Before you visit,
your questions answered.

Yes. Our English line is open 24 hours. Our AI receptionist can check availability and prices and take your private ozashiki booking request; our team then confirms with you.

For the Ozashiki Tea House, please book your seats online; the AI receptionist cannot take Tea House bookings.

Call +81-50-1793-5252 — English, 24 hoursBook Tea House seats online

No. Traditionally, an ozashiki (a gathering with geisha) in Asakusa required a personal referral. Miyakodori opened its doors to first-time guests, including visitors from abroad.

You can request a private ozashiki online, or book a seat at the Ozashiki Tea House directly.

A private ozashiki starts from ¥34,000 per person for a 1-hour daytime visit with 4 or more guests. The rate per person depends on the plan, the start time and the size of your group: for two guests, the same visit is ¥63,000 each.

The Ozashiki Tea House, a 75-minute visit with shared seating, is ¥17,600 per person at the current campaign price (regular price ¥22,000).

Prices include tax. On the 1-hour plan and at the Tea House, each guest orders one drink, charged separately (¥800–¥5,300).

See prices for your groupWhat children pay

The 2-hour plan, More Time with Geisha, is our most popular plan: it leaves time for the dance and the games as well as conversation. Our okami recommends at least two hours for a first ozashiki.

The 1-hour plan, Geisha Highlights, covers the main elements for guests with limited time. The 3-hour plan, Geisha Kaiseki Dinner, suits guests who would like a kaiseki dinner, a traditional meal served in courses, and starts from 5:30 pm.

Compare the plans

For most groups, we recommend three geisha: one jikata, who plays the shamisen and sings, and two tachikata, who dance. With two dancers in front of you, the dance looks different, and in games like tora tora a geisha stands beside each player.

Two geisha, one musician and one dancer, is a complete ozashiki, and many first-time guests start there. The 3-hour plan already includes three geisha; on the 1- and 2-hour plans you can add geisha when you book.

Additional geisha ratesHow many geisha should you book?

For a private ozashiki, send a request through our reservation form with your preferred date, start time, plan and number of guests. Enter your credit card details when you send your request; your card is not charged at this stage. We usually reply within two business days, and your booking is confirmed when we send you a booking confirmation.

For the Ozashiki Tea House, choose a date and book online. Your seat is confirmed straight away, and online booking stays open until 2:00 pm on the day.

Request a private ozashikiTea House dates

A credit card is required to secure your booking, and it is not charged when you book. On the day of your visit, you pay for your plan, drinks and any add-ons together.

On the day you can pay by card, cash, Apple Pay or Google Pay, or a QR payment such as PayPay.

For private plans, cancellation fees are charged on the total of your booking: no charge 15 or more days before, 50% 14 to 7 days before, 80% 6 to 4 days before, 100% 3 days before your visit or later, including the day. After we confirm your booking by email, you can also cancel free of charge until the date and time shown in that email (48 hours after we send it), even within 15 days of your visit. This does not apply to bookings confirmed 3 days or fewer before the visit.

The Ozashiki Tea House has its own terms: no charge 7 or more days before, 30% 6 to 4 days before, 50% 3 days before, 80% 2 days before, 100% the day before and the day of your visit.

For a private ozashiki, you can change the number of guests up to 2 days before your visit. If your party becomes smaller by one or two guests, no cancellation fee is charged for them; for a larger change, please contact us.

A special opening on a day when we are normally closed has its own terms: the cancellation fee is 100% from 10 days before your visit.

Visits can start between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Later start times may be possible on request.

We are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and over the New Year holidays, from late December to early January.

A private ozashiki on a day when we are normally closed may be possible on request: please contact us at least a week ahead by email or phone. A special-opening charge of ¥110,000 per booking is added to the usual price.

Contact us

Miyakodori is at 3-23-10 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0032, on the quiet north side of Senso-ji Temple, about a 3-minute walk beyond the temple grounds.

It is a 13-minute walk from the Asakusa stations on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, the Tobu Skytree Line and the Tsukuba Express, and a 15-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Toei Asakusa Line. Many guests walk through the temple grounds on the way. A taxi from Asakusa Station takes about 4 minutes, and we can call a taxi for your return trip.

