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A ryōtei (料亭) is a type of traditional Japanese restaurant. Traditionally, ryōtei only accept new customers by referral and feature entertainment by geisha, but in modern times this is not always the case. Ryōtei are typically places where high-level business or political meetings can take place discreetly.
Geiko and maiko have existed in Ponto-chō since at least the 16th century, as have prostitution and other forms of entertainment. Today, the area, lit by traditional lanterns at night, contains a mix of exclusive restaurants — often featuring outdoor riverside dining on wooden patios — geisha houses and tea houses, brothels, bars, and cheap eateries.
A typical kaiseki restaurant in Gion. Gion retains a number of old-style Japanese houses called machiya, which roughly translates to "townhouse", some of which function as ochaya, or "teahouses", where geisha entertain guests at parties, involving singing, traditional dance performances, drinking games and conversation.
Geisha (芸者) (/ ˈ ɡ eɪ ʃ ə /; Japanese:), [1] [2] also known as geiko (芸子) (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or geigi (芸妓), are female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles, such as dance, music and singing, as well as being proficient conversationalists and hosts.
Though the term ochaya literally means "tea house", the term follows the naming conventions of buildings or rooms used for Japanese tea ceremony, known as chashitsu (茶室, lit. "tea room"); as such, though tea is served at ochaya as an ordinary beverage, it is not, unlike teahouses and tearooms found throughout the world, its sole purpose.
The establishment is a major setting in Arthur Golden's fictional portrayal of a Gion geisha's life in Memoirs of a Geisha, though Golden himself never visited the teahouse. [6] The Ichiriki is a major setting in the bunraku play Kanadehon Chūshingura, depicting the story of the forty-seven rōnin. [8] [9]
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An okiya (置屋) is the lodging house/drinking establishment to which a maiko or geisha is affiliated with during her career as a geisha. The okiya is typically run by the "mother" (okā-san) of the house, who handles a geisha's engagements, the development of her skills, and funds her training through a particular teahouse.