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  Friends of IG        
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Whilst I enjoy and look forward to receiving emails from my readers, I am quite often inundated with many emails asking me the same questions over and over again. As much as I would love to be able to answer each and every mail individually, I am unable to. So as a result, I shall try to address the most frequently asked questions here. Please do read through the below list to make sure that your questions have not already been answered. Please also keep in mind that my descriptions below are in a brief easy to digest form, as most of the information will be re-visited in a much more detailed manner in various articles through-out the website. If an article already exist in relation to one of the questions, you will be directed there at the end of the answer. If all else fails, and your question has not been answered, please feel free to contact me.
 What is a Geisha? What is a Maiko? What is a Geiko? Is there a difference
between Geiko and Geisha? I know there are Maiko
in Kyoto, what about in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan? Are Maiko and Geisha prostitutes? Are Oiran and Tayuu "The
Queen of Geisha"? How
can I tell apart a Maiko from a Geisha? • Hairstyle: Maiko have their natural hair dressed in various traditional styles according to their position in the Maiko hierarchy. Junior Maiko wear the Wareshinobu style and progress onto the Ofuku style as she becomes a senior Maiko. As a senior Maiko, she has the privilege to wear her hair in the Katsuyama style and Yakko Shimada style for special occasions, and finally the Sakkou hairstyle, right before she becomes a Geisha. The maiko of the Pontocho hanamachi wear an additional 5 hairstyles through the duration of their training: Umemodoki, Oshidori no Hina, Osa Bune/fune, Mizu/sui Guruma and Ikiguruma. Geisha wear a katsura (wig) in the Shimada-mage style (or traditional style of choice). Please read the hairstyle article for further information. • Kanzashi: Maiko wear a wide variety of kanzashi such as tsumami kanzashi (also called hana kanzashi) made from habutae silk. They also wear kushi or tenkazari with silk. These ornaments generally correspond with the relevant season and month. Geisha only wear a few pins and a kushi in their hair which are generally plain in style and not covered in silk. This was a direct result of the sumptuary regulations imposed on Geisha during the Edo era. The exception being a Geisha performing a formal tea-ceremony, where she may wear a small hana-kanzashi. Please view the kanzashi calendar for further information. •Make Up: Maiko paint their faces white, but leave a line of bare skin around their natural hairline. There is also a greater amount of pink blush on the cheek and eye area, and her eyes and eyebrows have a noticeable amount of red. She will also only partially paint her lips in (refer to the diagrams below). When Geisha wear the white make-up, they leave no bare hair line, due to them wearing katsura. They have minimal amount of red outlining the eyes and eyebrows, and the pink blush is subtle. She will paint her lips almost in full. A Geisha not wearing white make up will wear a subtle, often natural shade of make-up and her hair pulled back in a simple bun. Please view the make-up article for further information.
• Kimono:Maiko kimono is a noisy (yet tasteful) and colourful affair. She wears a hikizuri kimono which has the long furisode sleeves that hang down near her ankles. The upper half of her sleeve will have a tuck along the width, and her shoulders will also have a tuck. Geisha wear the much more refined hikizuri kimono with shorter sleeve length or homongi, if she is not wearing the traditional hairstyle and make-up. Generally, the kimono will be of one solid colour with a subtle pattern towards the bottom. • Obi:Maiko's obi are long and wide, generally covering a good proportion of her torso from her hip bone to her breast. The back of the obi bow dangles down to her ankles. Geisha wear a narrower obi of a more subtle pattern and generally tie it in the refined Taiko box bow. • Collar: With the kimono, Maiko wear a thick heavy embroidered collar. The collar starts of predominately red, with a smattering of white and silver patterns on it, and as she increases in age and experience, it slowly turns to white. The back of the collar though remains red until she turns into a Geisha. A Geisha wears a wide, yet simple white collar. • Geta: Last, but not least - Maiko wear Okobo - high, unpainted wooden clogs that have a bell on the inside of them. Geisha wear either zori or geta, depending on the occasion. Of course, there are many other subtle differences
that will be covered in deeper details in various articles. How
can I tell an Oiran and Tayuu apart from Maiko and Geisha? • Hairstyle - Oiran and Tayuu wear the most outlandish, creative and ornate hairstyles. It is amazing that they can hold their head high and straight with all that weight! In addition to the hairstyle itself, they wear a jewelry box worth of kanzashi along with many different ribbons and cords tied in fancy knots. Whilst the hairstyles and adornments may have varied from pleasure quarter to pleasure quarter, there is absolutely no way to mistaken an Oiran or Tayuu hairstyle to the much more simple Shimada-mage, Wareshinobu or Ofuku hairstyle! • Kimono - Look at all those layers and padding! The screaming bright colours! The garnish designs and uchikake! An iki Geisha would never have been caught dressed like such considering their "iki" was based on simplicity! Not only were the kimonos very heavily patterned and embroidered, it was not unusual for Oiran to wear anywhere to 3 to 5 layers of kimono, or to at least mimic wearing so many layers by sewing false collars and padded hems to a single kimono! In addition to the regular kimono worn tied under the obi, there was also the uchikake (over-kimono) that was worn over the top of everything, which also, was generally padded with a thick heavy hem! •Obi - Geisha and Maiko never ever, wear their obi's tied at the front! The mental vision I am getting right now, trying to imagine a Maiko obi tied at the front, or even the taiko obi is quite amusing! There are two stories as to how it originated that Oiran and Tayuu wear their obi tied at the front. The first being that traditionally, married women tied their obi at the front - and as a masquerade that they were "married" to their clients for the night, they mimicked the front tying. The second story is that having the obi tied at the front obviously makes it much easier and faster to undress and get dressed. Both plausible, and both ring true. Needless to say though, it is quite a striking sight to behold! • Feet - Look at those cute little toes! Wait a minute?! You mean I can see toes? Oiran and Tayuu felt it was chic not to wear tabi, even more so in winter when it was definitely a show of endurance! In addition, nothing must have driven a man more wild, than to see a tiny hint of bare flesh.....a dainty toe, sticking out from underneath all the many layers of kimono. There was a certain group of Geisha who also used to walk around without tabi on, but this was not widely adopted by all Geisha, and eventually all Geisha and Maiko did the sensible thing and wore tabi - at least their toes were not freezing in winter! • Geta - Koma-geta (or
mitsu ashi - three legs) were obviously the predecessors to the
platform shoes of the 70's. An amazing skill of balance must be
required to be able to strut your stuff on geta a good 12-15 inches
high, along with a multitude of layers of kimono and a rather ornate
hairstyle. Not to forget though, the ordinary form of walking was
not quite striking enough that one particular Tayuu, Katsuyama (the
famed tayuu of the very same Katsuyama hairstyle), developed a rather
interesting way of walking, often referred to as the "Figure 8"
step. Not wanting to be outdone, all the other Tayuu scrambled to
imitate. Use your imagination, it is probably correct! Geisha and
Maiko pale in comparison in the shoe department, wearing only zori
or geta for a Geisha, or the rather plain looking (in comparison)
okobo. Visual Guide to the Difference Between Maiko, Geisha and Tayuu/Oiran
What is a "Hanamachi"? How many hanamachi are
there in Kyoto? What are the mons (crest) for the Kyoto geiko hanamachi?
What
is the Calendar of Events for the Kyoto Hanamachi? Gion Kobu:
 Gion
Higashi:
Kamishichiken:  Miyagawacho: 
Pontocho: 
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