The home of geisha, carrying on 400 years of tradition
吾輩は猫である。名前はまだない。どこで生れたか頓と見当がつかぬ。何でも薄暗いじめじめした所でニャーニャー泣いていた事だけは記憶している。
The Asakusa geisha district, located north of Senso-ji Temple, is one of Tokyo’s most prestigious and traditional entertainment quarters. Its history stretches back about 400 years to the Edo period (1603–1868).
浅草寺の北に広がる浅草花街は、伝統と格式を誇る東京屈指の花柳界です。その歴史は長く、発祥は今からおよそ400年前の江戸時代（1603-1868）に遡ります。
Even in those days, Edo (now Tokyo) was one of the world’s largest cities, and Asakusa prospered as a lively temple town centered around Senso-ji. Geisha emerged in teahouses that entertained temple visitors and theatergoers coming to see kabuki performances. By refining their traditional performing arts — such as singing, dancing, and playing the shamisen — these geisha helped establish Asakusa’s geisha district as one of Tokyo’s most prominent and prestigious.
当時から世界有数の大都市であった「江戸」で、浅草寺の門前町として栄えたのが浅草です。浅草寺の参拝客や、芝居町の歌舞伎を観にくる人々をもてなす茶屋でうまれた芸者が、唄や踊り、三味線などの伝統技芸を磨き、浅草花街は東京を代表する花柳界になりました。
当時から世界有数の大都市であった「江戸」で、浅草寺の門前町として栄えたのが浅草です。浅草寺の参拝客や、芝居町の歌舞伎を観にくる人々をもてなす茶屋でうまれた芸者が、唄や踊り、三味線などの伝統技芸を磨き、浅草花街は東京を代表する花柳界になりました。
The Asakusa geisha district, which spreads out north of Senso-ji Temple, is one of Tokyo’s most distinguished and traditional entertainment quarters, renowned for its elegance and rich heritage.
Since ancient times, Senso-ji — affectionately known as “Asakusa’s Kannon” — has attracted countless worshippers, and teahouses that welcomed and entertained these visitors began to flourish around the temple. With the emergence of the pleasure quarter of Shin-Yoshiwara and the theater district of Saruwaka-cho during the Edo period, Asakusa developed into one of Edo’s (now Tokyo’s) most vibrant and bustling entertainment areas.
浅草寺の北に広がる浅草花街は、伝統と格式を誇る東京屈指の花柳界のひとつです。
古来より「浅草の観音様」として知られる浅草寺は、多くの参詣者で賑わい、彼らをもてなす掛け茶屋が出て賑っていました。江戸時代に歓楽街の「新吉原」や芝居町の「猿若町」が形成されると、浅草は江戸随一の盛り場へと成長しました。
江戸時代にて
According to the Buko Nenpyo, a chronicle of Edo and Tokyo, an entry from the Meireki era (1655–1657) records that in front of Kinryūzan (Senso-ji), meals such as tea rice and tofu soup were first served, marking the beginning of dining establishments in Edo.
In the mid-Edo period, dengaku teahouses (serving tofu with miso) became popular, and Asakusa soon saw many of them. Among them, Mekawaya near Kaminarimon was especially famous. The female entertainers who entertained guests there came to be known as “Hirokōji geisha,” also called dengaku geisha.
江戸・東京の地誌『武江年表』によると、明暦年間（1655-1657）の項に、「金竜山の門前に初めて茶飯・豆腐汁・煮染・大豆等をととのえて奈良茶となづけてだせし」と記録されており、これが江戸の料飲店の始まりだといわれています。江戸中期に田楽茶屋（豆腐に味噌をつけて焼く田楽を出す茶屋）が流行すると、浅草も田楽茶屋が軒を連ねるようになりました。特に雷門前広小路の菜飯田楽を出す目川屋が有名でしたが、ここで酒客のお相手に生まれたのが、田楽芸者の愛称で知られた「広小路芸者」です。
Further north of Asakusa, the government-licensed Yoshiwara pleasure district was established, famously known as a “city that never sleeps,” with some 3,000 courtesans. Wealthy merchants began to indulge in extravagant entertainment there. Outside Yoshiwara, guests would first enjoy light entertainment at amikasa chaya (teahouses for pre-Yoshiwara gatherings) or funayado (boathouses). It was here that male and female performers enlivened the atmosphere with songs and dances. This gave rise to the geisha of Sanyabori, popularly known as “Hori no geisha,” who enjoyed great popularity.
さらに浅草の北に遊女三千人で不夜城を誇った幕府公許の新吉原の遊郭ができると、豪商たちが吉原遊廓で豪遊するようになりました。吉原遊廓の外で、遊廓に繰り出す前の客が遊興を楽しむ編笠茶屋（引手茶屋）や船宿で、唄や踊りで座を盛り上げたのが男女の芸妓衆です。ここに山谷堀の芸者、俗にいう「堀の芸者」が生まれ、盛況を迎えます。
During the Tenpō Reforms, three kabuki theaters and two puppet theaters scattered throughout Edo were relocated north of Senso-ji Temple, forming the theater district known as Saruwaka-cho. Kabuki flourished there and gained explosive popularity.
