Friday Footnote: How to Spot a Geisha

If you look at the painting attached to this post, you will see the back of a maiko. I painted this from a photograph that I took during the Gion walking tour referenced here. You can tell she is a maikobased on her obi (belt). We were extremely lucky during our walk and passed multiple maiko and geikohurrying about their business that afternoon. There a few really quicks ways to spot the difference between a maiko and a geiko. One, the maiko will wear a furisode, a type of kimono with very long sleeves that hang almost to the ground, while the geiko will wear shorter sleeves. Furisode are traditionally worn by unmarried girls in Japan, so this makes sense from a cultural perspective, since the maiko has not yet reached maturity in her skills and licensure, which requires five years of training. Two, the maiko will wear a darari obi, which hangs down much lower than the geiko obi, which is folded and tucked into a bun on the geiko’s back.  Also, the maiko’s obi features the crest of t…