#maruyama-cho

Upon first glance, the area around Shibuya seems unlikely to host elegant Geisha. As a matter of fact, the name Maruyamacho might not ring a bell even for Tokyo’s inhabitants. But the little district, conveniently just a few blocks away from hustling and bustling Dogenzaka, offers its small community of inhabitants a place of peace, aside this world famous entertainment quarter devoted to fashion, dining and love hotels. While even Maruyamacho still features some small cafés, little Jazz-clubs and shops, the quality of life for residents has been an important driving force for the quarters feel, so much so that they have started to form a distinct local pride.

The Geisha of the little district have a long history too: Around 420 registered Geisha worked in Maruyamacho before the great Kanto earthquake of 1923. Flourishing since its inception in the Edo period, the Maruyamacho hanamachi found success due to the proximity to the pilgrimage route of Oyama kaido. It has been one feat of pilgrim sites to incorporate entertainment of many kinds into their vicinity. But the Maruyamacho Geisha had very low prestige attached to them before the prostitution-ban of 1958, because the area was known for its adult attractions.

The earthquake changed the quarters not only visually, it destroyed the old Kyoto-style okiya and ochaya. But also in spirit as the Geisha left for other, more prosperous districts in Tokyo, some to nearby Ginza, Shinbashi or Asakusa. The hanamachi has never been the same, never regained its reputation as a traditional entertainment district. Rather, it dedicated itself to a modern interpretation and even leaned in to the pleasure district aspects with the notorious “Love Hotel Hill”- name being coined. The traditional ryotei that managed to survive closed one after another, after the economic bubble burst. Even just 40 years ago, there were still around 80 Geisha working in 30 ochaya and ryotei left though numbers were on the decline. Yet as always, the sturdy Geisha bend like bamboo and defy all odds. 

One of the most famous Geisha of Maruyamacho is one that the karyukai would love to forget: Hanayo, the Punk Geisha. She debuted in 1985 as a Hangyoku somewhere in Tokyo, but the intense training proved too tedious for the rambunctious teen who desperately wanted to break free. She loved music and loved art, yet lacked the immense discipline needed to conform to age old traditional education. So she left for Maruyamacho, worked half-heartedly as a Geisha though she gained infamy for her main work in photography, noise music, even modelling for Jean Paul Gaultier at one point. Hanayo left for Germany to create her most important work of art: A beautiful daughter. She has been living an interesting life as an artist and mother ever since.

One of the reasons why the hanamachi of Maruyamacho declined, according to Suzuko one of the last Geisha of Shibuya, was that many women preferred the idea of being a housewife and mother, after the war. Even in her lifetime as a local Geisha, she has seen many young girls try to debut and then leave, due to the hard work of keeping afloat and the wish to reconcile family and artistic pursuit. We can deduct that even in Maruyamacho it’s not possible to be a Geisha and be married, a high standard for such a small district nearing absolute extinction. 2018 saw 5 active Geisha, now reduced to three: Aforementioned Suzuko, Koito, a veteran Jikata and Hatsuki who debuted in 2014, a little sensation. Because it might be more attractive to debut from Shinagawa’s hanamachi instead, if the wish for a family were too strong from the start. And maybe some Shibuya Geisha did opt for this. As far as i know, Omori Kaigan and Oi Kaigan are the only districts to allow their Geisha to marry in Tokyo.

Suzuko is not only dedicated to her own career as a Maruyamacho Geisha but she has also founded her own company, to help revive the Shibuya Geisha tradition: The Shibuya Cultural project, or “Otohime To Taro No Kai”, is a connection of local shops and restaurants who support the Geisha and offer ozashiki to first timers. The project incorporates traditional Nagauta musicians and artists too, even Eitaro has been involved at one point. The most interesting aspect of Suzuko’s efforts is her work as a dance instructor for little children. She believes in getting them hooked at a very young and hopes to spark the interest in traditional culture in the smallest of her pupils, one might grow up to become a great Geisha one day. Currently she has three trainees, so called “Nadeshiko”, so not quite Hangyoku, probably something more akin to hobby-Minarai. Suzuko loves to invest and doesn’t care that they will, with high probability, eventually drop off. So safe to say that she is in it for the long run, her dedication knows no rewards except her own.

