Colorful geisha trainees hit Tokyo streets

geisha are not prostitutes

Yawn. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Or, in this case, as rotten.

bilderberg_2015Oct. 05, 2013 - 09:24AM JST

geisha are not prostitutes

Yawn. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Or, in this case, as rotten.

A very intelligent and sophisticated woman will play musical instruments, talk to you, and perhaps even hint that something more is possible. There's no touching, there's nothing rotten here. In fact its probably cleaner than most first dates in Ohio.

Anyone who insists otherwise has (a) never actually spent any time with a geisha, and (b) has a very low opinion of women.

You are wrong on both (a) and (b) above. Congrats!

bilderberg_2015Oct. 05, 2013 - 09:37AM JST You are wrong on both (a) and (b) above. Congrats!

Prove it, because I've known two local geisha since they were maiko, and there's absolutely nothing untoward about the work they do. If they played violin they'd be the next Vanessa Mae, but until someone invents the electric samisen they're quite happy playing smaller venues. ... and that's really all there is to it.

And the fact that you INSIST that these women are prostitutes for a couple of hundred dollars worth of performance fee at a party... that shows that I'm 100% right that you have a low opinion of women, especially talented and intelligent women.

Maiko are cute and glad to see girls still wanting to keep traditions alive. Good for them.

Saw what appeared to be one of these girls on the subway Friday afternoon. If she was trying to keep traditions alive or not, I don't know. But she apparently was keeping a new trend alive ... and that was, she was busy thumbing her kaitai (cell phone) and gazing at it just like most other young modern ladies of today ...

Does anybody know if that American? woman is still a geisha? I thought it was incredible how she wanted to keep this beautiful tradition alive and how she tried to break the stigma that foreigners have about the geisha.

Oh, but Frungy, bilderberg_2015 read Memoirs of a Geisha, how can he be wrong?

My cousin-in-law is a Geisha. It's a vocation. Anybody who has seen them, or Maiko, perform will be stunned at how good they are. It's very easy to see why they have been held in such high regard for so long.

Anyone who thinks geisha are prostitutes has never heard of the casting couch apparently. Geisha are prostitutes about as much as any actress or performer. For centuries women have had to "do things" for rich and powerful men to get anywhere in certain professions. The geisha are not any different, its just that some men need to get a clue.

They are performers, part of their performance is their youth and beauty, and as such they are targets, not prostitutes.

ControlFreakOct. 06, 2013 - 08:13AM JST Anyone who thinks geisha are prostitutes has never heard of the casting couch apparently. Geisha are prostitutes about as much as any actress or performer. For centuries women have had to "do things" for rich and powerful men to get anywhere in certain professions. The geisha are not any different, its just that some men need to get a clue.

Not "in certain professions", that should be "in ANY profession". Women have been "sleeping their way to the top" (and I don't mean a combination of healthy diet and regular exercise followed by a restful night's sleep) for as millenia. For a long, long time the only way for a woman to get promoted was by sleeping with someone... or did you just think it was a coincidence that married women have a higher status than unmarried women?

They are performers, part of their performance is their youth and beauty, and as such they are targets, not prostitutes.

I don't agree. There are many older geisha who are anything youthful, and that isn't just a result of the smaller numbers of geisha these days. Some of the stuff geisha do, like playing samisen, needs flexible fingers, which is something you don't keep when you're 60, but a lot of stuff they do, like telling traditional stories and jokes, is timeless and they can keep performing for ages.

Kyoto is a Wonder in and of itself! the Miyako Odori was splendid & We hope to visit many more times! Be prepared to do lots of walking on this trip,folks!

Geisha are not prostitutes. Far from it.

They are highly skilled, highly trained practitioners of the ancient Japanese art of entertaining guests over dinner and drinks.

Yes they are trained in the arts & conversation. Not seen as sex 4 money in usual sense. Met a pair of young ladies who were training in Himeji.

beautiful intelligent women geisha are just that its not easy infact its hard but it takes great dedication and skill to become a full Geisha good luck to all those that make it.

It's all about tradition, carry on. In some cultures across the globe people are losing some tradition that was handed down from generations to generations, have no problem with it. Peace

Geisha is not prostitute. Prostitutes had been called Shou-gi. Famous prostitute regions in Japan was Yoshihara. /Prostitute houses area were called Yukaku. Geisha people did not live in such areas. They play Shamnisen (3 strings instruments( with bachi(in other hand). They can sing old traditional Japanese songs and dances in Kimonos. It is easy to Japanese girls to study calculus and science. organs and pianos or violins than their arts. I think some people think they are prostitutes because very wealthy men pays a lot of money to Geisha House owners to buy one of geishas to make their mistress(mekake). Some marries to their wealthy patrons, But they are not prostitutes.