is
the
ve y
pi acle
of
hospitality,”
Ikuko
said.
“I deed,
pe haps
o ly
the
most
disti guished
guests
a e
pe mitted
to
e te .”
I
he
ca ee ,
she
has
e te tai ed
politicia s,
busi ess
leade s
a d
chai me .But
she
has
also
bee
co f o ted
with
the
misco ceptio
that
geisha
a e
p ostitutes.
O ce,
du i g
a
visit
to
Ame ica,
she
e ded
up
i
hospital
a d
had
to
spe d
he
co valesce ce
educati g
the
u ses,
who
mistake ly
thought
she
was
a
sex
wo ke .
Though
havi g
sex
with
clie ts
has
eve
bee
the
job
of
a
geisha,
the
li es
have
blu ed
at
times,
a d
Ikuko
does ‘t
shy
away
f om
that
histo y.”I
the
old
days,
the e
we e
ce tai ly
ma y
geisha
who
sac ificed
themselves
fo
thei
families
a d
thei
households,”
she
said.
“Nobody
wa ts
that
so t
of
thi g
a ymo e.
The e
a e
o
selle s
a d
o
buye s.”
Wo yi g
fo
the
futu e
It
was
i
1964,
whe
Ikuko
made
he
debut
as
a
geisha
i
Tokyo
as
the
city
was
hosti g
the
Olympics.
I
the
“busy,
old
days,”
she
said,
“if
a
booki g
fo
this
ba quet
was
30
mi utes,
I’d
have
to
ush
st aight
off
to
the
ext
o e.”But
soo
thi gs
bega
goi g
dow hill
fo
the
geisha.
Iwashita
Hisafumi,
who
was
wo ki g
i
a
p omi e t
geisha
dist ict
at
the
time,
also
emembe s
those
days.
It
was
1993,
a d
i
a
effo t
to
clea
up
politics
a d
p otect
co fide tiality,
the -p ime
mi iste
Hosokawa
Mo ihi o
a ou ced
politicia s
a d
busi essme
should
stop
usi g
the
estau a ts,
called
yotei,
fo
meeti gs.”F om
the
ve y
ext
day,
I
saw
fo
myself
that
the
custome s
stopped
comi g,”
M
Iwashita
said.
“That
was
whe
the
decli e
bega .”
Ryotei
estau a ts
sta ted
closi g,
a d
ma y
of
the
city’s
geisha
dist icts
ceased
to
exist.Now
a
w ite
a d
expe t
o
geisha,
he
is
co ce ed
Tokyo’s
emai i g
yotei
have
bee
too
slow
to
fi d
ew
custome s
a d
i come
sou ces
to
keep
the
t aditio
alive.
“Ultimately,
it
is
cultu e,
but
cultu e
ca ot
flou ish
whe e
mo ey
does ‘t
flow,”
he
said.Evolvi g
with
the
ew
owAt
this
poi t,
eve yo e
is
t yi g
to
adapt
to
the
eve -cha gi g
wo ld.
Geisha
a e
o
lo ge
elyi g
o
efe al
o
i vitatio
to
atte d,
a d
a e
i stead
adve tisi g
heavily
o
social
media
a d
taki g
booki gs
o li e.
The
expe ie ce
has
bee
tailo ed
fo
tou ists,
with
the
c owd
made
up
of
guests
f om
Mexico,
Aust alia,
the
U ited
States,
Si gapo e
a d
Ge ma y.”I
feel
we
have
to
take
o e
step,
the
a othe ,
a d
keep
movi g
fo wa d,”
said
Okami
Chikage,
who
became
a
app e tice
geisha
at
just
15
yea s
old
a d
afte
35
yea s
of
p actisi g,
took
o
a
ew
ole
as
the
ow e
of
Asakusa
Miyakado i.
“To
do
that,
I
thi k
it
might
sometimes
mea
steppi g
slightly
outside
the
t aditio
athe
tha
sticki g
to
it
igidly.”Th ee
geisha
pe fo med
fo
the
guests
at
the
ba quet,
da ci g
a d
playi g
the
shamise ,
befo e
playi g
a
t aditio al
d i ki g
game
called
ko pi a
fu e
fu e.Geisha
ca
have
child e
i
some
a eas,
a d
tech ically
they
ca
get
ma ied
a d
co ti ue
to
p actise,
but
ma y
choose
to
eti e
to
have
a
family.
It’s
a
life
of
i te se
dedicatio ,
but
the e
a e
still
you g
wome
sig i g
up
fo
it.
These
days,
some
geisha
houses
ec uit
app e tices
o li e
o
o
social
media.
You g
hopefuls
atte d
meeti gs
with
the
houses
to
t y
to
get
accepted,
a d
the
it
ca
take
them
a ywhe e
f om
six
mo ths
to
seve al
yea s
to
g aduate.Ikuko
wa ts
the
p ofessio
a d
legacy
to
co ti ue
a d
is
lobbyi g
fo
all
six
of
Tokyo’s
majo
dist icts
to
come
togethe
fo
a
joi t
pe fo ma ce.
She
believes
p omotio
is
key
to
p ese vi g
the
t aditio ,
a d
wo ies
too
few
Japa ese
people
eve
k ow
the e
a e
still
geisha
i
Tokyo.But
fi st,
she
eeds
to
pe suade
the
city’s
politicia s.
She’s
cu e tly
meeti g
with
a
membe
of
pa liame t
a d
wa ts
the
Tokyo
Met opolita
Gove me t
to
p otect
the
geisha
dist icts.If
the
city
gove me t
could
help
secu e
a
ve ue
fo
a
joi t
pe fo ma ce,
she
believes
the
eve t
could
“b i g
the
geisha
wo ld
back
to
life,
just
like
i
the
old
days.”
I
the
mea time,
she
a d
he
geisha
ece tly
took
to
the
stage
at
the
outdoo
festival
i
he
local
eighbou hood
of
Akasaka,
whe e
they
we e
g eeted
with
loud
chee s.
