page_title: Geisha
section_title: Stages of training
hierarchical_section_title: Geisha / Stages of training
caption_attribution_description: A maiko wearing a kimono, showing the obi Geisha in Kyoto 舞妓 2&#160;: Suzuha 寿々葉
context_page_description: Geisha, geiko, or geigi are female Japanese entertainers who perform traditional Japanese artforms, such as traditional dance and singing. They are characterised by their distinct appearance of long, trailing kimono, traditional hairstyles and the oshiroi makeup they wear.
  Contrary to popular belief, geisha are not sex workers - a misconception in the West originating from foreigners confusing geisha with oiran and other sex workers, all of whom historically wore kimono, despite the differences in their styles of dress and appearance.
context_section_description: Before the twentieth century, geisha began their training at a young age, around the age of six. In the present day this is no longer the case, and geisha usually debut as maiko around the age of 17 or 18. Labour laws stipulate that that apprentices only join an okiya aged 18, although okiya in Kyoto are legally allowed to take on recruits at a younger age, 15–17. Now, girls must graduate from middle school and then make the personal decision to train to become a geisha. Young women who wish to become geisha now most often begin their training after high school or even college. Many more women begin their careers in adulthood.
  Before debuting as a maiko, apprentices may live at the okiya as shikomi - essentially a trainee, learning all the necessary skills to become a maiko, as well as attending to the needs of the house and learning to live with her geisha sisters and within the karyūkai. By watching other geisha and learning from the mother of the house (known as the okā-san - lit., "mother"), apprentices learn how to speak with guests, the mannerisms necessary to be a geisha, and the traditions of the karyūkai. Apprentices also learn how to comfortably wear kimono.
  Traditionally the shikomi stage of training lasted for years, and some girls were bonded to geisha houses as children. Daughters of geisha were often brought up as geisha themselves, usually as the successor (atotori, meaning "heir" or "heiress") or daughter-role (musume-bun) to the okiya. Successors, however, were not always blood relations. Nowadays, a girl is often a shikomi for up to a year.
  A maiko is an apprentice and is therefore bonded under a contract to her okiya. The okiya will usually supply her with food, board, kimono, obi, and other tools of her trade, but a maiko may decide to fund everything herself from the beginning with either a loan or the help of an outside guarantor. A maiko's training is very expensive, and debts must be repaid over time with her earnings to either the okiya or her guarantor. This repayment may continue after graduation to geishahood, and only when her debts are settled can a geisha claim her entire wages and work independently (if loaning from the okiya). After this point she may chose to stay on living at her okiya, must still be affiliated to one to work, and even living away from the okiya, will usually commute there to begin her working evening.
  A maiko will start her formal training on the job as a minarai (learning by observation) at an ozashiki (お座敷) (a geisha party), where she will sit and observe as the other maiko and geisha interact with customers. In this way, a trainee gains insights into the nature of the job, following the typical nature of traditional arts apprenticeships in Japan, wherein an apprentice is expected to learn almost entirely through observation. Although geisha at the stage of minarai training will attend parties, they will not participate on an involved level and are instead expected to sit quietly. Trainees can be hired for parties, but are usually uninvited - though welcomed - guests, brought along by their symbolic older sister as a way of introducing a new trainee to patrons of the karyūkai. Minarai usually charge just a third of the fee a typical geisha would charge, and typically work within just one particular tea house, known as the minarai-jaya - learning from the "mother" (proprietress) of the house. The minarai stage of training involves learning techniques of conversation, typical party games, and proper decorum and behaviour at banquets and parties. This stage lasts only about a month or so.
  After the minarai period, a trainee will make her official debut (misedashi) and become a maiko. This stage can last between 3 and 5 years. During this time, they learn from both other trainees senior to them, and their geisha mentors, with special emphasis placed on learning from her symbolic "older sister" (onee-san). Though any maiko or geisha "senior" in rank to an apprentice may be called "older sister", an apprentice's official "older sister" is a geisha bonded to her in an offi
caption: Senior maiko Suzuha wearing sakkō, two weeks before her erikae.
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