Visiting "OCHAYA" in Pontocho, Kyoto

Riding on a good chance that my former boss from Nagoya was coming to Kyoto to dine out with a friend, I was invited to join them for dinner at one of the Ochayasan (お茶屋さん - a place of entertainment of Geisha) in Pontocho District.


It is really not common that you get to dine out in the Ochaya-san, especially for students. Traditionally, they wouldn't accept any walk-in customers or those without any connection to them. It happens that my boss's friend (M-san) is an acquaintance of this Ochaya, so we were very warmly welcomed there. (FYI, my boss is an owner of a large Japanese automobile parts supplier, while M-san is a board member of a company trading with my boss. Both are from Nagoya. I haven't seen my boss at all in the past 7 years!)


Speaking of Kyoto, people often think of Geisha (芸者). Even though Geisha can be found in many parts of Japan, Kyoto is the place where the communities of currently practicing Geisha and Ochaya can be found.



There are largely four groups of Geisha in Kyoto―those in Gion (祇園), Eastern Gion (東祇園), Pontocho (先斗町), and Kamishichiken (上七軒)―each of which have their own distinct characteristics and performance styles. They live in these Ochaya and entertain customers during meals.



There are two categories of Geisha. The veteran Geisha is known as "Geiko (芸子)", while the younger Geisha is known as "Maiko (舞子)". The distinction goes by age. Maiko is approximately 15-20 years old, while Geiko is older than that. If classifying by their appearance, Maiko puts up her real hair, while Geiko wears a wig. Their hairstyles are different. Their dresses are also different. Geiko wears shorter Kimono sleeves and wrapped Obi, while Maiko wears long sleeves and dangling Obi.




While we were enjoying the food, there were performance by Geiko-san and Maiko-san. Their dancing styles are indeed different.




Can you believe that Maiko has to sleep with the hair like that? They have a special 'high' pillow to sleep with to keep the hair the way it is even after sleep. There are roughly about 100 Maiko in all Kyoto, but only about 3-4 hair dressers. It is wise to try their best to keep the hair like that as long as they can. Usually, it lasts about one week before they need to fix it! Amazing!



All Ochaya are run by the so-called "Okaasan" or the retired Geisha. Okaasan takes care of Geiko and Maiko living in that Ochaya and helps entertain customers as well. (For this very Ochaya, this Okaasan is the 4th generation!) Each Ochaya has their own rules in training Maiko (Maiko is also known as a Geisha-in-training). Because Maiko is restricted with age, anyone interested in entering the Geisha world needs to start as early as 15 years old! The first year is spent under training and helping Geiko-san. Then, once the girl is equipped with necessary skills, there comes the Maiko debut.




After spending approximately 3 hours in the Ochaya, I now realized the distinct in skills of Maiko and Geiko. Indeed, life experience matters when you have to entertain customers of all age! It was really a good experience and I just can't believe that chance came to me. Okaasan, Onesan (Geiko-san) and Maiko-chan were really nice and easy to talk to. My boss and his friend also relaxed the atmosphere and turned the place into somewhere very cozy and friendly. The food was fabulous. I bet the charge was parable to its quality. (Of course, I was treated for this... so I have absolutely no idea how much it cost for a meal like this!) It was another night to remember.




Note: there are approximately 30 Ochaya left in Pontocho with roughly 50-60 Geisha.