祇園新井

Namelines: Mame- / 豆-

Owner: 新井豆爾 Mameji Arai (real name 春美 Harumi)
Harumi was born in 1954 in Shimabara, Kyoto (former pleasure district), as a second daughter of Shimabara geiko 小育 Koiku. Harumi’s older sister became geiko ひろ次 Hiroji in the same district. Harumi’s childhood dream was to become a maiko, but Shimabara did not produce any of them. In this case, Harumi was sent to Kyoto’s Gion Kobu to become a maiko there. She made an official debut as a maiko in 1969 under a stage name 豆爾 Mameji and became a geiko at the age of 21. Mameji retired from ozashiki at the age of 32, as she gave birth to her child. However, she continued to perform on the stage of Miyako Odori and Onshukai, as well as became a proprietress of the Arai okiya.
Mameji published a book memoir in 2015 called “A Little Bit of Gion from the Old Times” (『ちょっと昔の祇園町』)

Arai okiya ceased operation in 2021.