Geishas Without Kimonos (19 photos)

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Category: photographs and photographic works, 0+, Japan

The unknown Japanese photographer who took these photos in the 1900s must have preferred to admire geisha free of restrictive clothing and without the strict hairstyle. He hired geisha and their apprentices to pose for studio shoots in precisely this manner. The collection was published on Flickr by Okinawa Soba.

Geisha apprentices in Kyoto and Western Japan were called "maiko." Their job was to perform songs, dances, and play the shamisen or other traditional Japanese instruments for patrons during banquets and parties known as ozashiki.

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Maiko were typically between 17 and 20 years old, and they received geisha status after a period of training. The main subjects in the maiko school were traditional dance, shamisen playing, kouta singing, and, only in Kyoto, learning the Kyoto dialect. This apprenticeship typically lasted from a few months to a year or two. Sometimes, as an exception, apprentices were allowed to advance to the geisha stage and dress like geishas if they were too old to remain maiko.

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