[Travel] Spotting A Geisha in Kyoto – How To Tick That Item Off Your Bucket List

They say seeing a real life Geisha in Japan is a once in a lifetime experience. I recall how as I peruse travel magazines in the past and I’d see them mentioned, most do not have an accompanying high quality photos. So I thought just how difficult is it to spot them? Apparently, not very hard..

My fascination with the Geisha Culture is almost as old as my love for Japan. Watching the film Memoirs of a Geisha, though it was all fiction, just further intensified my dream of one day seeing one in person. And this is my account of how thrilling the whole experience was. Of course, your desire to spot them has to come with a bit of stealth and cunning.

Remember in my last post I shared a photo of Maiko’s on their way to work? I doubted if they were really Geishas-in-training then but apparently, it turned out Miyagawa-cho ( my hostel’s neighborhood ) belonged to the five Geiko areas of Kyoto. And yes, they do have those kind of schools.

My next brush with them was in the street outside of Kodaiji Temple. It turned out they’re tourists (I am sure of this now) who have paid a good sum of money to a Geisha Studio to live out their dream of walking around Kyoto like the Geisha of the olden days. Of course, at the time, I wasn’t 100% sure. My brain was in the “are they or aren’t they” thought process which I interrupted because I was just blown away. My first encounter up close. I was so thrilled! It almost felt like they jumped out of a movie or something. So anyway, I gestured with my camera and they obliged. Tell tale sign right there. I also had a couple of photos taken with them which I am not gonna post here for self-preservation reason haha. Whoever they are, I will forever be grateful.

When the night descended upon Kyoto, I was already walking along Hanamiko-ji Street in Gion. Never mind the cold autumn night and the mysterious aura of traditional Japanese restaurants. In other times, the noren covering the doors would be sending silent invitations to me but tonight I paid them no heed. I was a woman on a mission. I planted myself in a corner where there were a bunch of tourists excited over something that I surmised happened just shortly before I arrived. People were giddy and I thought Aha! A Geisha just walked by. And sure enough, another one came out of a restaurant, dodging cars and camera flashes. It was surreal. I was torn between following, but I know it would be impolite, so I decided to stay put. What followed is a series of exactly the same scenario, Geisha and Maiko darting in and out of Gion houses. As people have said before, it was really hard to photograph them. Look at my first few attempts.

The photos below was a scene straight out of Hollywood. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a lone Geisha coming from a narrow alleyway towards the main street that we were on. Nice, I thought. This is my chance of getting that elusive photo. I chose a prime spot towards the end of the alley and held the cam by my side. Trying not to get the attention of my fellow paps. Didn’t fool them one bit. Pretty soon, about twenty of us tourists were waiting for her. I felt sad for her but I admit it was hilarious too.  I really felt like a legit paparazzi. Really, all that was missing in that scene was a red carpet. She has this poker face on though so I suspect this is nothing new to her. When she was finally by the end of the alley, the amount of flashes was such that it got in a way of taking a good picture. Ahhh, we were all in such high spirit. We got what we came for that’s for sure. A real life Geisha in close quarter. Most of the ones we saw before her were Maikos or apprentice Geisha.

The face is so white because of all the camera flashes. 

The following night I met up with a friend who was also visiting Japan. I told him about my Geisha hunting experience and so we went back so he can also see them. I worried that we won’t see any because it was already like 10 in the evening. There was no crowd this time so if a Geisha came along, it would be a perfect photo opportunity. My hopes were raised after I spied one coming towards us. There weren’t as many as before, but they are still out and about. We didn’t take her picture though when she passed us by. She was with some men in suit and I thought they could be Yakuza or something and that they won’t appreciate us taking their photo. Worse, they could grab  our camera and crash it on the cobblestone pavement. No, really. Those were my thoughts.

These were two memorable nights that I’d like to share to as many people as I can. So here are some tips:

1. Your highest chance of seeing a Geisha is going to Gion between 5pm to 6pm when most of them are headed to their appointments.

2. Position yourself by the end of Hanamiko-ji street as close as possible to the main street going to Yasaka Shrine. This is because if you walk along the entire length of the street and happens to come across a Geisha, the moment they see you, they dart inside one of those restaurants/ryokans. At first I thought they have an appointment there but this happened to us once or twice that I suspected there might be a backdoor for them to avoid walking head on with tourists. This was confirmed when we followed one into an alley and she turned left to an even more narrow street, and then disappeared. This would also explain why they mostly “emerged” from the first alley off the main street. It makes sense because then they only had a few meters to walk before getting into a taxi and driving away from the paps.

3. When all else fails and you have limited time for a stakeout. Just get yourself across this Geisha house during the aforementioned time. There were a lot more Geisha and Maiko coming in and out compared to the other establishments. You won’t miss it. It’s the first establishment to you left after you turn into Hanamiko-ji from Yasaka Shrine. Here’s are pictures of it:

Well that’s about it. Yea, only three haha. But these worked for me during those two nights so if you find yourself in Kyoto, I hope this would come in handy.

Update: You can follow my instagram account, mieezu, for my latest adventures in Japan!