Traditional Geisha Dance in Asakusa, Tokyo - Ozashiki Odori 浅草芸者のお座敷おどり

Each year, the Federation of Tourism in Asakusa organizes some Saturdays of April , June and November, a traditional Geisha dance show called Ozashiki Odori 浅 草 芸 者 の お 座 敷 お ど り. This performance is free and takes place on the 6th floor of the Cultural Centre and Tourist Information Asakusa. There are 2 representations of 30 minutes for each date (dates are provided by the Tourist Information Center of Asakusa). There are about 100 tickets distributed that morning for each performance at the reception of the Tourist Information Center of Asakusa. 75 tickets are distributed for seats and 30 for standing room. First come first served. The distribution begins at 10am but we arrived at 9am to be sure to have seats in front (at that time there was only one person ahead of us).

The performance takes place in 3 parts :

• The first part : Performance of three Geiko dancers in Japanese Tachikata 立方 accompanied by musician and singer Jikata 地方 . They perform 4 traditional dances including one on the theme of the contemplation of cherry blossoms ;
• The second part : Man Geisha Performance in Japanese Hokan-Gei 幇 間 芸 . He performs a comedy show on the daily live of a Geisha ;
• The third and final part : Entertainment Games with Geisha with a gift for the winner. The first game is Rock, paper, scissors. All foreign spectators can participate to face a Geisha in this game. The winner has a hand towel printed with the names of Asakusa Geisha. In the second game, one of the Geiko draws 10 numbers (which are the seat numbers of spectators attending the game) and they face the 3 geiko in a game of rapidity. A string is attached to the middle of a stick and sake cup. You have to roll the stick until the sake cup reaches the stick. The 10 participants were divided into 2 groups of 5 and the winner of each group wins a bottle of sake ;

It is quite difficult to see a Geisha and even more difficult to approach them. It takes a lot of money because their service is very expensive but mostly you have to know someone co-opts in to enter their circle of clients. So if you have the opportunity to see the Ozashiki Odori 浅 草 芸 者 の お 座 敷 お ど り of Asakusa Geisha, it is free and a unique experience.

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