Geisha House Shima

Geisha House Shima is distinguished by the deep reddish-brown wooden lattices covering its exterior, a feature known as kimusuko that shields the interior while allowing soft light to filter through. Built in eighteen twenty, the structure stands in the Higashi Chaya District, an area established when the local lord ordered all geisha houses moved from the city center. It is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property and remains one of the few original chaya buildings from the Edo period that has not undergone major renovations.