Geisha

Late each afternoon thru the early evening is the prime time for Geisha spotting in Kyoto's Gion district. And in the heart of Gion is Ichiriki Ochaya, a near 300 year old tea house that is a geisha hotspot, so much so that tourists gather in hordes to get their 'fish in a barrel' photos of young Maiko entering/exiting their evening engagements. The tourists stand outside because entry to Ichiriki is a total impossibility -- over the 300 years it has been in operation only a handful of foreigners have gained entry. You must be a member or a highly recommended guest and it is very secretive, kind of like the Bohemian Club without the ritual sacrifice. Those of you who have read 'Memoirs of a Geisha' will remember that Ichiriki was a frequently cited setting in the book, however the current proprietress is apparently adamant to spread the word that the gaijin author never has set foot in the establishment.




As a general travel rule we despise tourist rabble and forced photo opportunities. So we stuck to the back alleys and lesser traveled areas of Gion and while we didn't see nearly the number of geisha as the paparazzi did outside Ichiriki, we had far more genuine experiences with those we did see. To see a lone geisha clickity clacking her way past us in high-rise wooden geta clogs and full kimono and white-faced get up was really kind of exciting. And we behaved like normal human beings by not firing our camera shutter at them like they were zoo animals (the pictures on this post are from my 2005 visit when I was a less respectful person it seems). I think it was something they appreciated, and it even earned us the odd eye contact and a quick smile at Ingrid.

You have to be careful of getting too excited about seeing 'poser geisha,' women who visit the salon and photography studios to be done up like a maiko and then to be photographed in front of Gion's famous sites. I like to call them Barbizon model geishas -- Train to be a geisha, or just look like one! It's a funny site to see a Barbizon geisha being stalked by camera toting tourists, but it really can be tough to tell the difference unless there is a Japanese businessman on their arm. We came across one geisha in the early afternoon -- we couldn't tell whether she was legit because she looked and acted legit but our timing was suspect. Ingrid didn't care, she marched straight up to her and put her hand out and touched her kimono. Out little ice breaker, very cute.