Decline
In Geisha: The Secret History of a Vanishing World, Lesley Downer wrote that in Yoshiwara in 1770, there were 16 female geisha and 31 male geisha. In 1775 there were 33 female geisha, but still 31 male geisha. But in 1800 there were 143 female geisha and 45 male geisha. The females started to take over the field and the role of the males was again changed - this time the males took on a role of supporting the women at parties.
There were between five or six hundred taikomochi in Japan during the peak of their popularity. Since then the geisha started to decline as the popularity of the jokyu (cafe girls) in the 1920s due to westernisation. This in turn caused the decline of the taikomochi. Their decline sped up with World War II, and the taikomochi continue to decline today. Although there are still small communities of geisha in Kyoto and Tokyo, there are only five taikomochi in Japan. Four taikomochi are in Tokyo, one is in Kyoto. Unfortunately few young women are interested in becoming geisha, and even fewer young men are interested in becoming taikomochi.
Read more about this topic: Taikomochi
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