No. You do not need to kneel to sit at the table. All three rooms have tatami floors. The Yanagi Room (1–8 guests) and the Grand Hall (3–23 guests) are upstairs, with tables and chairs. The Hana Room (1–6 guests) is on the ground floor, with a horigotatsu: a low table with a well beneath it for your legs.

The Ozashiki Tea House is held in the Grand Hall, at tables with chairs.

Please tell us your preference when you book.

Yes, we have an elevator.

Inside, the rooms have no steps. There is a step at the entrance, and the toilet is not suitable for wheelchairs. If anyone in your party uses a wheelchair or needs help with steps, please contact us before you book so we can prepare.

Yes. We order most dishes from other restaurants for each booking and can adjust the menu for food allergies and dietary requirements, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diets. Fully halal or kosher meals are served as bento (boxed meals) and require 5 days’ notice.

Please tell us your requirements when you book. The Geisha Highlights and More Time with Geisha plans do not include a meal, and you can add one if you wish; the Geisha Kaiseki Dinner plan includes a kaiseki dinner.

Of course. No one is expected to drink alcohol. On the 1-hour plan and at the Tea House, your one drink can be non-alcoholic, and the free-flow drinks on the 2- and 3-hour plans include a selection of non-alcoholic drinks.

Yes, you are welcome to. Pouring for each other is part of an ozashiki: the geisha will pour for you, and they may accept a drink when you offer one. By custom, geisha do not eat the meal, so the food is for your party.

It depends on the dish. Please ask our staff, and they will pack what can be taken home.

Yes. Couples, friends, families and business groups all book with us, from 1 to 23 guests. Families often visit with grandparents and children, and children can join the games with the adults.

Yes, including very young children. Our okami has seen grandparents, parents and children enjoy the same games together, and says the games are something every generation can share.

On private plans, guests aged 13 and over pay the full rate, children aged 4 to 12 pay half, and children aged 0 to 3 join free. At the Tea House, guests aged 3 and over pay the standard rate, and children aged 0 to 2 join free.

See prices for your group

Yes, solo guests are welcome on every plan. Because the geisha are arranged for each booking whatever its size, the private rate for one guest is ¥121,000 (1 hour, daytime), ¥153,000 (2 hours) or ¥300,000 (3 hours).

The Ozashiki Tea House is a lighter introduction, where you share the room with other guests.

About the Tea House

An ozashiki is a gathering with geisha. They perform classical dance to live shamisen music, play traditional games with you, and stay with you to talk throughout the visit. It is not a show you only watch from a seat: you can take part.

A private ozashiki takes place in a room reserved for your party. The Ozashiki Tea House is a set 75-minute program with shared seating.

The private ozashikiThe Tea House program

Yes. Every private plan includes an English interpreter, so you can talk freely with the geisha. The Tea House is held with English support.

The games are learned by watching: the geisha show you as you play. Our okami doesn’t speak English herself, and she says guests from abroad often show their delight more openly than Japanese guests do.

Ozashiki asobi are the traditional games geisha play with their guests. Konpira fune fune is the best known: a rhythmic hand game in which you and a geisha take turns touching the hakama, a small cover on an armrest, in time with a song that can speed up until someone slips. Tora tora, a full-body version of rock-paper-scissors, and tōsenkyō, a fan-throwing game, are also played today.

No Japanese is needed. The geisha explain the rules as they play alongside you, and children often join in.

Konpira fune fune, explained

Classical Japanese dance (nihon buyo), accompanied by live shamisen music and singing. Drums are often part of the music too. Our okami holds a senior teaching qualification (shihandai) in the Hanayagi school of dance, the main school in the Asakusa district.

Yes. On private plans you can take photos and videos at any time, including during the dance and the games. We only ask you not to live-stream.

At the Tea House you can take photos and videos during the program, and there is time for photos with the geisha at the end.

At a show, guests watch a set program from their seats. At a private ozashiki, the room is reserved for your party: the geisha dance for you, and you can join them for games and conversation.

