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Japan
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Kyoto Prefecture
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Kyoto
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Tours & Activities
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Private Dinner with a Geisha
2 h
Dinner
Private
About this activity
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.
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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.
Included
- Professional guide
- Dinner
- Drinks (Only if Private Tea House is selected)
- Geiko or Maiko accompaniment
- Geisha's dance performance at dinner time (except for casual two-hour dinner option)
Not included
- Drinks (available for purchase), drinks included for private tea house option
- Gratuities
Additional
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Infant meals not included
- Due to the nature of this tour to introduce authentic and noble traditions, which are not open to the public, the tour operator reserves the right to refuse service to passengers who do NOT respect our traditions with the proper manner. If, as a result, your tour is canceled, you will not be entitled to a refund
- Minimum drinking age is 20 years in Japan
Features
Food
80%
Tourism
55%
Nightlife
50%
Cultural
45%
Reviews
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Thank you for this delightful experience! It started with a short walking tour around Gion, the geisha district. Our guide Mie was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot about geisha culture, history, and life. Then we arrived to the restaurant (we picked the private room option) to meet the geiko. So I don't know how it goes with dinner in the common room, but I can recommend the private room because you have all the geiko's attention for yourself. Our evening was basically a Q and A session where we could ask the geiko all we wanted to know while enjoing great food and sake. Geishas are really amazing entertainers, and everything was very informal and relaxed.
The tour was fantastic and the private dinner with maiko was incredible. Learned everything you could, and even got to play some drinking games.
So interesting learning about the Maiko system, and the dinner was amazing!