Ryotei restaurants are brimming with traditional Japanese culture providing dishes prepared with the best ingredients, utensils suitable for serving such dishes, relaxing architecture, carefully selected hanging scrolls and flower arrangements, quaint gardens, performances of Geiko and meticulous hospitality.
This is why Ryotei is called the “integrated art of Japanese traditions”.
There are three chaya quarters in the art city of Kanazawa – Higashi, Nishi and Kazue. We hope you will make the most of enjoying Kanazawa’s traditional culture on this occasion.
| Okami (inn proprietress) talks about Geisha (from TV Kanazawa program) |
Higashi is the biggest of the three remaining Chaya quarters in Kanazawa. On the riverside of the Asanogawa river flowing from Mt. Utatsuyama, the old streetscape spotted with beautiful lattice bay windows called Kimusuko is still preserved today, providing an idea of what the quarter used to be like.
By the time the street is lit, shamisen and taiko music can be heard from chaya geiko houses illuminated with traditional lanterns under the eaves. The street is known as the setting for “Toki no Haka,” a novel written by Hiroyuki Itsuki.
The street was also designated as an important national building preservation area in 2001, and a program has been introduced to preserve the “Streetscape Cultural Properties”.
The Geiko of the chaya quarters has remained active through the successors of various traditional performing arts.
It is said that it was the late Meiji period when Japanese dance prospered when Kabuki dance choreographers visited Kanazawa and promoted dance.
The Geiko of Chaya had a high level of performing skills, and with the popularity of geiko performance, Japanese dance also became popular.
