Fake geisha
Nov 25th, 2007 by Ad Blankestijn
It comes as no surprise that the heart of the average, innocent first-time visitor to Kyoto starts beating faster when spotting these beautiful ladies in kimono… Geisha! Many a proud tourist must have shown pictures like the above one to his friends and family at home. It is good that there is still some tradition left in the Old Capital!
But wait, not everything in Kyoto is what it seems:
At the side of the shop these “geisha” are just leaving stands a tell-tale sign, discreetly behind a tree: “rental kimono.” For only 5,250 yen, they dress you up like a geisha, hairstyling included, as a special remembrance of your trip. We already knew there were fake priests here, now even the geisha are not to be trusted anymore. Kyoto has been so overrun by tourists, that it is almost impossible to spot a real Kyotoite among the millions of sightseeers (more than 40 million a year, target for 2010 50 million) - let alone a real geisha! With those dressings-up, the city has been turned into one great playground for tourists, a sort of DisneyKyoto-land that never was…
How to spot a “real geisha”: geiko and maiko come only out in their costume in the early evening, to go to their assignments; they do not like to be photographed and will immediately jump into a taxi to evade your big lens; they walk hurriedly and usually alone; and above all, their movements are different, real geiko and maiko walk with dainty little steps, the summum of femininity, and very different from the confident stride of a modern woman (no offense intended on either side).
