INSIDER
Maiko: I Tried to Leave the Geisha World. They Sent Me a Bill
A former maiko who says she was harassed and abused in Japan's geisha world is now telling her story, including the enormous…
geisha
INSIDER
INSIDER
The Museum of Roadside Art: Inside The Tokyo Museum Where Sex and Kitsch Collide
Inside Tokyo's Museum of Roadside Art, a Japanese photojournalist's mission to save erotic art others consider too "lowbrow" to preserve.
SEX & NIGHTLIFE
Why Japanese Nightlife’s “Attention Economy” Is Better Than Sex
Why do people in Japan pay so much for non-sexual companionship? A look at how an industry born in the Edo Era…
HISTORY
Kikuya: The Cast-Out Dancer Who Invented the Geisha
The Tatsumi Geisha were the first female geisha of Japan. And they owe their existence to a woman driven out of her…
TRAVEL
Kiyosumi-Shirakawa: Tokyo’s Quiet Neighborhood of Coffee, Art, and Edo History
Kiyosumi-Shirakawa is one of Tokyo's quietest neighborhoods, where Edo history, a Mitsubishi-built stroll garden, contemporary art, and Japan's third-wave coffee scene sit…
TRAVEL
Are Domestic Japanese Tourists Avoiding Kyoto? One Study Aims to Find Out
The Kyoto Chamber of Commerce aims to utilize the data to support local businesses that have been impacted by the surge in…
WOMEN
Japanese Business Org Only Wants Geisha Under 25 Because Men Like ‘Em Young
The city's Chamber of Commerce has a Leonard DiCaprio Rule for new geisha, saying they can't be older than 25.
TRAVEL
Kyoto to Raise Lodging Tax By Up to 10x, Highest in Japan
In a bid to fund train station improvements, Kyoto will raise the top tax on the city's most expensive hotel rooms to…