Geisha Sighting

This was so exciting. The first time we went to Kyoto, I didn't see a single geisha. (Well, they're actually maiko, apprentice geishas.) I was totally bummed. Gen tried to cheer me up by pointing out a statue of a geisha in the Kyoto station, but it just wasn't the same. But this time we lucked out and got a good taxi driver who took us to the right spot. We just hung out outside of the most famous geisha house like paparazzi. Aren't they pretty?

This is us, waiting for an appearance. The entrance is to the left in the picture.

This is all we could get at first. Those girls move much faster than you would expect. I suppose they're used to running the gauntlet of tourists.

Here she is from the front. I liked her purple kimono the best.

I love the hair decorations. Some of them have little bells so they make music when you walk.

I thought about cropping that guy out, but he's pretty funny.

A good view of the back of the very complicated hair. That guy in the orange shirt was kind of a jackass. He got right up in the maikos' faces with that dinky little camera. Our has a good zoom feature, so Gen was a nice, respectable distance away.

Escape, at last! See him, shoving his camera in their faces? We wondered where they were going, as this was early in the evening and they were leaving their restaurant. Maybe to a private party? I wonder how much it costs to have a private dinner with four maiko? One of the hotels was running a special maiko dinner and I briefly considered it, but it was around $200 per person. In general, it's pretty hard to book a dinner with the maiko. Very exclusive and very expensive, so the hotel dinner was a relative bargain.