KAMAISHI, Japan - When the earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, this citys last geisha was, fittingly, at home getting ready to sing that night at an 117-year-old ryotei, a type of exclusive restaurant, in Kamaishi where she began working as a 14-year-old seven decades ago.

She had already put on the white split-toe socks she would wear with her kimono and was preparing to put her hair up. Hired to entertain a party of four in honor of a colleagues transfer from Kamaishi, she had picked just the right song, one meant to steel young samurai going to their first battle.

A famous beauty, Ms. Ito both danced and played the shamisen, while most geishas were skilled only at playing the shamisen, said Setsuko Kanazawa, whose family owns Saiwairo, the ryotei where she performs. To cultural preservationists here, she is the guardian of a local culture that was fast disappearing.

After a marriage to a sushi restaurant owner, the birth of a daughter and a divorce, Ms. Ito went to Tokyo to study dance. Ms. Ito and a dozen other geishas were constantly on call at the ryoteis, as Kamaishis economy began booming in the 1950s. Kamaishi is the birthplace of Japans steel industry. But through the years, business declined and the demand for geishas diminished. Still, sometimes the calls came for Ms. Ito, some from old customers, and more recently from new customers reflecting the worlds new economic order.

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