Maikoya Osaka is an upscale cultural experience centre established to teach the whole world the skills practiced by the Maiko in the historical Shinmachi district of Osaka. The cafe is the first floor of the building that serves as a culture museum and a heritage house.
Here, visitors can meet and chat with an apprentice geisha, any time of the year. The building was constructed on a property where an actual geisha house stood until the mid-1980s. Located in Shinmachi, Maikoya Osaka is at the center of an area that served as an entertainment hub and had many geisha houses during the Edo period.
Maikoya Osaka has many offerings. There is a cafe with specialty products such as golden ice cream and an elegant gold flake covered Kobe beef sandwich that costs $300. These dishes are served by a geisha whom visitors can chat and take pictures with. There’s a live koto or shamisen performance at certain times of the day. Visitors also have the chance to make reservations to participate in a tea ceremony led by an English speaking geisha.
For many who travel to Japan, one of the most elusive dreams is meeting an actual geisha; modern day geishas usually have closed networks and only a few extremely lucky or very well-connected people have the opportunity of glimpsing this mysterious world. Maikoya Osaka aims to open the exclusive world of the geisha to people of all walks, and teach visitors not only about geisha but also about the traditional Japanese arts and crafts that geishas excel at. These include the tea ceremony, Japanese dance, calligraphy, and Japanese cooking classes.
To interact with actual geisha as they practice their crafts, Maikoya Osaka is the best place to visit. Please note that Maykoya is not a geisha house or Okiya and does not follow the code of Kyoto or Tokyo geisha houses or is affiliated with any okiya or geisha association.
www.mai-ko.com
