Meet Japan's only male geisha who performs as a woman
London, Dec 6 (ANI)
Japan's only male geisha, who performs in the role as a female dancer, stepped into the profession to follow in his dead mother's footsteps.
Eitaro is the master of an "okiya," a geisha house in Tokyo's Omori port district, the Daily Mail reported.
From the early 20th century Geisha culture flourished around the Omori port during the rapid growth of Japan's industrial economy.
By the 1980s, the last local geisha house had closed its doors to land developers during Japan's real estate bubble era.
Eitaro's mother, a skilled and charismatic geisha, devoted her life to reviving the local geisha culture until her death, due to cancer, three years ago.
At the age of ten, Eitaro first performed as a female dancer at his mother's geisha parties.
A skilled dancer, he began learning traditional female dance roles at the age of eight and first performed at Japan's national theater at the age of eleven.
Eitaro is now in popular demand as a stage performer and television personality.
Following the death of his mother, he took over his mother's role as geisha house master and with his sister, Maika, oversees a group of six geisha performers.
Today there are still male geisha who dress in men's kimono and usually perform as drummers and singers along female geisha. Eitaro is the only male who performs in a female role.
Due to Eitaro's popularity as an entertainer, he and his geisha perform frequently for private geisha parties, public stage performances and public relations events.
He is carrying on his mother's passion to re-popularize the geisha culture.