KYOTO--A star geisha from Gion-Kobu ... She appeared on various TV shows and once even served as a poster girl for the Tourism Authority of Thailand. “I was so lucky with human connections ...

I vividly recall being captivated by the world of geishas after watching Memoirs of a Geisha, a 2005 American epic period film directed by Rob Marshall.

KYOTO—Geisha served tea beneath a cloud of pink petals at Kitano Tenmangu shrine’s plum blossom festival, which commemorates the virtues of the shrine’s deity, on Feb. 25. The shrine ...