When walking around in Kyoto, foreign tourists will often be very excited when they spot ‘a real-life Japanese geisha’! Indeed when walking around the area near Kiyomizu-dera temple, one often sees groups of young girls dressed in bright kimonos.
A group of girls dressed in beautiful kimonos
Tourists dressed as maiko-san posing in front of temple
What most tourists probably don’t know is that these girls are not geisha, but dressed-up tourists themselves. There are many studios in Kyoto where one can undergo the transformation into an apprentice geisha, called maiko. Maiko are young girls, usually aged 15 to 20 years old, who are training to become geisha. Their hairstyle and kimono differ from geisha. Typical elements are the long ‘obi’ (sash) and the hairstyle where red fabric is showing in between the hair (which traditionally was considered to be very erotic).
The ‘maiko-experience’ is very popular with young and not so young girls. For the ‘small price’ of roughly 15000 yen (about 150 euro), a professional team sets to work: applying make-up, doing your hair (a wig is used) and dressing you in colourful kimono. The experience usually also includes a photo shoot by a professional photographer.
A group of maiko-san with a professional photographer
To see a real geisha, several conditions have to be met. One has to a) go to Gion or Pontocho, which are the geisha districts in Kyoto, b) wait until nightfall, c) be very lucky.
Maiko-san posing for a picture
I did not know that! Thanks for pointing that out.
I’m glad you found it interesting! ^_^
I know that in the old days, only poor young girls would choose to be geisha. Is it still the same nowadays?
I don’t know much about geisha so I really couldn’t say. From what I’ve heard here and there, I guess that these days there aren’t many girls who want to become geisha because the training is so long and difficult.
I love the Gion area of Kyoto, and if you take a walk along Hanami-koji street in the late afternoon or early evening there is a great chance you will spot a geisha or maiko.
Japan Australia
Thank your for the tip. I might give it a try. I’d love to see a real geisha or maiko one day!
Fantastic post! I have read a lot about Geisha and find it so fascinating. Thanks for sharing this! 🙂
I totally agree! The hidden world of gheisha is so fascinating (the willow world, love that expression)! Before coming to Japan, it was one of my favourite topics to read about.
Lovely photos!
Thank you!