Geisha, Geiko and Maiko: What the Words Mean (芸者, 芸妓, 舞妓)

Geisha, geiko and maiko: 芸者, 芸妓 and 舞妓

A geisha (芸者 (げいしゃ, geisha, “geisha”)) is a professional entertainer who performs traditional arts such as dance and shamisen music, and keeps guests company at banquets. Geiko (芸妓 (げいこ, geiko, “geisha”)) is the Kyoto word for the same fully trained woman, and a maiko (舞妓 (まいこ, maiko, “maiko”)) is a young apprentice geiko in Kyoto.

So geisha and geiko are the same job under two names, and maiko is the step before. Geisha are not courtesans. They are working artists.

The name tells you the idea. 芸 (gei) means art or skill, and 者 (sha) means person, so 芸者 is a "person of the arts". The 舞 in maiko means dance. For how kanji build words like this, see What is Kanji?.

Geisha vs geiko vs maiko: the three words

The words depend on the place and on how far the woman has trained.

In Kyoto, a fully trained geisha is a geiko and an apprentice is a maiko. In Tokyo and the Kanto region, a fully trained geisha is a geisha and an apprentice is a hangyoku, "half-jewel". Other cities vary, and Kanazawa also uses geiko.

So a maiko is not a different kind of person from a geisha. She is a geisha in training.

How to tell a maiko from a geiko

The two look different, though details vary.

• Hair. A maiko wears her own hair, styled in a traditional shape and decorated with seasonal flower hairpins. A geiko usually wears a wig.
• Sleeves and obi. A maiko wears a long-sleeved, trailing kimono and a very long hanging obi (the sash) tied at the back. A geiko wears a shorter sleeve and a shorter, more ordinary obi.
• Colour. A maiko's 着物 (きもの, kimono, “kimono”) is bright and heavily decorated. A geiko's patterns are quieter.
• Makeup. A maiko wears the full white face makeup. Wikipedia notes that older geisha tend to wear the full white face only for stage performances and special occasions.
• Shoes. A maiko wears wooden clogs that clop as she walks. They are called おこぼ (okobo, “girl's lacquered wooden clogs”).

A word of caution: in Kyoto's tourist streets, many of the women dressed as maiko are visitors who have paid for a dress-up experience. Wikipedia notes that most people seen dressed as geisha in Kyoto are in fact tourists in costume.

How a maiko becomes a geiko

Training is long. These are the stages in Kyoto:

• Shikomi. The first stage, which Japanese Wikipedia says lasts from about six months to two years.
• Minarai. "Learning by watching", about one month at banquets.
• Maiko. The debut is called the 見世出し (みせだし, misedashi, “misedashi”). The apprenticeship then lasts three to five years.
• Erikae. The ceremony that makes her a geiko, usually around the age of 20 or 21. The word is 襟替え (えりがえ, erigae, “becoming a geisha (of a geisha apprentice)”), and it means "changing the collar".

Trainees must have finished middle school, so training starts at 15 or older. Wikipedia gives 17 or 18 for the debut as a maiko, and sources differ. National Geographic says the whole path takes nearly a decade, a little longer than these stages add up to.

What does a geisha do?

A geisha entertains at a party, usually in a private room. Japanese Wikipedia describes the job as attending a banquet, performing various arts and keeping the gathering lively. The party itself has a name: the お座敷 (おざしき, ozashiki, “dinner party in a tatami room with a geisha or maiko”).

At an ozashiki a geisha might:

• dance, or play the 三味線 (しゃみせん, shamisen, “shamisen”), the three-stringed lute;
• sing, pour drinks, play traditional games;
• keep the conversation going.

Two more words explain how the business works, and the district they belong to comes next:

In Kyoto, engagements are arranged through the house's "mother" and the district's registry office.

Hanamachi: the geisha districts of Kyoto

A hanamachi (花街) is a "flower town": the neighbourhood where geisha live and work. Each has its own name and crest, and geisha do not usually work outside their own district.

Kyoto has five, together called the gokagai: Gion Kōbu, Gion Higashi, Miyagawa-chō, Pontochō and Kamishichiken. In spring the districts hold public dance shows, called odori, with maiko and geiko. Some date back to the 1870s.

Other cities have their own districts too, such as Kanazawa and Tokyo.

Myths: are geisha courtesans, mistresses or submissive?

Geisha are artists, not prostitutes. Japanese Wikipedia gives the ideal as 芸は売っても体は売らぬ: sell the art, not the body. A geisha is also not an oiran, a high-ranking courtesan who was bound to the pleasure quarters. National Geographic traces some of the confusion to Memoirs of a Geisha and other sensational accounts.

The line was not always clear, though. Some women were pushed into sex work by debt, and Japan's 1956 Prostitution Prevention Law made that illegal. After the war, some prostitutes called themselves "geisha girls" to American soldiers, which damaged the profession's name abroad.

What about a patron? Historically, an established geisha might take a wealthy supporter, called a danna (旦那). Wikipedia says this could be a personal relationship, at times a sexual one. A geisha's sex and love life is usually separate from her work, and taking a danna is now less common because of the expense.

Are geisha submissive? Wikipedia says almost the whole geisha world is owned and run by women, and quotes one geisha who says geisha are "not submissive and subservient". That is one person's view, but the okiya is run by a woman, the "mother".

Is there a male geisha?

