By Lyla and Cayley

Geisha consists of 2 Kanji characters. 芸 (gei) which means “art”, and 者 (sha) which means “person”. Geisha from Western Japan are usually called geiko. Maiko or Hangyoku are apprentice geisha, “half jewel” which means they are payed half the money a full geisha would receive. The popular image of geisha would be their white makeup, detailed kimonos, and hairstyles.

Stages of Training Traditionally, at a very young age young girls will start training to be a Geisha. As children, some girls were bonded to Geisha houses. Daughters of geisha were often brought up as geisha themselves. It is the onee-san’s job to make her sit and observe as the onee- san is at work. This shows her what she should expect in the job. A maiko must find a onee-san (an older sister acting as her mentor). Then she can start her formal training on the job as a minarai.

Geisha Makeup The most recognizable characteristic of an apprentice Geisha is usually their white face make up. They also wear bright red lipstick and red and black accents around their eyes and eyebrows. Applying of the make up is very time consuming and is difficult to master. To avoid dirtying the kimono, make up is applied before dressing. The white base mask was originally made from lead, but then it was discovered as poison to the skin and had to be replaced by rice powder.

There have been many changes in the hairstyles of Geisha. Even now, the different styles vary. In the past, at some stages, it was common for Geisha to wear there hair out, but down in others. But, women started keeping there hair up in the 17 th century, and the shimada hairstyle, which is a type of a traditional chignon, that established Geisha usually wear, developed. Geisha women were expected & trained to sleep with small supports on there necks, to avoid ruining their hair, instead of pillows. To make this a habit, their onee- san would pour rice around the base of the support, forcing the Geisha not to move her head while asleep.

Photobucket [On-line] 25 September , Wikipedia, [On-line] rg/wiki/Geisha 17 September 2009