Ryotei Miyakodori
Your Ozashiki Begins Here.
Not a show, but a shared evening.
English interpreter included on every private evening · Since 1950
A Promise
Before this becomes a reservation, let it be a story. Miyakodori has kept its doors in Old Asakusa since 1950 — and the woman who runs it has spent her whole life inside this world.
“Even now, I do not think I have mastered it. This work — and the language to share it — is a lifetime of training, a lifetime of study.”
— Okami Chikage
When the okami, who has spent a lifetime in this world, speaks of “beautiful play”, it is worth taking her at her word. That is the spirit of an evening here. The geisha who join you that night will pour for you, teach you a game, share the meal and the hours — graceful, unhurried, never merely transactional. The okami calls the right kind of guest someone of kirei na asobi.
Not a show, but a shared evening.
Plans
If the story has found you, here is how to step into it.
2-Hour Signature · Two Geisha
Two geisha as standard — the okami recommends adding a third (+¥60,000) for the fullest version of the evening. The games of the tatami room, music and conversation. A kaiseki course can be added.
From ¥53,000 per person · +¥60,000 for a third geisha
3-Hour Full Course
A seasonal kaiseki meal woven through the night. Three geisha as standard — the okami recommends five (+¥85,000 per additional geisha) for the fullest version — and time for everything to breathe. For an anniversary, or someone who matters.
From ¥110,000 per person · +¥85,000 per additional geisha
1-Hour Private Evening
The briefest of the private evenings — a private room, two geisha, music and a game or two. Additional geisha can be arranged for a fuller hour.
From ¥40,000 per person · +¥65,000 per additional geisha
Final pricing depends on group size and selected options. An English interpreter is included on every private plan.
If a private evening is more than you can arrange right now, the 75-minute tea house offers a brief, shared introduction — one geisha, the konpira game, in shared seating. It is bookable instantly. For a first geisha experience worth keeping, however, the okami still recommends one of the private evenings — that is where the room truly opens.
From ¥17,600 per person · 75 minutes, shared seating
Larger parties, corporate evenings, or an occasion that fits no standard plan — tell us what you have in mind.
Each plan can be enriched with additional geisha — 1H +¥65,000 / 2H +¥60,000 / 3H +¥85,000 per geisha. Please ask at booking.
Extensions are available in 60-minute increments per geisha. See the Pricing page for current rates.
An English interpreter is included on private plans.
The Evening
This is one private evening at Miyakodori — told the way it is lived.
You leave the Sensō-ji crowds a few streets behind. Shoes off, a low table, the quiet of a tatami room. Outside, Old Asakusa goes on; inside, the evening has already slowed down.
The jikata draws the first notes from her shamisen and begins to sing — and in the same breath, the tachikata rises and dances. The music and the dance are one performance, side by side, at arm’s length. There is no stage. The room itself becomes one.
You are taught konpira-fune-fune — a tatami-room game played to the song. The loser drinks the forfeit cup. Lose, and you laugh. Win, and you laugh more. Some guests say the losing is the better half. Between rounds the conversation grows easier — and what truly fills the room is not the sake, but the warmth that comes with sharing the time.
What you have just read is a private evening — the room, the geisha, and the pace, yours alone. The 2-hour Signature is the okami’s recommendation for a first visit; the 3-hour Full Course adds the kaiseki meal and a third geisha.
Not a show, but a shared evening — you are inside it.
The People
Born and raised in Asakusa, Chikage entered the geisha world in 1969 and has run Miyakodori as its okami for thirty years. A shihandai (master-instructor) in the Hanayagi school of classical dance — and still, she will tell you, she is studying.
The geisha who join an evening here are independent artists of the Asakusa hanamachi, registered with the local kenban. Miyakodori invites them. Many of them have told us how they came to this life — every one of them by a different path.
Geisha come in two roles — the tachikata, who dances in white makeup and traditional hair, and the jikata, who plays shamisen and sings, with her hair styled in her own way and her face unpainted. Both will be in the room with you.
Voices
The evenings here are private, but some guests have shared theirs.
“This wasn’t a staged or ’tourist’ version of geisha culture. This was the real thing — traditional instruments, graceful movement, live singing and dancing. They were true artists.”
— Guest, 2025 · via Google Reviews
“A wonderful way to experience the geisha story, told by practicing geisha ladies and their retired geisha support. The music was played live, the hosts were so kind.”
— Guest, 2025 · via Google Reviews
“I highly recommend this experience. I really wanted to photograph a Geisha and this opportunity fulfilled all my wishes. Photography was allowed all throughout the programme and the Geisha and staff were so welcoming and accommodating. I also learned a great deal about the Geisha lifestyle and culture. Loved every moment!”
— Guest, 2025 · via Google Reviews
A ryotei in Old Asakusa, founded 1950 — privately run by Okami Chikage for thirty years.
The geisha are independent artists of the Asakusa hanamachi, registered with the local kenban.
English interpretation is included on every private plan.
I don’t speak Japanese. Will that be a problem?
No. An English interpreter is included on private plans. The evening is built for first-time guests from abroad.
Do I need to know the etiquette beforehand?
Not at all. The geisha and the okami guide you through everything — how to sit, how to play, how to pour. The okami says a “beautiful evening” is not about money or knowing the rules; it is about sharing the time with an open, easy spirit.
Is this a show I watch, or something I take part in?
You take part. You will be taught a game, you will pour and be poured for, you will talk with the geisha.
Can I take photographs?
On private plans, photos and video are welcome at any time (live-streaming is the only exception).
Which plan should I choose?
For a first private evening, the okami recommends the 2-hour Signature. For a seasonal kaiseki meal woven through the night, the 3-hour Full Course. The 75-minute tea house is the gentlest first taste, but the private evenings are where the experience truly opens up.
Select your date and plan below, submit your request via TableCheck — we reply in English.
You have read the evening. Now plan one of your own — the room, the geisha, and the pace, all yours. You will be inside the ozashiki, not watching it from the outside.
Not a show, but a shared evening.
Miyakodori — 3-23-10 Asakusa, Taitō-ku, Tokyo 111-0032
Tel: +81-3-3874-2175
Reservations 14:00–20:00 (last reservation) · Closed weekends & holidays
English support available.
