86-year-old geisha Ikuko turns to AI holograms to revive Tokyo tradition

Tokyo’s veteran geisha Ikuko, now 86, is using artificial-intelligence-generated holograms to showcase her art as the city’s geisha numbers dwindle to a few hundred.

In a bustling Tokyo shopping centre, visitors are greeted by a holographic projection of Ikuko, an 86-year-old geisha who has become the face of a high-tech effort to preserve a fading art form. The display alternates between her real appearance and a youthful AI-generated likeness, reflecting her belief that modern tools may be necessary as the number of geisha in Japan has dropped from about 13,000 in 1940 to around 200 now.

Ikuko, the first geisha to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, stresses that she is near the end of her life and wants the tradition to survive for decades. She is pressing a member of parliament and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to fund a joint performance by all six of the city’s remaining hanamachi. Younger practitioners are adapting by promoting themselves on social media, accepting online bookings, and catering to an international tourist clientele.

Experts note that the decline began after 1993 when former prime minister Hosokawa Morihiro discouraged political meetings in ryotei restaurants, cutting off a major source of income. The initiative highlights a blend of heritage and technology aimed at keeping the geisha world alive.