Coronavirus forces Japanese geishas to offer their services online

Geishas are entertainers and raconteurs highly skilled in traditional Japanese dance, musical instruments and games

In accordance with social distancing rules, some geishas are now able to offer their traditional arts in the most modern of formats, via Zoom calls

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“Chacha”, a geisha who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, dancing during an online drinking party with clients. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:46pm, 16 Jun 2020Updated: 10:23pm, 16 Jun 2020

Japanese geisha “Chacha” sits on her knees with her fingertips neatly placed on the wooden floor, gracefully bowing to an audience sitting not in front of her but miles away, watching online.

Beneath spotlights, the graceful 32-year-old geisha performs a traditional dance, moving like a butterfly and artfully unfolding and fluttering her fan.

The audience would usually be a group of older, wealthy men, watching appreciatively inside a traditional parlour lined with woven tatami mats.

But today, Chacha’s audience is looking back at her from a computer screen, and ranges from a young woman with a glass of wine in her hand to a family with several curious children.

“How have you been at home?” asks Chacha, addressing her audience. “I was playing ‘Animal Crossing’ all the time during the state of emergency!”

While Japan has been spared the worst of the coronavirus outbreak, a state of emergency was declared during a spike in cases and the pandemic has nixed most forms of nightlife, including geisha parties.

Despite Western misconceptions, geishas are not prostitutes, but rather entertainers and raconteurs highly skilled in traditional Japanese dance, musical instruments and games.