Tourist Maikos

Hi all,

This idea suddenly came into my mind.. so I have no photos for this entry.
Anyway, what is [tourist maikos]?

In Kyoto we have tons of places where you can get dressed up and make-ups like maikos if you pay a certain amount of money so that you can have a touch of being one.

This kind of places are very poplular especially among young Japanese girls.
It's been one of the must-dos when they travel in Kyoto.
By the way, I've never done it myself simply because I don't want to.
I don't think you can easily find a place like this in other parts of Japan.

So what they do is get dressed like maiko and take some photo shoots like a model..
plus, if you pay extra money, you can walk outside to do more photo shoots.
What happens there is that foreign travellers who don't know anything about the existance of that kind of place accidentally find those fake maikos, and go crazy to take numorous pictures of them.
Of course when you are asked to be photographed, who can reject it?
Those travellers happily leave there feeling they have captured true Japan...

How many times have I seen that scene,, and how many times have I tried to tell them that they were fake ones.
In some cases, people don't care if they are real ones or not. It's totally OK for me!

But I'm the one who've seen real ones so often and know their austhentic beauty.
So everytime I take my guests around Gion area, I can't help but tell them to be aware of the fakes.

So for those who really want to see real maikos, here are some tips on how to tell the difference.

1. Real maikos don't show up in their formal costume during the day.

2. Kimonos that real ones and fake ones wear are so different. Good kimonos just appeal to your eyes.

3. Maikos act very elegantly and don't show their teeth when they smile.

These can be very difficult for you..
but easiest way is to go to a kagai(geisha district) around 6pm or 9pm when they start and finish working.

Good luck!!