One of the key problems in her endeavors are the missing spaces for ozashiki. She laments the fact that there are so few ryotei and tatami rooms for traditional entertainment in the district. So if the Geisha have to leave the quarters to entertain in their fashion, how long can they be classified Maruyamacho Geisha? A dilemma Suzuko faces, as she wished more restaurants would go back to offering traditional cuisine. In a hyper modern city like Tokyo, where everything is possible, specially so in fast-paced Shibuya, maybe a faint dream. She has done her best to set an example, as she herself runs her own teahouse, the Fujimura, since 2010.

As with many aspects of the karyukai across Japan, one has to look deeper. Shibuya, glittering and modern, Maruyamacho the sleazy hot spot for hook-ups and the Geisha, they themselves still fighting misconceptions surrounding their profession. A more in-depth look reveals the very real and very human struggles of talented and dedicated artists, fighting for survival of their trade in their little district. It is nothing less than a small miracle that we still have Suzuko, Hatsuki and Koito, a legend in her own right, as one of the most senior active Geisha of Tokyo. At least, and this with all hope i can muster, Koito will not go the same path as Ayako-sama of Kumamoto, as she still has her two imouto to take care of her. In a life without a family in a traditional sense, these women take solace in each other and even more so as time passes. Wishful thinking would design a prosperous future for Maruyamacho, a district with an amazing history and even more amazing Geisha from yesteryear to today.

So let’s talk about Shibuya. As we all know the karyukai in Tokyo is made up of 6 hanamachi: Shinbashi, Akasaka, Asakusa, Kagurazaka, Yoshicho and Mukojima. Shinagawa is desperately wanting to be a part of the kagai of Tokyo but they don’t have a kenban essentially making them invisible... and so is Shibuya?

There are some Geisha active in Shibuya these days and they are also very vocal in the social media. In fact they have found a way to partner up with a ryotei that specializes in performing arts for first timers. So, are these real Geisha?

Until now consensus was Shibuya is defunct. This insanely popular Tokyo district where millions of Tourists visit for the modern shopping experience, where youth culture has impacted fashion worldwide, where the population swells from 9000 inhabitants to a commuter population of 80′000 people daily, how could there NOT be Geisha here?

Questions over questions... So in our search for the elusive Shibuya Geisha i would like to suggest these pictures as evidence:

These are Hatsuki in green and Suzuko in orange. As far as i have dug up they make up 2/3 of the Geisha of Shibuya. There is a more senior Jikata seen in this picture from January 2019 here:

The young lady in the middle is apparently no longer active and the Jikata is called Koito, treasure of Shibuya.

What makes research a little tedious is the fact that they are both described as Shibuya-Geisha and Maruyama-cho-Geisha. The latter is the name of the specific quarter encompassed in Shibuya making them an absolutely exclusive club of 3 Geisha in total but fact that Nagasaki’s Geisha are also organized as Maruyama-cho-Geisha doesn’t exactly simplify matters. Also: Eitaro and other Shinagawa Geisha are called upon to entertain in Maruyama-cho and as we explained shortly before in a post about Shinbashi Geisha, they are the more prominent and sought after entertainers for clients in the area. Why opt for some independent Geisha from Maruyama-cho if you can afford to patronize the elusive Shinbashi Geisha? Right now it seems as if Maruyama-cho Geisha Hazuki and Suzuko are fighting to survive while the ladies of Shinbashi have the whole area claimed.

Why do Hatsuki and Suzuko not join the Shinbashi kenban? Another great question, dear reader, i see you’re paying attention.

Through my research i found an extensive interview with Suzuko, she has been active for a long time. She states that she is very dedicated in keeping the unique flair of Shibuya alive. Making a point to buy from family owned businesses in the district is of utter importance to her and whenever she goes out for dinner or invites friends, she opts for a restaurant in Shibuya. It is hard not to draw a line from there to Gion Higashi and the age old question as to why girls even debut in this minor kagai instead of going for Gion Kobu, the elite district for Geimaiko.

Dear reader, i will leave this topic out in the open. Specially for the Geishablr community to add to it. I’m very interested in hearing your input. Is Shibuya/Maruyama-cho a legit hanamachi? If you are interested i can post a spotlight on Suzuko, there is a lot of information out there for a great post. Please let me know.