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Maiko? I need an Okiya first... 2007/12/14 01:50
I am ainoko, from my father's side. My mother is black, but I really don't appear it, except in my golden skin tone. I wish to become maiko, then geisha. I understand that it is very very very difficult to go through training in the maiko's apprenticeship, I am only 15, but when I turn 18, I was thinking of joinging an okiya in the hanamachi of kurakazawa... in Tokyo. I know maiko training is relatively short in Tokyo, about 6 months to a year, unlike Kyoto, where it's about 3-5 years. I am a sophmore, and really wish that, by the end of my senior year, to fly to Hokkaido (to see my father), then to Tokyo to look to join an okiya. Now, my question is, what is the likely hood that I would be able to join? I have my hopes and dreams set on this, and would be willing to work exceptionally hard to attain geisha status. I speak Japanese intermediately, and I know that I will have to learn it fluently (Which I'm hoping ot learn from my dad, or at the Junior Kyoto University of Foreign Studies). If I was to join a hanamachi in Kyoto, I would think that I would be 18... then study at college for 3 years, then I would be twenty one. And following after, I would go to hanamachi in Kyoto region instead of Tokyo. Where the, apparently, "true" geisha are. Again. How would I come about joining an okiya?
by yumiko royalin  

Check this site for more info 2007/12/14 09:44
Have you checked the thread in the bottom section about the possibility of becoming a geisha for foreigners? Lots of discussion there.

Do you speak native level Japanese (compulsory for a maiko I'm guessing) and have Japanese nationality or a visa that will let you live in Japan?

Without the language and the visa, I very much doubt you can achive this- it's not really a career option that's open to non-native Japanese unfortunately.
by Sira rate this post as useful

. 2007/12/14 11:31
I agree with Sira, check the other thread on the board.

Two things though: If you're a college graduate, it's unlikely you will become a maiko in the apprentice sense, you will more likely have to start work as a geisha straightaway or after a few months only. Thus you will need to be extra talented at it.

Also, you don't 'join' an okiya, you are invited by the okaa-san through being very well-connected in the hanamachi.
by INK rate this post as useful

some basics 2007/12/15 22:43
There is no "kurakazawa" in Tokyo. Tokyo doesn't have "maiko" (They have "oshaku"). You don't "join" a hanamachi. You "live" there. I don't think you can be taking maiko/oshaku lessons and attend university at the same time. Foreign students struggle enough having part time jobs, and even locals quit high school once they decide to study to be oshaku.

For more details, check the map, visit a geisha in Tokyo and ask. I'm not saying you can't do it. I'm just saying you're mis-informed.
by Uco rate this post as useful

P.S. 2007/12/15 22:58
Although I personally like the expression "ainoko", I hope you are aware that it is considered as a discriminatory term today.
by Uco rate this post as useful

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