Geisha were not Japanese prostitutes!
It is unfortunate that many possess the
misconception that the women who called themselves
geisha were in fact the
Japanese versions of
prostitutes. This is not so. The
profession of geisha took much
training,
time, and effort. Once a
woman decided (or had the decision made for her) that she was to become one, it would become an endeavor that would take up all of her
life.
A geisha's training began early in life, some at the traditional if young age of three years and three days. But most started somewhere between the ages of three and ten, and there were few that began their studies as early as that age. The training itself took place in a school specially made for young trainees, who - once there - would learn such arts as shamisen, drum, and flute playing, singing, dancing, and tea ceremony, along with others.
A young girl's training would continue until she made her debut as an apprentice geisha. In order for this to happen, an experienced geisha, who had completed her training, had to agree to become what was called an older sister to the trainee. As a young girl moved into her apprentenship, she would come to rely totally on her older sister, for it is she who would watch and guide her in the years until she became a full fledged geisha at the age of eighteen.
A geisha's life consisted of parties and banquets, where the idea was to keep the guests entertained and happy, for they were paying the woman to be there. For every hour she stayed, each guest at the party would pay her a certain amount of money (which varied depending on how successful a geisha she was). She would move from one guest to the next, greeting each in turn and spending a few minutes talking with them. On some occasions she and the other geisha who happen to be there might put on an impromptu show of singing, dancing, and/or music for them.
There is an aspect of a geisha's life that does resemble that of a prostitute's life, however. When the apprentice geisha reaches a certain point in her life, her virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidding man. This is called her mizuage . The man who has put down the most money on the apprentice wins the right to be the first to "explore her cave" as they sometimes crudely put it.
This was the only time something like this would occur in a successful geisha's life. While the mizuage was common practice, and happened to every geisha, only a woman with either no hope or no scruples would lower herself to having sex with a man for money. No geisha who wanted a good reputation would willingly do so.