The Ozashiki Tea House sits between the two: a set 75-minute program with shared seating, where you still play a game with the geisha.

There is no formal dress code: casual to smart casual is fine. Some guests come in kimono, often rented earlier in the day, and they are very welcome.

Shoes come off at the entrance, so please wear socks rather than going barefoot on the tatami.

Tipping isn’t mandatory in Japan, but at Miyakodori an optional gratuity line is provided on the final bill, and many guests choose to add one as a gesture of appreciation. This is separate from goshugi, a traditional cash gift in an envelope, handed directly to the geisha.

Goshugi is usually given after the dance, around ¥3,000 to ¥10,000 for each geisha. If you would like to give it for the first time, we are happy to help.

Goshugi, in our Guidebook

The seat of honor (kamiza) is the one nearest the alcove (tokonoma); the seat nearest the door is the lowest (shimoza). As our guest, you will be shown to your seat, so you don’t need to know this in advance.

Even the geisha follow this order: before taking a higher seat, they say “taka-agari shitsurei shimasu,” “forgive me for sitting higher.”

The geisha’s own rules are simple: never turn your back on a guest, and never hand anything to someone while standing, so that no one in the room is looked down on. Guests are not expected to know these. On private plans, your interpreter will help you as you go.

Don’t worry. No one expects you to know formal ozashiki etiquette. Reading the room and putting every guest at ease is the geisha’s job, and if you are unsure about anything, just ask.

You are welcome as you are. The geisha are trained to read the room and set the pace for each guest. You can watch and listen first, and the games are never forced.

A geisha is a professional performer trained in traditional dance, shamisen music and the art of hosting a gathering. The word means “person of the arts.” Geisha are not courtesans: they are entertainers whose work is their art.

In our okami’s words, a geisha shows you her art so that you enjoy yourself. Chikage, our okami, was a geisha herself for 27 years before she took over Miyakodori.

The word is written with two characters: gei (芸), art, and sha (者), person. In Kyoto the same profession is called geiko; in Tokyo, including Asakusa, the word geisha is used.

A geisha is a performing artist. An oiran was a high-ranking courtesan of the Edo-period pleasure quarters, a separate profession. The licensed quarters closed with Japan’s Anti-Prostitution Act of 1958; today oiran are seen only in costume parades, while geisha still work as professional performers.

Asakusa lies close to the old Yoshiwara quarter, which is one reason the two are often confused.

Geisha vs oiran: the full story

Yes. About a century ago, some 1,060 geisha worked in Asakusa; today there are about twenty, and more young women have been coming to the district to join them. There is no retirement age: geisha in their seventies and older still take weekly lessons and still perform.

No. Geisha are performers of dance or music, who train for years and keep taking lessons every week. As our okami says: “Take away the art, and a geisha is just a person.”

Maiko is the Kyoto word for a young geisha, and hangyoku is the Tokyo word. In Tokyo, a hangyoku is already a geisha, performing at ozashiki while she refines her art. Geiko is Kyoto’s word for a geisha after the maiko stage; in Tokyo, the word geisha covers both hangyoku and ippon.

Hangyoku and ippon, in our Guidebook

A hangyoku is a young geisha in Tokyo. She wears a long-sleeved, brightly colored kimono with floral hair ornaments. Before her debut she spends six months to a year as a minarai, an apprentice who watches and learns; as a hangyoku she keeps learning from the senior geisha around her until she moves on to the ippon stage, the older geisha’s style.

Minarai, hangyoku and ippon

The training before a debut lasts six months to a year, as a minarai. She then debuts as a geisha: usually as a hangyoku, or, if she starts older, directly as ippon. A hangyoku is already a geisha, and spends several years refining her art before moving on to ippon. In Asakusa there is no exam for this step. Our okami spent three and a half years as a hangyoku and became ippon at eighteen and a half.

What is a hangyoku?

