Maiko Dinner in Kyoto

A maiko dinner is the one booked evening where a maiko’s time is yours for hours rather than minutes: she dances, talks with you and plays parlour games while you eat, and a guide translates. Gion’s tea houses traditionally receive guests only by introduction, which is why these evenings are sold as tours. The dinner on this page is Travel Japan Together’s Kyoto: Geisha Dinner & Gion Cultural Walk: a guided walk through Gion, then 2 hours with a geisha or maiko in a private tea house over a multi-course kaiseki dinner of seasonal Kyoto ingredients, mainly vegetables, fish and tofu, with unlimited sake or non-alcoholic drinks. It takes 3 hours, and was per person from $253 in current promotion (usually $267), checked November 2026, with 137 reviews and free cancellation up to 7 days before.

The calendar above is the tea house dinner. It runs only when enough guests book; if a date is cancelled for that reason, the refund is full. A private group is available.

Four ways to dine with a maiko

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

The Noh-stage dinner has far fewer reviews than the others, and with five guests or fewer it moves from the stage to a tatami room on the 4th floor. The private dinner costs the most per person; the geiko or maiko is arranged for your group alone.

How the evening runs

Three of these start outside. The tea house dinner and the machiya dinner open with a walk through Gion, where the guide explains the district and the customs of the maiko world before you go in; the private dinner starts with a guide in front of the Minamiza main gate. The Noh-stage evening starts indoors at its venue, where the doors open at 17:50. Inside, the maiko or geiko dances, then joins the table: conversation, photos, and ozashiki asobi, the traditional parlour games of the tea houses, with the guide translating. The Noh-stage evening is the most structured: guests gather on the 2nd floor at 18:00, a maiko makes her entrance and dances, there is free photo time on the stage, dinner, a dance by a second maiko, introductions and games.

Before you book

• Cancellation. The tea house and machiya dinners cancel free up to 7 days before, the Noh-stage dinner up to 24 hours before; the private dinner is final once booked.
• Food. The kaiseki is mainly vegetables, fish and tofu. The machiya course offers a vegetarian menu if you ask in advance, with limited dishes free of fish stock, and does not suit vegans or people with gluten intolerance.
• Children. The machiya dinner does not suit children under 15; families with children aged 14 or younger are asked to book its private version.
• Access. The machiya evening includes places a wheelchair or stroller cannot reach. The Noh stage does not admit electric wheelchairs, and socks or tabi are required on the stage.
• Drinks. Unlimited sake at the tea house, all-you-can-drink at the machiya, an open bar on the Noh stage; at the private dinner, drinks are included only with the private tea house option.

Where the evenings begin

The private dinner meets in front of the main gate of the Minamiza theatre, facing Shijo-dori; the tea house and machiya dinners begin with a walk through Gion. A dinner fits after an afternoon at Kennin-ji, about 480 metres on foot from the Minamiza, which takes its last visitors at 16:30. Kennin-ji is closed to visitors all day on 15 November 2026 for a memorial service (Kennin-ji notice of 30 October 2026).

If two hours at a table is more than you want, a maiko show gives you her dance and your questions in an hour: Gion Corner or a maiko show compares them.

Check dates for the tea house dinner