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HERE'S LOOKING AT US: From being a dying breed, Japan's geisha are enjoying a renaissance of sorts, with more young girls entering training schools while the country as a whole learns to respect its traditional arts.
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KYOTO - AFTER decades of decline, Japan's geisha are making a comeback.
Earlier this year the number of geisha trainees, known as maiko, hit 100 in the city of Kyoto for the first time in 40 years, The Guardian has reported.
Geisha numbers in Japan peaked at 80,000 in 1928, but now only 1,000 geisha are left. Their decline is attributed to fading interest in traditional arts and the emergence of karaoke and other forms of popular entertainment.
The geisha trade is centred in the ancient capital of Kyoto but other districts where they can be found include Tokyo and the resort city of Atami, west of Tokyo.
In 1965, Kyoto was home to 76 maiko. By 1978, the number had fallen to 28 and then hovered between 50 and 80, according to the British newspaper.
Experts believe the recent jump in the number of teenage girls hoping to enter the 'floating world' of tea ceremonies, performing arts and client flirtations reflects a revival of interest and respect among the Japanese for their traditional culture.
There is now even a modern variant of a trade which dates back to the middle of the Edo period (1603-1867) - the cyber-geisha who combine daily study of the traditional arts with the modern ritual of blogging on their laptops.
The most popular blogs draw thousands of visitors a month, according to The Guardian.
Unprecedented media exposure and a belated embrace of the Internet among the teahouses of Kyoto's five geisha districts have also contributed to the surge in interest.
'In the old days, people got to know geisha only through introductions, but now people rely on the Internet to gather information,' said Mr Kyoko Aihara, a geisha expert and author.
'Miyagawa-cho introduced themselves on the Net. They're more flexible than some of the more traditional geisha areas, they want people to have fun - and this is working for them,' he added, referring to a cluster of narrow, stone- paved streets lined with wooden houses in central Kyoto.
Another geisha author, Lesley Downer, attributes 'teahouse websites and online maiko application forms partly to enlightened self-interest', according to The Guardian.
Many people, including 23-year-old geisha Komomo (Little Peach), say the geisha world needs to open up more, and they say the Internet is an ideal tool in this exercise.
Komomo herself became a geisha when she discovered a website set up by Koito, a geisha in Tokyo who also runs an okiya or a geisha house.
Koito, who trains Komomo, has converted the first floor of her geisha house into a bar where guests can meet geisha and be entertained at relatively inexpensive prices.
'History changes, so if you just offer the same thing, it's no good,' she said. 'The service you provide has to match the age.
'We need to keep providing things the world needs. If we're not needed any more, all we can do is disappear.'
REUTERS
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