Yes, the first geisha were men, called 太鼓持ち (たいこもち, taikomochi, “professional jester”), also known as hōkan (幇間). Wikipedia dates the first woman geisha to about 1750, and by 1800 the profession was mostly female.

Today the male entertainer is very rare: Wikipedia says only about eight remain, four of them in Tokyo and one in Kyoto, but gives no date for that figure. Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-02.

Photographing geisha: the rules in Gion

Gion is Kyoto's best-known geisha district, and its residents have acted against tourists who trespass for photos.

• October 2019. An association of local residents and shop owners banned photography on the private roads off Hanami-kōji, the main street, with a fine of 10,000 yen. Public streets such as Hanami-kōji stayed open for photos. How the fine would be enforced was not made clear at the time (SoraNews24).
• April 2024. The local district council (祇園南側地区協議会 in Japanese) put up signs asking visitors to keep out of the private lanes branching off public roads. The signs read ここは私道です。通り抜けできません ("This is a private road. You cannot pass through"), with a warning of a 10,000 yen fine. Public roads remain open (AP, Travel Voice).

The 2024 rule is about entering the lanes, and the 2019 rule is about photographs. Leaflets in 2019 also reminded visitors not to photograph geisha and maiko without permission. Rules change, so follow the signs on the street. Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-02.

Do geisha still exist today?

Yes, but there are far fewer. Before the Second World War there were as many as 80,000 geisha across Japan, according to Wikipedia. By 1965 Kyoto alone had 76 maiko and 548 geisha, and by 2006 it had 71 maiko and 202 geisha. National Geographic gives about 161 geisha and 68 maiko in Kyoto's five districts in 2021. Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-02.

Questions about geisha, geiko and maiko

What exactly does a geisha girl do?

A geisha entertains guests with dance, music and conversation at a banquet. She may play the shamisen, sing, pour drinks and keep the mood easy. "Geisha girl" is an English phrase from the post-war years, and the women are professional artists.

Are geisha girls allowed to marry?

A geisha can marry, but in Kyoto she usually has to leave the profession to do so. Historically, marrying meant retiring. Some geisha in other regions keep working after marriage, but Wikipedia calls that uncommon.

Why can't you take a photo of a geisha?

Geisha may be photographed in public, but Gion bans photos on its private roads, and visitors are asked not to photograph geisha and maiko without permission. The ban began in 2019 with a 10,000 yen fine, after trespassing and intrusive photography by tourists.

Why are you not allowed to photograph geishas in Japan?

The rule is local, not national: Gion bans photos on its private roads, and its 2019 leaflets asked visitors not to photograph geisha and maiko without permission.

Are geishas respected in Japan?

Many people see geisha as keepers of a traditional art, and Wikipedia calls them protectors of tradition and successful businesswomen. Attitudes differ, and misconceptions persist.

Are geishas submissive?

Not in the way the stereotype suggests. A geisha is trained to make guests comfortable, which is a skill, and almost the whole geisha world is run by women, with the okiya led by its "mother".

Do geishas get paid well?

It depends: there is no reliable current figure for what geisha earn. Wikipedia describes a system in which a trainee's costs are paid by her okiya and repaid out of her earnings, with an allowance in the meantime, usually for about two years. An independent geisha pays only a fee to the house. Guests pay a fee for her time, called hanadai or ohana in Kyoto.

Are geishas mistresses?

No, geisha are not mistresses by job. Historically a geisha might take a wealthy patron, a danna, who paid her costs and might become a partner, but that was a private arrangement, not part of the work, and it is less common now.

What is a male geisha called?

A male geisha is called a taikomochi (太鼓持ち) or hōkan (幇間). They were the first geisha, and only a handful remain.

Do geisha girls still exist today?

Yes, geisha still exist: Kyoto had around 161 geisha and 68 maiko in 2021, and other cities have smaller districts.

Why do Japanese put two fingers up in photos?

People in Japan put up two fingers in photos as the V sign, called ピース (piisu, “peace sign”), a friendly gesture for the camera. Its origin is not settled. English Wikipedia says it is generally believed to come from late-1960s anti-war activists and an early-1970s camera advertisement. Japanese Wikipedia credits the entertainer Jun Inoue in a 1972 commercial. A legend credits the skater Janet Lynn at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics. It has nothing to do with geisha.

Sources

• Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0).
• Terms, training, hair and clothes, marriage, pay, numbers and misconceptions: English Wikipedia, Geisha, Hanamachi, Okiya and Taikomochi.
• Regional terms, the job, and the difference from courtesans: Japanese Wikipedia, 芸者 and 舞妓.
• Misconceptions, training length and 2021 numbers: National Geographic, A glimpse into the misunderstood history of geisha.
• Gion photography and private-road rules: SoraNews24, Kyoto's popular tourist spot Gion to forbid photos on private roads; AP, Kyoto's picturesque geisha district fights back against over-tourism with keep-out signs; Travel Voice, 祇園の私道への立ち入り規制; Time Out Tokyo, 2019 and 2024.
• Geiko and maiko terms, and what they do: Inside Japan Tours, Enjoy Kyoto.
• The V sign: English Wikipedia, V sign; Japanese Wikipedia, ピースサイン.
• Reviewed independently; the points about the maiko age, marriage, pay, the danna, the Gion rules and the male geisha are waiting for a native speaker's check.