Me and the Geisha
Posted: February 6, 2009 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Japan, Travel | 3 Comments »I’ve been to Japan three times, but being a Buddhist nerd type figure,* I usually go visit temples, not the more “exciting” aspects of Japanese culture. When I visited Kyoto a few years ago, I did have a chance to get a photo taken with a geisha though:
She doesn’t say much though and is a bit stiff I think. 
This was taken at the Kyoto train station, or kyōto eki (京都駅). My in-laws thought this picture was hilarious since we never saw a real one on that trip.
I finally did see real life geisha when I visited Sensoji recently. Because it was just after New Year, the temple was even more festive than usual, so as I walked with my in-laws past one building, my wife pointed out a group of geishas coming our way. Since I was standing there with my in-laws I didn’t feel like staring at geishas, but I took a quick look and kept walking. They were dressed in bright festive kimonos, carrying parasols, lots of pretty hairpins and the classic white make-up. As they passed, I saw photographers, Japanese and foreign, chasing after them for a good photo, which I thought was a little excessive.
I think that my wife once told me that in Kyoto’s Gion District, photographers harass geisha a lot which kind of frightens them. That story bothered me a lot. I like Japanese girls a lot,** and geisha are feminine and beautiful, but why can’t men just be gentlemen to them or any girl?
Anyways, I think I’d rather be at home with wife and daughter than hanging out with some geisha, trying to act macho and impress dinner guests. Speaking as one who spends a lot of time at home reading science-fiction or Buddhist books, I am not exactly a wild kind of guy, so I’ll stick with the statue for now.
Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu
P.S. National Geographic has a nice video on understanding geisha.
P.P.S. This fellow, whose a much better photographer than I, took an accidental picture of a geisha that is pretty cool. Kudos to him for his excellent photography. The rest of the album is quite nice too.
* – For those who remember the old blog, the tag-line was “The Buddhist Nerd Haven”.
** – I’m happily married to one.
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the 
Hi Doug,
Yes, cameras are like cars for a lot of people. You get behind one and turn into a right ******. Suddenly, simply because of this machine, people think they have the right to invade other people’s space, become intrusive and insensitive and generally act like a selfish so-and-so.
Phew, rant over. But (here we go again) I see so many people taking photos of simply everything all of the time – for what? Why can’t people put the macghines down and simply enjoy what they are seeing for itself. Rather than trying to record everything for a future that might not even happen, enjoy it now.
And the moment you put a camera in front of your face you are divorced from what is going on. By recording it you are no longer participating in it. Come on people, stop recording life – live it!
rant rant rant……
Actually, I wasn’t complaining about photography per se. I know some good people who are excellent photographers, but what I was complaining about was how men don’t act like gentlemen around geisha. They just treat them like pretty playthings. It bugs me.
I have actually also seen a real life geisha, and it was here in Los Angeles. Back in 2006 I went to a documentary film in Beverly Hills about the geisha and a geisha from Kyoto was there dressed in Kimono and white makeup. Her name was Makoto. I posted about it with some pictures of her on that night.
http://toshogu.blogspot.com/2006/11/geisha.html