I think the custom of calling them “Furisode” and “Tomesode-san” (I will call them FT to keep it short) only came up in the late 1980s, when only few classically trained Geisha were left in the city and a local company “revived Geisha training”. So the old Geigi exist parallely to the FT. I don’t know if there were any “classically” trained Geigi who debuted after the FT-business was set up. But there are still some of them left, mostly Jikatas.



A follower of this blog who has clearly a better knowledge of the japanese language and Geisha culture than me, commented that the FT are different from the traditional Geigi, both in their training and work.



This website has some infos about the history of the Niigata Geigi:

In the late Edo era, female enternainers began being referred to as geigi. In 1858, the free port of Niigata opened, which led to the development of the Furumachi Kagai. By the Taisho era, there were ca. 300 geigi working in Furumachi. During World War II, the geigi in Furumachi stopped working and focused on supporting the military.

Even though the geigi returned to Furumachi after the war, the industry declined to the extent that there were no new Geigi trainees from 1968 onwards. By 1985, the total number of geigi had dwindled to just 60 with the youngest at 36 years old and the average age being 53 years. Alternative entertainment options increased, the demand for Geigi performances declined, even the locals in Niigata City hardly know about the geigi and their glorious history thus further raising concerns about the sustainability of this traditional art form and its performers’ future.

(Text has been pruned. The original Text can be read on the website linked above)



Here you can learn more about the FT-business.

