Many girls come from Tokyo or the countryside to train and can start as Meiko at age 15 although an unmarried woman of any age can train to be a geisha. They have to adopt the Kyoto accent and take classes in etiquette, tea ceremony, dance, calligraphy, music and singing. Meiko only have 2 days off per month and have to keep their hair in the elaborate style for a week at a time – sleeping on a padded wooden bar instead of a pillow. At 21 they become Geiko and can wear a wig instead. In return for all this hardship, they get celebrity status, eat in the best restaurants every day and are treated with the utmost respect.
Peter in front of the geisha’s lesson schedule – all just written in chalk which no-one messes with.
If you are geisha hunting, just hang around Gion corner between 6pm and 6.20pm and you will see several leaving their houses to go to the restaurants for their first appointment. They do not mind photographs, just don’t get in their way or delay them.
