The first time I caught a glimpse of a geisha in Kyoto, I immediately knew I was in the presence of greatness. As she emerged from the back of a taxi, she appeared almost otherworldly – impeccably styled, and impossibly graceful and elegant. Her sudden appearance literally stopped everyone around me in their tracks.
Japan’s geisha culture has long fascinated me – this ancient art form has always seemed so exotic and mysterious, so I was excited to take a peek behind the paper screen during a visit to Kyoto.
First Impressions
Arriving in Gion – Kyoto’s famous geisha district – at dusk was exactly as I’d imagined it would be. The streets were lined with traditional wooden Japanese merchant houses, each undoubtedly with a story to tell.
As the sun set on Kyoto, the streets came alive with people making their way into the many bars and restaurants around us. My group found themselves exploring a narrow laneway, only to discover a hidden basement bar.
Meanwhile, hordes of taxis transporting geisha suddenly pulled up, making a dramatic entrance along what was an otherwise pedestrian-friendly street. (In the evenings, the geisha who don’t reside at the teahouses descend on Gion, ready for another night at work.)
Tourists stopped whatever they were doing to stare at these poised artisans as they emerged – their hair, makeup and kimonos all pristine. Just as quickly as they appeared though, the geisha all disappeared into the seemingly unassuming teahouses around us.
Behind Closed Doors
Once the sun went down on Kyoto, my group and I made our way into one of these teahouses. As we walked through a little tree-lined courtyard at the front of the house, we arrived at the door, where the hostess – also known as the ‘mother’ – greeted us. We removed our shoes before entering (a Japanese custom), and hung our coats on a hook just inside.
We were then led up a narrow staircase and down a hallway, before arriving at a brightly lit dining room with a sunken table. After settling in on cushions on the floor, the staff at the teahouse proceeded to pour us green tea and serve us food.
I’ve never eaten so much mystery meat in my life! The Japanese people are incredibly kind, polite and hospitable. They also like to watch you while you eat. With a language barrier between us, I had no way of asking what the unidentifiable meat was that they’d served me. All I could do was try to look like I was thoroughly enjoying it, while our servers ducked around the corner to giggle at my alarmist reaction.
Making Introductions
Mid-meal, the mother reappeared to introduce us to the house’s three geisha. As she spoke about each of the geisha, I discovered that only the eldest one – a woman in her late 20’s – was a fully qualified geisha. The two younger girls were called ‘maiko’, which is essentially an apprentice geisha.
There are quite a few perks that come with being a fully qualified geisha, the main one being that you get to wear a wig as opposed to having your own hair painstakingly styled. Speaking one-on-one with the geisha, she told me it only takes her around 15 minutes to fit her wig.
In comparison, the maiko wash their hair once a week and then spend an hour having it meticulously styled. They’d even trained themselves to sleep on wooden blocks supporting their necks instead of pillows, so they don’t have to restyle their hair in between washes.
Another perk is that geisha are allowed to have mobile phones, while maiko are not. Maiko are also required to wear more elaborate makeup and hair accessories than geisha. The reasoning is that the more experienced geisha have already earned status and respect, and no longer need to impress people with their appearance.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Geisha are highly revered in Japanese culture, and there are only around 1,000 of them left, most of who are based in Kyoto.
The Japanese people view geisha as being sacred and akin to goddesses. Despite this, the geisha at the teahouse told me her parents were upset when she dropped out of studying music at university to pursue this ancient art form.
The sacrifices a geisha makes cannot be understated. Once a woman becomes a geisha, she is a geisha for life and cannot marry or enter into a romantic relationship.
As she grows older, she’ll eventually become a ‘mother’ to the younger geisha and maiko, and will run the teahouse. The geisha refer to each other as ‘sisters’, which confused me at first (I thought they were actual sisters), but I quickly learnt this is how geisha identify each other when they come from the same teahouse.
The youngest maiko was just 16, and she had already been living at the teahouse for over a year. Despite her young age, she was only permitted to go home to visit her family twice a year, for a week at a time. She would wear civilian clothes during these visits, and I wondered if she missed being with her friends like a normal teenager.
She told me she had only recently graduated to maiko after spending her first year at the teahouse cooking and cleaning for the others. This is standard practice in teahouses, and it’s essentially a test to see if the girls have what it takes to become a geisha, while also giving them one last chance to back out.
More Than a Performance
As we finished our meals, the geisha sat and spoke with us, and entertained us with traditional Japanese music and dances. We played drinking games, and the mother explained the functionality of the kimono (the long sleeves double as pockets, so they can store their belongings, while their belted waistband can hold a fan).
At the end of the dinner, the geisha politely bowed and made an exit, before we were escorted back out onto the streets of Kyoto. Our bellies were full of mystery meat, and we were all in awe of a culture so different to our own. The geisha now seemed a little less mysterious to me, but still every bit as exotic as when I arrived.
