But they call themselves geiko-performing girls. Gion is not only exclusive but even cliquish. Unless introduced by a regular customer in the neighbourhood, a newcomer cannot even step into a decent tea house, the place that will organize a night with a geiko. For most people, even in Kyoto, the closest they will get to the mysterious demimonde will be watching the star-studded Memoirs of a Geisha.
Coproduced by Steven Spielberg, the movie tells of a girl from a poor fishing village who is sold to a Gion geisha house and achieves legendary status, secretly falling in love along the way with a wealthy businessman. The book was criticized by its subject, former geisha Mineko Iwasaki, who accused Golden of fabrication and making the Japanese hostesses seem like prostitutes. For the geiko of Gion, their profession is far more nuanced.
Some past geishas in other districts offered sex and the geiko say that foreigners often mistake them for prostitutes because of their showy outfits. The geiko believe they are far different, preserving a sophisticated tradition and creating a fantasy world in which modern concepts such as gender equality have yet to enter.
Gion is said to have started in the midth century to host those travelers who trekked all the way to visit Yasaka Shrine, one of the most popular attractions in the city. Becoming more skilled in dancing and performing with musical instruments, they finally assume the title of geiko, usually around the age of Mamehiro, now 36, moved into a geiko house upon graduation from middle school, just like the 90 or so other geiko serving in Gion, and went through an apprenticeship for five years to learn the social graces.
The aspiring geiko learns how to show respect to the elder girls and the mother of the house. Unlike about half the young geiko who now come from outside Kyoto, attracted to the glamorous world, Mamehiro, who was born as Akiko Maeda, came from a family of one of the geiko houses in Gion. Mamehiro, like others, still takes lessons in dancing, playing the stringed samisen instrument, tea ceremonies and a simple version of noh theatre.
