The Life of a Modern Japanese Geisha (1)

The Life of a Modern Japanese Geisha (1)

at Kyoto’s movie studio tourists pay top dollar to get made up like a gisha for an afternoon this may look uncomfortable but it could be worse the gisha used to whiten their skin with night Andale droppings and a powder called oshiroi which gave them lead poisoning they’re still not supposed to smile because their teeth look yellow next to all that white skin the gisha community is the only place where women are not the weaker sex why because deep down gisha do not need men they’re not waitresses and they’re definitely not prostitutes they are a form of social oil whose job it is to ensure that relationships among their clients are smooth and conflict free but for a lot of Japanese I talk to gisha are neither good nor bad they’re just irrelevant

The geisha are alive and well in Japan – though foreigners rarely catch even a glimpse of them. Meet Kobai-san, a 63-year-old geisha, and discover the truth about the mysterious Willow World…

• Why do young girls become geisha nowadays?
• How do you hire a geisha?
• How can you tell a geisha from a maiko (apprentice geisha)?

A few things you probably didn’t know about the geisha
• They are NOT prostitutes. They are hired for their artistic skills and considerable social graces.
• Geisha live in communities of women and are entirely independent of men (though they may have boyfriends).
• Geisha can be in their 70s – they often earn more as they get older.
• Apprentice geisha are far more elaborately dressed than fully-fledged geisha.

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Category: Travel