The Story of Ryuto Niigata Furumachi Geigi

2019/02/11

I have lived a life with no connection to the karyukai (geisha world). Having lived as a lone wolf writer, I never had the opportunity, and I also had the preconception that "ozashiki-asobi" (geisha entertainment) was a luxury permitted only to a very small, limited number of refined individuals.

In my late 50s, I lived in Niigata City for three years due to family circumstances and was blessed with various new encounters. Looking back, most of the important people I met in Niigata were connected by the bonds of the Furumachi karyukai. Quite naturally, I was invited behind the scenes of the Furumachi karyukai and was fortunate enough to observe their way of life from a close distance.

"Geigi culture is a comprehensive art of Japan," said Iwao Hafuku, the mastermind who made the deliciousness of Niigata's local sake known nationwide. It is not a world of romance alone.

"In a traditional Japanese-style room (ozashiki), gazing at a Japanese garden, enjoying the songs and dances of geigi while savoring exquisite sake and Japanese cuisine with companions"—certainly, sitting in an ozashiki, one finds a concentration of many Japanese essences that have been lost from modern daily life.

The Ichiyama school of Japanese classical dance, based in Niigata since the Edo period, continues to instruct Furumachi geigi, preserving old and good traditions. On the other hand, when young women wanting to become geigi had long since ceased to appear, the Niigata business community, fearing the disappearance of the Furumachi karyukai, formed a company called Ryuto Shinko Co., Ltd. with 80 companies. They created a modern organization to recruit and train geigi more than 30 years ago. Witnessing this and being deeply impressed, I wrote a serialized column titled "Furumachi Geigi Monogatari" for the local newspaper, the Niigata Nippo. This was compiled into the book "The Story of Ryuto Niigata Furumachi Geigi." I also met with the senior geigi who became geigi during the era of okiya (geisha houses) before the company was formed and are still active today. Ms. Ohmi, who was the model for Tetsuo Miura's novel "Atsui Yuki" (Hot Snow), also shared precious anecdotes with me. I heard the inner thoughts of all 14 active geigi raised by Ryuto Shinko. Furthermore, I was moved by the passionate thoughts and ways of life of the successors of the ryotei (traditional restaurants) and the patrons who support them. This book is designed so that each two-page spread tells one story. I would be happy if you could read it as if savoring a short story. And I would be even happier if you would invite your wife, husband, family, or friends to visit the geigi in Furumachi, Niigata.

The Story of Ryuto Niigata Furumachi Geigi

Nobuya Kobayashi (Author)

Diamond, Inc.

280 pages, 1,600 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations, titles, etc., are as of the time of publication.