Comments on: Japan Photo of the Week: Geisha

By: taylor

taylor — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:40:49 +0000

you suck dude

By: powwowath

powwowath — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:19:02 +0000

Hi everybody,

I’m looking for people (specially out of Europe) to help me uploading some nice picture to my website.

It’s a website with travel pictures from all around the world. I’ve
started this project just 1 week ago and I have around 260 pics, most of
them from Europe.

If you’re interested: http://www.someworldpics.com

Thanks

By: powwowath

powwowath — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:09:49 +0000

Hi everybody,

I’m looking for people (specially out of europe) to help me uploading some
nice picture to my website.

It’s a website with travel pictures from all around the world. I’ve
started this project just 1 week ago and I have around 260 pics, most of
them from Europe.

If you’re interested: http://www.someworldpics.com

Thanks

By: green

green — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 09:02:31 +0000

Last time i have seen a geisha was on the zatoichi picture.

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:04:48 +0000

I was lucky enough to come across a Geisha in Kyoto. It was around 11pm and my boyfriend and I were stumbling back to our guesthouse after a night of drinking in a bar nearby. A car pulled up alongside us and a beautiful Geisha emerged. We asked for a photo and luckily she obliged – not after having to ask the man in the car first if she was allowed first. I am so happy I managed to see her; Geishas are the reason I became obsessed with Japan after reading Arthur Goldern’s book. I didn’t see another Geisha, despite being in Kyoto for a week. I am so glad I had the oppotunity to see her.

By: the overthinker

the overthinker — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 04:01:14 +0000

I am not claiming this is what you intended, but if one were to interpret that photo along the lines of the symbolism I suggested, it would be a geiko [geisha, aka geigi 芸妓] walking the narrow path of her highly specialised and minority career to a black future that represents the dying-out of the tradition.

By: Evan

Evan — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 23:41:38 +0000

haha, well I didn’t really intend for this stir up a discussion about what everyone knows about geiko, geisha, maiko, etc., but yes if she were already a geiko or geisha than she would not have the hanging sash and all those decorations in her hair.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:38:40 +0000

And wikipedia proves me wrong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiko

By: Jamie

Jamie — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:34:57 +0000

If the kanji are anything to go by, geiko just means a person who is training to become a geisha.

Literally translated;

芸者　＝ skilled person

芸子　＝　skilled child

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:34:05 +0000

Considering the length of hanging sash, I think she is Maiko or Hangyoku yet.

By: Evan

Evan — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 15:19:37 +0000

@Turner– There are still some geisha in Asakusa I believe.

@OVER–Yeah you are right. I think geiko is Kansai dialect for geisha so that is commonly used for Kyoto and geisha for Tokyo. Care to elaborate a little more on what you think the symbolism is? I like to see how people interpret my photos…

By: Evan

Evan — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 15:07:36 +0000

Yeah except I am willing to bet a lot more Japanese tourists do the dress up thing so you can’t really tell by the eyes and nose

By: the overthinker

the overthinker — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:43:20 +0000

By the way, no one has commented on the symbolism of the lone geiko heading down a narrow path into a black future….

By: the overthinker

the overthinker — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:41:24 +0000

Would it be overly picky to note that the term ‘geiko’ is more common for Kyoto geisha?

By: Turner

Turner — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:10:35 +0000

Yeah, sorry if contributed to that comment problem, James – I thought it was my computer.

By: Turner

Turner — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:10:04 +0000

Yeah, you can read about that whole touristy dress-up-like-a-geisha experience in Karin Muller's A Year in Search of Wa. Obviously you can't tell from the back, but most foreigners' eyes and noses are dead-giveaways. They probably feel like I did dressing up as a samurai. Are there any parts of Tokyo that might support legitimate geisha?

By: Evan

Evan — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 06:03:10 +0000

Yeah, that is how it is these days! Actually, I got a nice photo of some fake geisha at Kiyomizudera, maybe one of them is your friend? It is from about 3 years ago tho...

By: (a different) James

(a different) James — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 05:13:52 +0000

My friend worked at Kiyomizudera as a “maiko” for tourists. In reality she was just a college student getting paid to pretend she was a maiko. These days I always assume maiko around famous Japanese tourist spots are fake.
That said, very beautiful photo. I like the composition.