Memoires of a Geisha – the untold story

You`ve all probably seen or read it by now, Memoires of a Geisha. The story of a young girl being sold to a `house` in the Gion district in Kyoto and becoming one of the most famous geishas Japan has ever known.

More than enough reason for John and me to go to Kyoto and pick up the story where the movie and the book ended. So here it is: Memoirs of a Geisha – the untold story…

After a daytrip to Nara and some walking around in Kyoto we decided we`ve seen enough temples and shrines to last us a lifetime. It was time to get the party going and go stalk some Geisha, Maiko or whatever paint faced girls were around in the Gion district. Since our stalking skills were kinda rusty we hooked up with the foremost expert on Geisha-stalking, Peter MacIntosh. Peter is (probably) the only foreigner who has married a (former) geisha and he has been living in the Gion district for over 14 years now.

During his walking lecture through the neigbourhood he told us all about the life of geishas and maikos, their training and performing skills, but most important how to shoot, stalk and get a live one on film. Although that last part succeeded it means turning your screen 90 degrees to the right to actually get the most out of the Maiko experience

For those more interested in Japanese day-2-day life in the 21th century; John and I also went bowling and gaming. We`ve uploaded all the evidence of our naturalisation process in Japan by way of pictures and YouTube movies.

More photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157602550643113/

You can also take a look at John’s blogpost on Kyoto and Nara:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2007/10/20/japan-kyoto-nara/

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