Photo. A Geisha House (o-chaya) found in the darkness in Gion geiko district, Kyoto, Japan. © Travel Explorations.
The day after we had almost giving up talking Geishas, so we could get an impression how the real women are behind their painted face. It was time for us to admire the Kiymizu Temple, one of the oldest temples in Kyoto. It’s famous for its unique architecture style and is one of the best known sights in Kyoto.
The main hall of Kiyomizu-dera, refers to several Buddhist temples but most commonly to Otowasan Kiyomizudera in Eastern Kyoto, and one of the best known sights of the city. The temple dates back to 798, but the present buildings were constructed in 1633.
The temple takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills - kiyoi mizu, which literally means pure water. The main hall of Kiyomizu-dera is notable for its vast veranda, supported by hundreds of pillars, which juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. The temple area is also famous for hazardous and ritual jumping from a stage, but that’s another story.
Photo. The Kiymizu temple in Kyoto, Japan. © Travel Explorations.
When we walked around admiring ancient building in a big garden, we met some few who stopped and started to talk to us. They seem to enjoy talking to us for a while and didn’t feel uncomfortable in any way. The two Geisha were apparently curious us and what we were doing in Japan.
Later our eyes became wide open when a Geisha with a Japanese man started to talk to us, and even invited us to sit by their table in a Tea House. The beautiful girl spoke English quite well and was eager to practise. We noticed that the man was not so eager to share his Geisha with us, but as far the Geisha seems to enjoy our company, we continued our nice conversation.
To become a Geisha, young girls are trained to achieve traditional skills such as Japanese ancient dance, singing, playing instruments such as the Shamisen, flower arrangement, wearing kimono, tea ceremony, calligraphy, conversation, alcohol serving manners and more. Geisha continue to study and perfect these skills throughout their careers as geisha.
Photo. The Gion geiko district (hanamachi) in Kyoto, Japan.
Memoirs of a Geisha was an spectacular movie. It's a fictional love story, set in Japan - not a documentary on the world of Geisha. So, if viewers go to the movie expecting to accurately learn about the world of Geisha, they may be disappointed.
For they who associate Geisha with prostitutes should think twice. It’s more sophisticated than that. Almost everywhere where we walked in Tokyo there where advertisement for sex shows, host clubs, girls in school uniforms and other kind of hot stuff, but when it come to the Geisha culture, everything was so secret. A successful Geisha must demonstrate beauty, grace, artistic talent, charm, impeccable etiquette, and refinement.
Only guests with a long time connection with the tea house are allowed and tea houses generally don't take on new clients without an introduction. The profession of a Geisha is a very expensive business and a geisha party can easily cost thousands of US dollars. It’s popular among rich business men. Sometimes they also take with them there international business partners into the mysterious world of the Geisha.
The total number of geisha in the 1920's was 80,000, but today the number of geisha has dropped to 10,000 due to the westernizing of Japanese culture.
Nowadays, there are geisha girls and women who learn English conversation to serve English-speaking customers and learn computer skills. The work of geisha is expanding these days, including modelling or international tours, for example.
Photo. Geisha District and Geisha House (o-chaya).
The districts where many geisha girls and women gather are called hana-machi. Some hana-machi were developed near temples and shrines where many o-chaya located. Geisha used to entertain visitors at o-chaya.
The o-chaya type of teahouse is completely different from those shops that merely serve tea or coffee. It's a sort of banquet house, which rents rooms for dinner parties. An o-chaya is usually a small Japanese-style house with wooden doors and tatami floors or Japanese-style gardens. Some o-chaya also train geisha and are places for maiko (young geisha girl) to live and go to work. Those o-chaya are also called okiya.
Kyoto is where the geisha tradition is the strongest today, and two of the most prestigious and traditional geisha districts, Gion and Pontochô, are in Kyoto. The geisha in these districts are known as geiko. The Tokyo hanamachi of Shimbashi, Asakusa and Kagurazaka are also well known.
In modern Japan, geisha and maiko are now a rare sight outside Kyoto. We could only observe some very few Geishas passing us quickly with a smile in Tokyo.
We didn’t get much insight in the world of the Geisha during our stay in Japan. It was not before 2000 I could get a better understand of the Geisha culture. I read Lesley Downer book called Geisha, and it was a real fascinating story from someone outside Japan who lived close to the Geishas for several years.
In the 1920s there were over 80,000 Geishas in Japan, but today there are far less. It’s a vanishing world. Today it’s estimated around 10,000 Geishas in Japan. However, visitors to Kyoto's Gion district are likely to catch a glimpse of a Geisha or maiko on her way to or from an appointment.
Kyoto is still the country’s cultural capital, and home of temples, palaces, gardens and theatres, but first and foremost it is the heart of the Geisha culture. Look for the Geishas under glimmering lanterns outside the wooden houses in Gion geiko district (hanamachi). The time will show whether they can retain the unique old tradition.
If the tradition of Geisha dies out, there will be something missing of what made Japan so unique. In Japan’s stressing society it seems to me that there are more than ever stronger need for fictions for love and romance so dreams in one way can be turned into reality. Then the most exclusive of all women will still be the Geisha, and they will also be the most wanted.
Stein Morten Lund, 10 September 2006
Additional information
The Japanese word for Japan, Nihon (Nippon), means source of the sun. The Ainu, the original inhabitants of Japan, are related to the people of Siberia.
Japan's population is over 126 million. The capital is Tokyo.
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