User:Mantokun/Hanamachi

Hanamachi or kagai (花街) is a term defined in Japanese dictionaries as "courtesan and/or geisha districts". Kagai was one of the many synonyms meaning the walled-in courtesan districts, a clearly separated area from the outside world, in Edo period. Such "concentration" policy was abolished in early Meiji period, but instead individual rental rooms (kashi zashiki) and service providers were required to register and be licensed. During Meiji to early Showa period, the term referred to areas including red-light districts, where many of those rental rooms gathered for the workers to provide services. Prostitution was officially banned in 1957. Nowadays, number of books or documents introducing Kyoto's "hanamachi" districts refer to the term as a place where geisha can be found, accompanied with the word's literal meaning, "flower town." . Okiya (geisha houses) and ochaya (tea houses where geisha would entertain customers are supposed to be contained in those areas.

Today, the existence of a kaburenjo is mentioned by those who insist hanamachi as not being the same as yukaku, which were back in Edo period synonyms. Their definition of hanamachi usually includes the existence of okiya and ochaya, along with a kaburenjo. Kenban offices, which dealt with geisha's pay, regulation and similar matters. In case of Gion, it also has a vocational school, called Nyokoba. Many of the teachers there are designated as Living National Treasures.