"A president of a company, if he is 50 years old, may have never gone out for a dinner with geishas," said Sumi Asahara, an author of books on the elegant entertainers.
"But without going, you don't know what it's like. And if you don't know, you wouldn't feel bad that this world is vanishing."
Alarmed that geishas are headed for extinction, community groups in Tokyo and tour companies have started making the entertainment more accessible in a trend already seen in Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital and the centre of the geisha world.
In Kagurazaka, central Tokyo, a non-profit organization began offering performances by geishas two years ago, unthinkable in a neighbourhood where geishas were rarely seen on the streets and were shrouded behind the gates of the ryotei.
"The geisha's tradition will survive within the ryotei for people who are willing to pay high prices," said Keiko Hioki, vice president of the group, Ikimachi Club.
"But to preserve the geisha's world as part of our culture, it must be better known to the general public."
Surprisingly, the performances are popular with women and the district is now opening up to foreign tourists, with travel agent Michi Travel Japan (www.michitravel.com) offering tourists the chance to experience authentic geisha performances.
OPENING DOORS
Ryotei are also under pressure to change.
The restaurants, complete with rock gardens, rare art works and exquisite tableware, have traditionally pampered only "onajimi-san", or regular customers. Like the geishas, they have found that business has become slow and unprofitable.
Sakurajaya, a 64-year-old ryotei in Tokyo's Mukojima district, began hosting large tourist groups with tour operator Hato Bus in 2002. With a group of 30 tourists, one can enjoy a dinner with six geishas for less than 10,000 yen.
"Back when we were busy, we wouldn't have to do anything and customers would be at our door. We used to choose who came in," said Kazuko Amemiya, owner of Sakurajaya.
"Not any more. We let everyone in now."
Sakurajaya also uses its Web site to recruit new geishas, although young women who join the profession can expect an unglamorous lifestyle of rigorous training in dance, classical instruments and performing the ritual tea ceremony.
"Many people are geishas for 30 years and they don't go to lessons. They can't be called geishas, really," recalled Kokin who still takes shamisen lessons four times a month.
"Our world is changing."
Some purists are aghast at the changes underfoot, such as geishas performing for tourist groups. But for Kanae, a geisha from the Asakusa district in Tokyo, saving the geisha profession is about more than just preserving traditional arts.
"So much of Japan has become Westernized," she said. "Many people cannot speak proper Japanese any more.
"But in our world, the best of Japan remains. So I hope more people, both Japanese and foreign, come to experience it."