Teahouses dedicated to these theaters gave rise to the Saruwaka-cho geisha, who were also called Yagura-shita geisha (“geisha under the tower”), named after the theater towers (yagura). These geisha were especially skilled, as they often trained under musicians who performed in the theaters.
また天保の改革で、江戸市中に散在していた3座の歌舞伎、2座の人形芝居の小屋が浅草寺の北に移され、芝居の町・猿若町が形成されると、ここで歌舞伎が興隆し、爆発的な人気を博しました。芝居小屋に専属した芝居茶屋では、芝居櫓にちなんで「櫓下芸者」とも呼ばれた猿若町芸者が生まれます。猿若町芸者の芸は、芝居小屋で活躍する演奏家を師匠に迎えて稽古をつけて頂いたこともあり、特に見事でした。
With these three groups of geisha as its backdrop, Asakusa developed into Edo’s most vibrant entertainment district.
Wealthy merchants would rent out entire pleasure quarters in Yoshiwara or kabuki theaters, indulging in extravagant banquets while enjoying kabuki, joruri (puppet theater music), haikai poetry, koto, Noh, and dance performances, competing in displays of refined Edo culture together with geisha.
For the common people, Asakusa was also the largest entertainment hub. In the Okuyama area northwest of Senso-ji (around today’s Hanayashiki amusement park), they enjoyed variety shows featuring spinning tops, magic, and sword-drawing demonstrations, followed by evenings of songs and dances performed by geisha. In this way, Asakusa flourished as Japan’s foremost pleasure district, celebrated throughout the country for its lively Edo culture.
これら三派の芸妓衆が、この三名所を背景に、江戸府内随一の大歓楽境を作っていきます。
豪商達は吉原の遊廓や歌舞伎の芝居小屋などを貸し切って豪遊し、歌舞伎・浄瑠璃・俳諧・琴・能・踊りなどを楽しみ、芸者との宴席で江戸の粋を競い合いました。
庶民にとっても浅草は最大の繁華街で、浅草寺北西の奥山と呼ばれるエリア（現在の浅草花やしき周辺）の見せ物小屋で、曲独楽や奇術、居合抜などを楽しむと、宴席で芸者の歌や踊りを堪能しました。こうして浅草は、江戸文化が花咲く日本一の歓楽街として、その名を全国に轟かせました。
明治維新からの浅草
After the Meiji Restoration (1868), parts of the grounds of Senso-ji and nearby temples and shrines were transformed into Asakusa Park. The area was divided into six districts, becoming a more modern townscape. Although the Asakusa geisha district experienced a temporary decline, it saw a revival following renovations within Senso-ji in 1885.
Some geisha from Hirokoji, Saruwaka-cho, and Hori gathered around Asakusa Park, using restaurants in the park as their base. This led to the birth of Koen geisha (“park geisha”), the predecessors of today’s Asakusa geisha, and helped restore the district’s former prosperity.
In 1896, the Koen Kenban (Park Kenban) was established, consolidating the geisha registration offices that had been attached to individual restaurants. This organization took on the management and administration of geisha and the entire entertainment district.
明治維新（1865）後の浅草は、浅草寺や周辺の寺社の境内の一部が整備されて浅草公園になり、一区から六区に分けられた近代的な町へと生まれ変わりました。浅草花街は一時衰微しますが、明治18年（1885）の浅草寺寺内の改造を機に、広小路・猿若町・堀の芸者衆の一部が浅草公園周辺に集まり、公園内の料理屋を出先に、現在の浅草芸妓のもととなる公園芸妓が誕生し、かつての繁盛を取り戻します。明治29年（1896）には料理店ごとあった見番をまとめた公園見番が作られ、芸妓の管理と花街の運営にあたることになりました。
Later, as the city developed and the geisha community evolved, the entertainment district that had once centered around the park gradually moved north of Senso-ji. By the late Taisho period (around 1920), Asakusa had reached its peak, boasting 49 restaurants, 250 machiai chaya (teahouses for entertaining), and 1,060 geisha — the largest scale in its history.
While Asakusa’s geisha district remains one of Tokyo’s most prestigious and traditional, it also cherishes the spirit of Edo and a sense of approachability. Loved by the local Asakusa community, it continues to thrive today as a living symbol of tradition carried forward together with the neighborhood.
その後、公園を根城にしていた花街も、芸妓の変遷、都市の発展に伴って浅草寺の北に移り、大正末期（1920頃）には、料理店49店、待合茶屋250軒、芸妓1,060名を擁し、浅草花柳界史上最大規模を誇りました。
浅草花街は、伝統と格式を誇る東京屈指の花柳界でありながら、江戸の心意気と親しみやすさを大切に、地元・浅草の人々から愛されながら、地域とともにこれからもありつづけていきます。