Geigi Tradition Regains Glamor in Shizuoka Pref. Spa Town; Support Organization Helps Performers Recover from Pandemic Crisis

IZUNOKUNI, Shizuoka — As I walked down a narrow path on the edge of an onsen spa town in Izunokuni, Shizuoka Prefecture, the sound of a shamisen floated from an old two-story house. I could faintly hear Nagauta traditional chanting, too. I opened the house’s aged glass door and was greeted by a beaming woman in a kimono. “Irasshai,” (Welcome) she said. Her name was Kumi, and she was a geigi, another word for a geisha.