Now Reading: Japan’s oldest geisha uses AI hologram to save dying tradition
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Japan’s oldest geisha uses AI hologram to save dying tradition
The Times of India reports that 86-year-old geisha Ikuko, Japan’s oldest and first to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, is using a hologram and AI projections in a Tokyo mall…
The Story in Brief
The Times of India reports that 86-year-old geisha Ikuko, Japan’s oldest and first to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, is using a hologram and AI projections in a Tokyo mall to attract interest in the fading tradition. Geisha numbers in her Akasaka district have fallen from 200 to about 20, and nationally from 13,000 in 1940 to around 200 today. Ikuko admitted AI is not yet skilled enough for the dance but felt she had to embrace change to preserve the culture.
Geisha are professional entertainers skilled in music, dance, and conversation, historically operating in exclusive teahouses. The decline accelerated after 1993 when then-prime minister Hosokawa Morihiro barred politicians from using ryotei restaurants. Today, some geisha districts market to tourists via social media and online bookings. Ikuko said her greatest regret is that she hopes Tokyo’s geisha districts will survive another few decades.
The Indian Opinion
Two narratives push and pull here. One romanticises AI as a saviour of ancient arts; the other dismisses geisha as an anachronism. Neither holds up. The hologram is a publicity tool, not a substitute for the years of training and human warmth that define omotenashi. And the decline predates Instagram, it began when politicians stopped booking ryotei. The real test: will enough paying customers (tourists, locals) actually show up to keep the remaining 20 geisha in Akasaka working?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