Hōkan, also called taikomochi, have long been known as Japan’s only male geisha: performers with an art all their own, who perform alongside the geisha and lift the mood of the gathering. Asakusa is the only place in Japan with officially registered hōkan. Six are registered with the Asakusa kenban, the local geisha office, and one of them is a woman, a breath of fresh air in a role long held by men.

We can arrange for a hōkan to join your private ozashiki.

Read about the hōkan

There is no single agreed answer. Our okami’s own guess goes back to the days before electric light: in a room lit by large candles, she thinks white makeup let every guest see the geisha’s face and expression as she danced.

A skilled geisha can finish her white makeup in 10 to 15 minutes.

Asakusa geisha have two roles. The tachikata is the dancer, with white makeup and a traditional Japanese hairstyle. The jikata is the musician, who plays the shamisen and sings, without white makeup and with her own hair styled up. A geisha may train in either role from the start, or move from one to the other over time.

Tachikata and jikata, in our Guidebook

The names differ: Tokyo says hangyoku and geisha, Kyoto says maiko and geiko. The dance schools differ too: Asakusa is centered on the Hanayagi school, in which our okami holds a senior teaching qualification, while Kyoto’s Gion follows the Inoue school.

In our okami’s personal view, Tokyo geisha dress and carry themselves with iki, an understated style of old Tokyo, while Kyoto leans toward refinement.

Six geisha districts are traditionally known as the Rokkagai, the six hanamachi of Tokyo: Shinbashi, Akasaka, Kagurazaka, Mukojima, Yoshicho and Asakusa. Miyakodori is the only machiai chaya in Asakusa.

What is a machiai chaya?

A machiai chaya is a house that hosts ozashiki and arranges the geisha for each one. Unlike a ryotei, a traditional Japanese restaurant, it does not run a full kitchen: most dishes are ordered in from outside restaurants.

Miyakodori, founded in 1950, is the only machiai chaya in Asakusa.

Machiai chaya, in our Guidebook

Miyakodori is a machiai chaya in Asakusa’s geisha district, founded in 1950. It is run by Chikage, our second-generation okami and a former geisha, and Yuta Kawamura, the third generation of the family. For each ozashiki we arrange geisha who are registered with the Asakusa kenban; they are independent professionals, not our employees.

Private ozashiki include an English interpreter, and no referral is required.

About MiyakodoriKenban, in our Guidebook

They were different professions rather than ranks on one ladder. Top oiran held great status in the Edo-period pleasure quarters; geisha were performers of the arts. The licensed quarters closed in 1958, and geisha carry on today.

No. Senso-ji is a Buddhist temple; according to its founding legend, it dates from 628. Asakusa Shrine is a Shinto shrine that honors the three men connected with that founding, and it holds the Sanja Matsuri every May, in which Asakusa’s geisha take part.

Yes. Geisha have relationships and many marry. In the past some geisha had a danna, a long-term patron, but this was never required. Some geisha continue working after marriage.

What a danna was

The bare lines at the nape are called mitsu-eri. When the white makeup is applied to the back of the neck, two or three thin lines of skin are left unpainted along the hairline, which makes the neck look longer when seen from behind. A geisha cannot paint it herself: the hakoya, her dresser, does it for her.

Mitsu-eri, in our Guidebook

Restraint. Geisha makeup uses three colors, white, red and black, and the skill lies in how little is added. In our okami’s words: “I’d say it comes down to not adding much.”

It once happened to our okami, in the middle of winter: a whole cup of hot hirezake, sake infused with a grilled fish fin, tipped onto her white kimono. She went home, changed into a fresh kimono and came back to the room, and did not ask the guest to pay for the kimono. Keeping the room calm when something goes wrong is part of a geisha’s work.

At five, or six by the traditional way of counting age, on the sixth day of the sixth month, a date believed to bring lasting devotion to an art. Her mother was a geisha. Dance and kiyomoto, a traditional style of narrative singing, came first, then drums. By the time she entered the district at fifteen, she had been training for ten years.

A hakoya is the specialist who dresses a geisha in her kimono and obi and paints the white makeup on her nape. The name is said to come from the box (hako) that once carried a geisha’s shamisen to the ozashiki.

Hakoya, in our Guidebook