I didn't know there are still geishas, geishas schools etc. I only read about them in Memoires of Geisha and I sort of thought the tradition of geishas stopped after WW2. Nice shot.

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i think that is also a reason why they don't call themselves geisha anymore. that name was soiled during the war and they don't want to be associated. don't hold me to that though. but i thought i read it somewhere.

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Good to know that, I´ll try to find out something more about this. By the way, do they still have these rules about their first sex (who bids more), having the Danna etc. or is it only a style of life being a geiko?

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truly don't know.

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I think she's a maiko, judging from the red garment underneath the kimono. I can't remember very clearly, but I think I read that somewhere.

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She is a maiko, though I don't know what her name is. Though I don't know if she's real or not. Her makeup and kimono are junior while her collar and hair ornaments appear to be more senior.

The geisha really are alive and well, and even experiencing a bit of a revival. Kyoto geisha call themselves "geiko" to separate themselves from their counterparts in other parts of the country. Kyoto geiko are a bit proud and consider themselves to be the most superior geisha in Japan. While they don't look down so much on their Tokyo sisters, they do not like to be confused with infamous "onsen geisha" who have a reputation of selling a bit more than arts.

Memoirs of a Geisha, while being well written, is not an accurate source on geisha. It is a western-style Cinderella story written by an American man and placed in a Kyoto setting. If you are interested in some great sources on geisha, read "Geisha, a Life" by Mineko Iwasaki (Japan's most famous geisha in her day), "Women of the Pleasure Quarters" by Leslie Downer, and "Geisha" by Liza Dalby. Or you can join us at the forums at Immortal Geisha: [link]

OMG thank you so much. someone with some real information/conversation. i appreciate the insight. there was a camera man standing to the right so it might have been a model posing for something else, and not a geiko at all.

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i appreciate the info. sorry i didn't see this earlier but for some reason it didn't show up on my messages. katycrayon above gave a bit of info on it as well.

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If she was modeling for someone then she was probably a henshin (tourist dressed up). Maiko henshin studios often include indoor and outdoor photoshoots in their packages.

Telling the difference between a geiko and a maiko is easy, though, for future reference. Maiko wear kimono with long, swinging sleeves and more vibrant colors and patterns. They also wear "dangling obi" and lots of hair ornaments. Maiko also style their own hair (a dead givaway of a fake maiko will be a wig line, though some henshin do get their own hair styled.) Full-fledged geiko wear more understated kimono with shorter sleeves, obi tied in a box-knot, and wear wigs called katusra instead of styling their own hair. You can see some of the differences here:
maiko: [link]
geiko: [link]

You're welcome for the info. I eat this stuff up. I've even had the pleasure of being entertained by real maiko.