He was the only applicant. The rickshaw trade is a bastion of tradition, and Hisa was at first required to go through a stint as an apprentice until his superiors felt he had learned the secrets of piloting the 77-pound vehicle. But Hisa is also proud of his technical skills. Although he is no doubt a skillful shafu, Hisa's ride can still get pretty rough. Camera-toting tourists are not welcome on Hisa's rickshaw.
Service is by appointment only, via a special phone number.
Most of his callers are the elegantly coiffured, cumbersomely attired geishas who work in the Ginza or in another geisha haven, the nearby Shinbashi district. Numbering about 80,000 in the 1920s, their ranks have fallen to a few thousand. Many have been replaced by professional hostesses in Western-style pubs. A devoted coterie of geishas with ties to top restaurants still makes a decent living from the trade by catering to business and political leaders. CCC Officers persuade Env.