Geisha
Geisha (芸者 "person of the arts") are traditional Japanese artist-entertainers, the word Geiko is also used. Geisha were very common in the 18th and 19th centuries, and are still in existence today, although their numbers are dwindling. "Geisha," pronounced /ˈgeɪ ʃa/ ("gay-sha") is the most familiar term to English speakers, and the most commonly used within Japan as well, but in the Kansai region the terms geigi (芸妓, げいぎ) and, for apprentice geisha, "Maiko" (芸子, げいこ) have also been used since the Meiji Restoration. The English pronunciation ˈgi ʃa ("gee-sha") or the phrase "geisha girl," common during the American occupation, carry connotations of prostitution, as some young women, desperate for money and calling themselves "geisha", sold themselves to American troops.
The geisha tradition evolved from the Taikomochi or hōkan, similar to court jesters. The first geisha were all male; as women began to take the role they were known as onna geisha (女芸者), or "woman geisha." Geisha today are exclusively female.
Geisha were traditionally trained from young childhood. Young girls were often bought from poor families by geisha houses who took responsibility for raising and training them. During their childhood they worked first as maids, then as assistants to the house's senior geisha as part of their training and to contribute to the costs of their upkeep and education. This long-held tradition of training still exists in Japan, where a student lives at the home of a master of some art, starting out doing general housework and observing and assisting the master, and eventually moving up to become a master in their own right (see also Irezumi). This training often lasts for many years.
They begin studying a wide range of arts from a young age too, including musical instruments (particularly the Shamisen) and traditional forms of singing, traditional dance, tea ceremony, flower arranging (Ikebana), poetry and literature. By watching and assisting senior geisha, they became skilled in the complex traditions surrounding selecting, matching, and wearing precious Kimono, and in various games and the art of conversation, and also in dealing with clients.
Once a woman became an apprentice geisha (a maiko) she would begin to accompany senior geisha to the tea houses, parties and banquets that constitute a geisha's work environment. To some extent, this traditional method of training persists, though it is by necessity forshortened. Modern geisha are no longer bought by or brought into geisha houses as children. Becoming a geisha is now entirely voluntary. Most geisha now begin their training in their late teens.
Geisha are not prostitutes. This mistaken belief has been encouraged by Japanese prostitutes who wished to co-opt the prestige of the geisha image and by inaccurate depictions of geisha in Western popular culture. Although a geisha may choose to engage in sexual relations with one of her patrons, she is under no obligation to do so.
Geisha still most frequently live in geisha houses in areas called Hanamachi (花街 "flower towns") or karyūkai (花柳界 "flower and willow worlds") like Kyoto's Pontochō.
Geisha are usually hired to attend parties and gatherings, traditionally at tea houses (茶屋, chaya) or at traditional Japanese restaurants (ryōtei). Their time is measured in incense sticks, and is called senkōdai (線香代, "incense stick fee") or kyokudai (玉代 "jewel fee"). The customer makes arrangements through the kenban (検番), or geisha call-office, which keeps each geisha's schedule and makes her appointments both for entertaining and for training.
In modern Japan, even in Kyoto, geisha and maiko are now a rare sight. Visitors to Kyoto's Gion district may catch a glimpse of a maiko on her way to work, but they are far more likely to see tourists (both Japanese and foreign) who have paid to be costumed and made up as maiko as part of a souvenir photography session.