Experience Authentic Geisha Entertainment in Asakusa Including Rare Hokan Male Geisha

Traditional Party Games Born of the Edo Period Entertainment Culture of Asakusa

During the Edo period (1603-1868), Asakusa was a bustling center of culture in the eponymous city of Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Visitors to Sensoji Temple and patrons of Kabuki theater flocked, giving rise to the rich entertainment culture of Asakusa’s Kagai, or Geisha district. This plan offers an opportunity to experience the glamorous entertainment of the district at its only surviving machiai-chaya teahouse through traditional party games (ozashiki-asobi) along with the sophisticated singing, dancing, and shamisen skills for which geisha culture is known. Experience essential traditional entertainment culture that is truly Tokyo.  

Gentle light bathing the traditional tatami room

Asakusa’s Kagai has a long history deeply intertwined with Tokyo’s broader shitamachi entertainment and shopping districts. Cherished and preserved by the local community, it has survived earthquakes and war. The traditional arts of its skilled geishas have likewise been painstakingly passed down through the generations, and today its teahouse tatami spaces transport through time with their authentically preserved elegant Edo culture.

Rigorous training under masters of the art has carried these art forms into the present day

A Neighborhood Dining Fixture Helmed by a Retired Geisha Who is a Master of the Performing Arts and Hospitality

Since its founding in 1950, ryotei restaurant Miyakodori has flourished, upholding the traditions and formal culture of the Asakusa Kagai. Even as traditional nightlife culture gradually becomes rarer and rarer, Miyakodori hangs its noren shop curtain proudly, serving also as the only surviving neighborhood where guests can still enjoy ozashiki-asobi (traditional party games) with geisha. A stone’s throw from Sensoji Temple, is not just a fixture of the neighborhood, but a vital guardian of the district’s most glamorous and distinctive traditions passed down from the Edo period.

The serene atmosphere of Miyakodori stands at perfect contrast with the bustle of surrounding Asakusa

Miyakodori’s owner and operator is a woman who has lived immersed in Japan’s traditional entertainment culture since taking up Nihon-buyo dance at six years old. Today she is known as a prominent industry veteran who has trod the boards at such hallowed institutions as the Kabukiza Theater and the National Theater of Japan. She has also served as the head of an okiya geisha house and trained numerous apprentice geishas of her own, making her a central figure in the modern traditional continuity of the Asakusa Kagai. Her attention, sensibilities, and wealth of experience have made possible a space that is as elegant as it is comfortable.

Miyakodori’s proprietress is a seasoned professional geisha herself who has trained countless geishas in the skills of the art

Geisha Performance and a Banquet with the Performers

After relaxing in the tatami room, take in a live geisha performance of song and dance accompanied by shamisen music. Graceful dance moves choreographed to the stirring music and soaring song captivate with their range and power. By turns solemn and festive, understated and lively, the ambience is savory with a rich range of tradition that is both august and fun-loving. Enjoy sharing a delicious banquet with your female geisha and male hokan entertainers in the very same space – a special experience which can only be had in the Asakusa Kagai.

A geisha graces the tatami with elegant dance

Between performances, enjoy delicious catered food and drinks personalized for you – with full support for allergies, vegan, gluten-free, and other dietary needs upon advance request. Leave your daily grind behind to rest and recover in the luxurious revelry of beautiful traditional dance and the thrilling timbre of the shamisen.

Catered meals provided. Drinks are charged separately on-site (Photo for illustrative purposes only)

Authentic Asakusa Entertainment Culture from Special Geisha and Hokan Male Geisha

No discussion of Asakusa’s rich geisha culture would be complete without a talk about the hokan male performers. These entertainers once worked all over Japan, but outside of Asakusa their traditional art has largely faded away. Only in Asakusa has the hokan tradition been rigorously preserved and passed down in an uninterrupted heritage of master of disciple since the Edo period. Enjoy not only watching a traditional hokan performance up close, but chatting directly with your hokan afterward.

A lively atmosphere unfolds as the performance turns comical

The aesthetic and atmosphere of hokan differ somewhat from that of geisha, skewing toward flamboyance and humor rather than elegance and grace. They are also known for their stirring dance and storytelling skills. Combined performances from these traditional entertainers heightens the atmosphere of the tatami room festivities – and is a rare privilege found only in Asakusa.

Female geisha and male hokan perform together in lavish Asakusa tradition

Experience Traditional Party Games

When the traditional performances have ended, your entertainers join you for some ozashiki-asobi. These are traditional party games completely unchanged from the Edo period. Compete to win against your companions, the geisha, and the hokan, singing along to such folk songs as Konpira Funefune. Customarily, many of these are drinking games, though this is not at all compulsory. The light-hearted competition and banter that results fosters a festive atmosphere full of laughter.

Place your hands on the bowl in turns to the tune of the song Konpira Funefune

Although ozashiki-asobi games are simple, they are also cultural traditions handed down over many generations, and their hallowed historicity is as sure to enrich the experience as their elegant fun is to lighten the mood and put smiles on faces. There is an immense joy in stepping into the exact same lighthearted fun, banter, and revelry that people centuries ago enjoyed. Luxuriate in laughter while saving a thought for the timeless tradition behind it all.

Sing along following the rhythm that the geisha claps out

A Moment of Leisure from a Legacy of Tradition

The entertainment traditions of the Asakusa Kagai are history in motion, with rich depth not simply to be appreciated like a museum piece but to be lived and enjoyed to the fullest together with the geisha and hokan that keep them alive. The grace of the dance, the percussive resonance of the shamisen, and the smiles and banter of the revelry have all worked to connect people throughout the ages, and stand as a unique legacy of the Asakusa Kagai.

Step away from the daily grind into a rarefied atmosphere

Leave the everyday behind and step into a world of both chic glamor and timeless elegance, relaxing and letting go of your worries and stresses to let simple joy carry you to smiles and good times.