Geisha Spotting in Ponto-chō

By Lyndsay Scott

There is an electric buzz in the air, a feeling of excited anticipation as we weave our way through the dimly lit laneways of Ponto-chō. White traditional curtains flow in the breeze with the sound of lively mid week diners escaping with each billow. It’s just on dusk and my belly is full of ramen noodles, the pork broth keeping me warm - the collagen cocktail fuelling my enthusiasm. Is tonight the night we get to see what we have come all this way for? A real life Geisha, in the white, ghost-like painted flesh.

We find ourselves in Ponto-chō, one of the 5 districts in Kyoto, known as the Geisha capital of Japan. It’s a hanamachi district - translating to ‘flower town’, meaning an area where Geisha live and work. Located around 350 kms west of Tokyo It is small, yet large in character and where scenes from the 2005 movie Memoirs Of a Geisha were filmed. The skinny alleyways feel mysterious - the subtle facades here do not give much away of what happens behind those heavy wooden doors, which only keeps my curiosity growing about the mysterious lifestyle these Japanese women choose. Between Shijo-dori and Sanjo-dori streets, we wander past restaurants, Izakaya bars which only hold a handful of patrons at a time and traditional tea houses dotted in between, where Geisha traditionally come to work. A few blocks out, the oak trees grow elegantly, like the Japanese gardens you may imagine in your mind, and perhaps the biggest drawcard for those curious about the underground Geisha culture - ‘Okiya’. 

Okiya are the traditional homes of the Geisha. Discreet and quiet, with wooden panelling and a gabled roof, they seamlessly blend in with the muted architecture found in Kyoto. Okiya can often house multiple Geisha, or Maiko - an apprentice Geisha - at a time, as well as the Oka-san ‘Mother’ of the house. She handles all of their meetings, work engagements, training and development. The Okiya is where they apply their distinctive makeup, where they step into their heavy, silk Kimonos and begin their evening of gracefully entertaining clients by offering tea, dancing, playing musical instruments and engaging in conversation about politics or more light hearted storytelling.

So, why is it such a miracle if we see a Geisha, quietly and delicately shuffling from taxi to teahouse in the blink of an eye? It is becoming slowly less appealing in Japanese culture for young women to give up their schooling and undertake the gruelling training in order to eventually become a fully fledged Geisha. Or as they are known in Japan, Geiko. It is not known the exact  amount of these enigmatic women still practising in Japan, however it is estimated that there is 600-1000 of them, across 40 prefectures, with 100 of them working in Kyoto. In a country of approximately 64 million women, it is clear to see this way of life is no longer desired by these younger generations of Japanese girls. Adding to the challenge, there are giggly impersonating tourists dressed in the traditional garb for fun, plus the fact that Geisha are chauffeured from door to door to limit their steps in the okobo (platform wooden thongs) and swiftly hustled into their place of work - limiting their time to be spotted in this game of historical hide and seek. 

We stop to share a Sake night cap as the last of the light bounces off the rooftops, with no sightings so far it is easy to wonder how it could ever be possible to be in the right spot at the right time. The streets are heaving now with businessmen in neat suits looking for an exclusive venue to talk shop, locals gathering for yakitori as well as tourists hustling for a spot to sip a warming whisky. The smell of seared meat fills the night air and it is very temping to consider a second dinner. The paper lanterns guiding the way inside each establishment are flickering, kindly inviting us in but instead, we start to consider the the slow mosey back to our accomodation. Perhaps we will have more luck tomorrow night I say, feeling thankful we didn’t only plan a one night, fleeting visit here. Kyoto definitely doesn’t deserve that.

Darkness has officially swallowed Ponto-chō now and we have landed at contentment with our evening, Kyoto has cemented it’s place in my heart even without spotting a Geisha. We are en route out of the village, heading home toward the Kamogawa river - when my peripherals catch something that stops me in my tracks. I can’t find the words in my shock as I’m nudging my companion hastily to look across the road and down a small one-way side street. Two tiny, delicate feet wearing bright, white socks and balancing on thick red okobo thongs are appearing below a shiny black taxi door. The sounds of Ponto-chō alley are behind us now we are only ones here. We are completely still like statues, not wanting to draw attention. Then, in what felt like slow motion but was in fact a 2 second flash - there she is. Wearing a light blue Kimono with orange accents, her Oka-san adjusting her red obi sash as she leaves the cab. Her intricate silver floral hair pin catches the light as she swiftly glides through the cotton curtains into the teahouse with no more than a breath. The cab door shuts and drives away slowly and the reality of what we have just witnessed, a real life Geisha in the wild, sets in. 

We collect ourselves and continue our walk back to the Nazuna Gosho - high on our experiences this evening in this beautiful little wooden panelled village. Ponto-chō has the perfect balance of traditional foundations with novelty weaved throughout, it is lively but moody at the same time, all with a secret world under the surface which engages all of your senses at once and keeps you present in the moment, as you don’t want to miss a thing. And just like that I realise - perhaps we are always in the right place at the right time.