Private Dinner with a Geisha

Geisha traditions are traced to the spiritual center of Kyoto, where they were specified as geiko and maiko. Such a lovely tradition can hardly ever be enjoyed privately. From centuries ago, geiko and maiko parties have been given privately only for limited members of society. This tour makes it possible for visitors to truly experience the essence of geiko and maiko in an authentic manner. During the event, English-speaking guides will escort you around the geiko and maiko district, to be followed by a dinner or party arrangement lasting two hours. Since geiko and maiko are privately arranged only for your group, you will have the chance to fully exchange conversations with them and hear their stories which would normally not be told to the public.

This experience is a truly private and authentic, party arrangement with privately dispatched geiko and maiko (geisha in Kyoto).

You may choose from four options: a half Kaiseki course option in a space with partition at Japanese restaurant with one maiko, a full Kaiseki course option in a private room at Japanese restaurant with one maiko, a full Kaiseki course at perfectly private tea houses only for members with both geiko and maiko, or two-hour casual Japanese dinner arrangement in a space with partition at Japanese restaurant with one maiko. Kaiseki, or Kaiseki ryouri, is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner originally developed by Buddhist monks, mainly consists of vegetables and sea foods. For two-hour casual course, the Japanese dinner menu will vary depending on seasons, but usually includes tempura, sea food, vegetables, etc.

Due to the half Kaiseki option or casual Japanese dinner being in a room shared with others, voices from neighboring tables may be overheard. But there will still be privately arranged one maiko with her undivided attention to the group.

Out of four choices, for the half Kaiseki course and the full Kaiseki course at Japanese restaurants, one maiko will accompany for about two hours and occasionally shows dancing performance to the recorded music. For the private tea house course, both geiko and maiko will accompany for about two hours and occasionally dance to live music played by the geiko (another geisha playing the guitar-like shamisen musical instrument exactly in the same manner from centuries ago). If you have booked the casual dinner course, dance performances are not inclued, but you will have a chance to freely enjoy conversation and take photos with one maiko for about 40 minutes out of the two-hour dinner time.

Except two-hour casual Japanese dinner option, customers meet at 5pm at Minamiza Kabuki Theater and will go on a guided tour in the geisha district. Then, at around 6pm, when customers arrive to the restaurant or to the private tea house, customers will have dinner accompanied by one maiko (both one geiko and one maiko for tea house option) for about two hours and the guide interpreter.

As for two-hour casual Japanese dinner option, customers will meet at 7:30PM at Minamiza Kabuki Theatre, and directly go to the Japanese restaurant, where you will start the dinner for two hours. During the 2-hour dinner, the guide will explain maiko traditions for starters, and one maiko will later join the dinner for about 40 minutes with interpretation by the guide. In this option, NO dance performance is included, but you can freely enjoy conversation and photo shootings with the privately arranged maiko.