This is a street in the famous Gion district of Kyoto. It's even more famous, because this is the street where the geisha houses are. Daria and I wanted to see some geisha, so Jayne went with us as we waited at this corner for over an hour in our attempt to see them! At first we saw nothing except some other tourists and a couple of avid Japanese photographers also wanting to catch a sight of some geisha.
Actually, real geisha are very rare in Kyoto. Most such people you see are either tourists who've paid to be done up like geisha, or they are apprentice geisha, known as maiko. Maiko can be distinguished from geisha by both their hairstyle (though I couldn't tell you what's different, myself!) and by their predominantly red under-kimono.
We waited about 20 minutes before we saw our first maiko. The Japanese photographers asked them to pose, which they kindly did for a minute or so. Then they said they had an appointment and were going to be late, and turned away from the photographers. Not the red kimono peeking out at the bottom. That's how you can recognize a maiko. I think they are holding up their outer kimono, I don't think they are that short when allowed to fall. Also, notice how long their sleeves are. This means the wearer is an unmarried young woman. You can see why geisha/maiko always have long-sleeved kimono! Another thing distinctive about their costume is how far back the kimono is pulled from the nape of the neck. This is especially obvious when you look at the woman in the blue kimono. The collar is high in front, but in back it falls low. This is only done by geisha-it's considered quite erotic in Japan.
We next saw a couple geisha/maiko being driven out in taxis, and settled down to wait for a bit, and also debate what dinner was going to be (it was some very good Indian!). The waiting went on for about an hour, and as you can see we got a little discouraged. But we didn't give up! On the left is one of the Japanese photographers that was there. I wonder if they were just hobbyists, or if they photograph for postcards and the like. Jayne is holding the wonderful guidebook that was so useful in Kyoto.
Suddenly, after the hour of waiting, we were inundated with maiko and geisha! A veritable conucopia! First a maiko and a girl in long braids came down the street. Daria ran to walk next to them so she could be in a picture with them. This maiko met two more coming down a cross street, and these other two also had younger girls in long braids with them. The girls greeted each other as "older sister", and it seemed rather like a ritual, so we wonder if the girls with long braids may be apprentice maiko of some sort.
After these three maiko, we saw two more come down the cross street, in the photo on the right.One of the Japanese photographers began to make rude comments to me about how fat one of them was...then he looked and realized he was talking to a fat gaijin! Boy, did he turn red. He turned away quickly without another word.
Finally, after all that waiting, we saw an actual geisha! She didn't look older than the maiko to me, I don't know what determines that they're no longer apprentice geisha.
The woman with the red arrow pointing at her in this picture is the geisha. Notice that her lowest kimono is a light pink rather than red. Farther up the street (this is the main street that crosses with the street the geisha live on) is another maiko, very far in the distance. The light blue arrow is pointing at her.
Notice how small and narrow this street is! One car can fit okay, with only a few people walking on the street but you wouldn't believe how congested this place is in the evening! It's a rather busy district of Kyoto at night, with restaurants and bars all along it, and I don't know how taxis can get where they're going in this area! Most of the streets in the Gion area don't even allow cars, they're just for pedestrians, because the area is so old and built up, there's just no room for cars, and the pedestrians keep it crowded enough. The atmosphere there on a summer night is simply amazing! It's completely different from what it is back in Michigan, even in busy cities like Detroit. The Gion District is near a river running through Kyoto, and the bridges spanning this river are beautiful. The entire city seems to have a calmer atmosphere than is usual in any metropolis. I would have to say that Kyoto really appealed to me.