The Wish of WANOKA
Katsurako Watanabe (Representative)
A hakatakko (native of Hakata) and born in Gion-machi of Hakata Ward, I learned Nihon Buyo, or classical Japanese dance, from a young age. I then taught children when I reached adulthood.
In 2014, I opened a café in an old Japanese-style home in Nakama City in Fukuoka Prefecture. At the same time, I had a desire to be active in my hometown because of my strong passion for Hakata’s traditional arts. Starting in 2017, I became active as a professional traditional arts performer.
I devoted myself and practiced hard. But in 2020, just when I thought I could finally live on my own as a geisha, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. And the café in the old Japanese-style home I operated on the side was forced to close due to the lack of customers following the pandemic.
My Passion Grew Through This Bitter Experience
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, I continued to appear on stage as a geisha, including performances online, since the beginning of 2022. However, compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of opportunities had decreased dramatically industry-wide. Therefore, I was forced to give up my career as a geisha.
I opened Hakata Geidokoro WANOKA, not only because of the problems created by COVID-19 but also because I wanted to lower the hurdle for people to enjoy traditional arts and culture and wished there were more places where people could make a living through traditional arts.
R2事業再構築
はかた芸処
わ乃桂
Hakata Geidokoro
WANOKA
福岡県福岡市博多区上川端町4番220号
4-220 Kamikawabata-machi,Hakata-ku,Fukuoka-shi,Fukuoka-ken
Notations based on the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions