Hanamachi

A lit. 'flower town' (花街) is a district where geisha live and work in Japan. Each typically has its own name, crest, and distinct geisha population, with geisha not typically working outside of their own district. usually contain (geisha houses) and  (teahouses where geisha entertain).

Historically, could contain a high number of  and, and would also contain a kaburenjō (歌舞練所) as well – a communal meeting place for geisha, typically containing a theater, rooms where classes in the traditional arts could be held, and a  (registry office) who would process a geisha's pay, regulation of the profession, and other related matters.

Gion, a geisha district in Kyoto, also has a vocational school, called. Many of the teachers there are designated as Living National Treasures.

were preceded by the registered red-light districts of Japan, known as yūkaku (遊廓/遊郭). Three were established in Japan in the early 1600s: Shimabara in Kyoto in 1640, Shinmachi in Osaka between 1624 and 1644, and Yoshiwara in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) in 1617. were originally a place of work for both lit. 'prostitute' (遊女) and (courtesans). , technically the highest rank of courtesan, also lived in the red-light districts; however, unlike, they did not engage in sex work, and were instead renowned as upper-class entertainers prized for their training in the traditional arts, which typically began at an early age. were only engaged by men of the upper classes, and could choose which clients they wished to engage, unlike other courtesans.

Following the development of the geisha profession in the in the mid-1700s, many geisha, working inside the  alongside  and courtesans, began to compete with them; though the entertainment they offered was mostly (and in official terms, entirely) devoid from sex work, geisha instead offered companionship and entertainment to men at parties, and were commonly not bound to the same controlling contracts that many courtesans were.

Having developed from a previously-male profession of entertainers who performed at the parties of some, geisha were at times legally prevented from operating outside of , despite also being legally prevented from appearing as, operating as and stealing clients from courtesans; as a result, many went on to develop into.

All three are now defunct, both as courtesan districts and geisha districts, though  reenactors continue to practice the performing arts of upper-class courtesans in Shimabara, Kyoto, and some conventional sex work establishments continue to exist in Yoshiwara, Tokyo.

Kyoto
There are currently five active in Kyoto, generally referred to as  in the local Kyoto dialect instead of, and sometimes referred to collectively as the "five flower towns" (五花街):
 * Gion (separated as Gion Kōbu and Gion Higashi)
 * Miyagawa-chō
 * Kamishichiken
 * Pontochō

As a for geisha, the district of Shimabara is defunct; having previously formed part of the city's six districts (collectively referred to as the "six flower towns"), when Shimabara's last geisha departed in the late 20th century, the district was considered defunct, despite the continuation of  within the district.

The geisha districts of Kyoto are primarily clustered around the Kamo River, from Sanjō Street (3rd Street) to Gojō Street (5th Street), particularly around Shijō Street – four of the five districts are in this area. Kamishichiken is separated from the others, being far to the northwest, while the defunct district of Shimabara is also located to the west; most districts are roughly centered around their respective rehearsal halls, known as lit. 'singing and dancing training space' (歌舞練場).

Traditions


Each district has a distinctive crest ( or ), which appears on geisha's kimono, as well as on lanterns.

A summer tradition around the time of the Gion Festival among the of Kyoto is to distribute personalized flat fans (団扇) to favored patrons and stores that both  and geisha frequent. These feature a crest of the geisha house on the front, and the geisha's name on the back (house name, then personal name). These are produced by Komaru-ya Sumii (小丸屋 住井), and are known as Kyoto round uchiwa (京丸うちわ). Establishments such as bars that are particularly frequented by geisha often accumulate many of these fans, and typically display them in the summer months.

All the Kyoto stage public dances annually, known as  (generally written in the traditional kana spelling of をどり, rather than modern spelling of おどり), featuring both  and geisha. These also feature an optional tea ceremony (tea and served by ) before the performance. These are performed for several weeks, mostly in the spring – four hold them in the spring with one (Gion Higashi) holding theirs in the autumn. Different districts started public performances in different years; the oldest are those of Gion Kōbu and Pontochō, whose performances started at the Kyoto exhibition of 1872, while others (Kamishichiken, Miyagawachō) started performing in the 1950s. There are many performances, with tickets being inexpensive, ranging from around 1500 yen to 4500 yen. The best-known is the performed in Gion Kōbu, which is one of the two oldest and has the most performances.

The dances are as follows (listed in order of performance through the year):
 * Kitano Odori (北野をどり) – Kamishichiken (since 1953), spring, varying dates, currently last week of March and first week of April
 * Miyako Odori (都をどり) – Gion Kōbu (since 1872), all of April
 * Kyō Odori (京をどり) – Miyagawa-chō (since the 1950s), first 2 weeks of April
 * Kamogawa Odori (鴨川をどり) – Pontochō (since 1872), most of May
 * Gion Odori (祇園をどり) – Gion Higashi, early November

The district of Shimabara previously produced the Aoyagi Odori (青柳踊) from 1873 to 1880.

There is also a combined show of all five districts, which is called "Five Geisha District Combined Public Performance" (五花街合同公演), or more formally "Kyoto's five geisha districts combined traditional theater special public performance" (京都五花街合同伝統芸能特別公演). This takes place during the daytime on two days (Saturday and Sunday) on a weekend in late June (typically last or second-to-last weekend) at a large venue, and tickets are significantly more expensive than those for individual districts. Connected with this event, in the evening on these two days there are evening performances with meals, either a combined event, or separate ones per district. This is known as the "Five Geisha Districts Evening" (五花街の夕べ), and is quite expensive (as is usual for and very limited availability; this has been held since 1994.

Tokyo

 * Shinbashi
 * Akasaka
 * Asakusa
 * Yoshichō
 * Kagurazaka
 * Mukojima
 * Omori Kaigan

near Tokyo

 * Hachiōji

Areas historically renowned as

 * Torimori
 * Shintomichō
 * Fukagawa
 * Maruyamachō
 * Yanagibashi
 * Nakano Shinbashi

In Osaka

 * Kita Shinchi
 * Minami Shinchi
 * Shinmachi

In Kanazawa
Kanazawa's geisha districts were most active between the periods of 1820–1830 and 1867–1954. Now referred to as the, the three districts survive and often feature public performances during peak tourist seasons.
 * Higashi Chaya Gai (eastern teahouse district)
 * Nishi Chaya Gai (western teahouse district)
 * Kazuemachi (the accountant's town)