Geisha (芸者), also known as geiko (芸子) or geigi (芸妓), are female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles, such as dance, music and singing, as well as being proficient conversationalists and hosts. Their distinct appearance is characterised by long, trailing kimono, traditional hairstyles and oshiroi make-up. Geisha entertain at parties known as ozashiki, often for the entertainment of wealthy clientele, as well as performing on stage and at festivals.
Profile of a Miyagawa-chō geiko (geisha) Kimiha wearing a formal black kimono (kurotomesode) and a chū taka shimada-style nihongami wig
A shikomi (left) accompanying the maiko Takamari of the Kaida okiya in Gion Kobu
Minarai Katsunosuke wearing a short obi and a large, colourful set of kanzashi hairpins
Ukiyo-e scroll depicting a Gion geisha, 1800–1833
Kyoto, officially Kyoto City , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. As of 2020, the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. It is also part of the even larger Keihanshin metropolitan area, along with Osaka and Kobe.
Image: Kiyomizu
Image: Sagaogurayama Tabuchiyamacho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture 616 8394, Japan panoramio
Image: Kinkaku 3402CBcropped
Image: Kyoto Ryoan Ji MG 4512