you STILL want to be a geisha...
I would be the last person to deny that geisha are appealing. If you are a Western teenager who has never been to Japan, but who yearns to be a maiko, then by all means, use this passion to learn about Japan. Learn language! Go to Japan to study! Learn how the geisha fit into Japanese society! Take dance lessons, or practice the shamisen or flute!
If you follow this path, even if you eventually decide that becoming a geisha is not, after all, your life's goal, you will have had an extraordinary adventure that will enrich your life immeasurably.
photo by Sigrid Verbert
photo by Dawn O’Day
...and you CAN go to Japan and be expertly dressed and made up as a maiko or geisha, like the Japanese teenagers pictured above. For example:
