Tokyo’s 86-year-old geisha turns to AI and holograms to keep culture alive
An 86-year-old geisha in Tokyo is using AI-generated holograms to preserve traditional Japanese culture as the number of practicing geisha continues to decline. She views this technological integration as a necessary step to ensure the survival of the art form for future generations.
Why it matters
It highlights the intersection of aging traditional arts and modern technology as a strategy for cultural preservation in a rapidly changing society.
In one of the busy malls in Tokyo, Ikuko, Japan's oldest and most famous geisha dances for shoppers in an elegant black kimono with precise movements. Only, the 86-year-old isn't really there; it's her hologram, a 3D projection of her, displayed in a life-size white box. "Thank you very much," she said to passers-by, before bowing and changing to a younger version of herself, created with AI.While she doesn't think AI is "cut out for this dance" just yet, or to replace their legendary hospitality, with the geisha numbers dwindling in the country, Ikuko has resigned to embracing new things in order to save the country's most iconic art forms.Once, there were 200 geisha in Akasaka, the area of Tokyo where Ikuko practises. But over the years, she has watched their number fall to about 20.
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