Hachioji · Culture

Hachioji's geisha district: Naka-chō and Kurobei Street

Ten minutes' walk from Hachiōji Station there's a quiet grid of lanes lined with black wooden fences. This is Naka-chō, a hanamachi, or geisha district, and one of the few places near Tokyo where geisha still work. Most visitors to Tokyo have no idea it's here.

By Luke, local guide since 2013Updated 22 October 20265 min read

Where: Naka-chō, Hachioji
From Hachiōji Station: About 10 min walk
Geisha today: Around a dozen
Best time: Early evening

Silk money and a flower town

Hachioji grew rich on silk. From the late Edo period it was the biggest post town on the Kōshū Kaidō, and its textile trade boomed into the Meiji era. Merchants entertained their clients in traditional restaurants, and geisha performed for them: dance, music, games and conversation. Geisha houses and restaurants clustered in Naka-chō, and a hanamachi (花街, "flower town") grew up.

At its height in the Shōwa era, a couple of hundred geisha worked here, some say nearer three hundred. When the textile trade faded, so did the banquets. Then, from 2002, a local geisha set out to rebuild the community, training new apprentices who went on to open houses of their own. Today there are around six geisha houses and a dozen or so geisha, and Naka-chō is the only working geisha district left in the whole Tama region.

Three words worth knowing

Geigi (芸妓): the local word for geisha, literally "person of the arts". They train for years in dance, shamisen, singing and conversation.
Okiya (置屋): a geisha house, where geisha are based and managed.
Ryōtei (料亭): a traditional restaurant with private rooms, where banquets with geisha take place.

How to visit

Walk north from Hachiōji Station for about ten minutes. The heart of the district is Kurobei-dōri, "Black Fence Street", named after the dark wooden fences that line it. It's prettiest in the early evening, when the lanterns come on and the streets are quiet.

Nearby, Sōto Terrace (桑都テラス, opened in 2022) is a small cultural centre with a tatami room and a stage, where Hachioji's geisha and the local kuruma ningyō puppet theatre perform at events through the year. It's the easiest way for a visitor to see the district's arts in person.

Etiquette

Don't photograph geisha without asking, and never follow or stop them. This is their workplace and their neighbourhood.
Keep your voice down on the residential lanes, especially in the evening.
Photograph the streets, not the people: the black fences and lanterns make beautiful pictures on their own.

Afterwards: the izakaya

The same streets that kept the geisha busy are full of izakaya, Japanese pubs where food comes in small plates to share. Old-school counters with fresh fish, retro drinking halls and tiny bars are all a few minutes' walk away. More ideas in things to do in Hachioji.

Private tour · 3 hoursHachioji After DarkMy evening tour: Naka-chō's black-walled lanes, then the izakaya, with the menu and the stories handled.From ¥9,000 per person

Questions people ask

Are there still geisha in Hachioji?

Yes. Naka-chō has around six geisha houses and a dozen or so geisha, and it's the only working geisha district in the Tama region of western Tokyo.

Can I see geisha in Hachioji?

Geisha mostly perform at private banquets, but they also appear at public events, including performances at Sōto Terrace and the Hachioji Festival in early August.

Where is Hachioji's geisha district?

In Naka-chō, about ten minutes' walk north of JR Hachiōji Station, around Kurobei-dōri (Black Fence Street).

Can I take photos of geisha?

Only with their permission. Never follow or stop them; photograph the streets and lanterns instead.