Summer in the garden with geisha


16th September 2011


Summer's not all about suffering in the heat, not when you have beer gardens sprouting up like first aid stations.

But the beer garden at Kamishichiken has something the others don't: geisha.












Umesaya the maiko at our table. She answered our questions about life as an apprentice geisha, posed for photos and turned a chopsticks wrapper into a little boat that worked as a chopsticks holder. When someone remarked on it, she held an impromptu origami class.












For 1,800 yen, you get a mug of beer, hiyayakko (cold tofu) and edamame. But you can add other things from the menu. We ordered tamago yaki (egg rolls), burdock fries and takoyaki (in photo).














The beer garden became a different place in the dark. The maiko and geisha looked even more glamorous, if that's possible.





Tables were set up not only in the garden but also along the corridor outside the hall where the geisha of Kamishichiken dance.















The white circles on the lanterns represent dango (rice dumplings): this is the crest of the Kamishichiken geisha district.





You could get lost among the lanterns. I really wouldn't mind.