Geisha



According to The Other Wiki, Geisha, also known as geiko or geiki, are traditional Japanese female entertainers whose skills include traditional music and dance, fine conversation, and tea ceremony. Geishas are easily recognizable by their hairstyle, their elaborate kimonos and their white make-up. Geishas who have not yet completed their training are called maiko ("dance-child"), and tend to be more colorfully arrayed than their adult counterparts, with different hair pieces for each month, and different styles for their levels of apprenticeship. A young maiko is supported by her onee-san (big sister) and when she fully graduates, she will be a single entertainer/businesswoman.

The role of the geisha has for a long time been seen as mysterious, secretive, and alluring. Contrary to what some might say, geishas are not prostitutes (that would be oiran), but rather are professional artists, with stage names and distinct personal lives. That hasn't stopped them from being prime Fetish Fuel material.

It is interesting to consider that prior to Schoolgirl or Maid character types, geishas were considered the archetype of Japanese femininity, and as such, the term "Yamato Nadeshiko" could be applied to them.

Provide examples of:
 * Femme Fatale - often play the part in Japanese tales and older literature
 * Gorgeous Period Dress - their costume is an obsolete style, and quite a deal more showy than the modern fashions
 * Kimono Fanservice - the style they wear screams "teh sexx" in Kimonese
 * Raven Hair, Ivory Skin - black hair, white make-up, bright red lipstick
 * Training from Hell - they undergo demanding training, and some works like to exaggerate it
 * Yamato Nadeshiko - the very idea of geiko is to be as pleasant company as possible to a male Japanese audience, so if a geiko isn't a Yamato Nadeshiko in her private life, her business self will still be one.

Anime and Manga

 * Mademoiselle Butterfly
 * In Zodiac P.I., the mystery revolving around Gemini focuses on a pair of twins (of course) who are also maiko. The solution to the mystery is that
 * Erika from Pokémon Red and Blue resembles this a bit, in the Pokémon anime she even dressed like a Geisha at a few points.
 * Also, Koume, Sumomo, Satsuki, and Tamao from "Trouble Brewing" and "Espeon Not Included", who are actual Geisha, based on the similar trainers from Pokémon Gold and Silver
 * from Kizuna was this in the past.
 * Kichiji from Haikara-san ga Tooru.

Film

 * The Twilight Samurai.

Literature

 * In James Clavell's Shogun, Kikuchiyo is a forerunner to a geisha, with a manager, an apprentice, and an exceptional level of refinement at all the arts of entertainment (including that of love). In fact, she is the inspiration for her manager, Gyoko (a now retired entertainer) to suggest to Toranaga a class of women exclusively for the performing arts.
 * Memoirs of a Geisha and its film adaption tells the story of Chiyo, a little girl whose dirt poor family sells her in order to make ends meet. Some of her companions in fate end up being sold to brothels, but the pretty Chiyo is lucky enough to be bought into a geisha house to be a servant, and later, if she proves worthy, an apprentice, thus becoming the famous geisha Sayuri. Despite the fact the book gives the impression of being a biography and based on real life, it's pure fiction and contains its share of inaccuracies. The one most aficionados would name first would be the auctioning of the virginity of maiko about to graduate into geiko.
 * In fact, the book was "inspired" in the life of a real life geisha named Mineko Iwasaki. Iwasaki got so upset at the author, Arthur Golden, that she sued him and then wrote her own book (Geisha of Gion) to counter all the fictionalization.

Theatre

 * Averted with Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly, who may look like a geisha, but isn't: she still lives with her family (a geisha would live in a geisha house) and is getting married, which in real life geisha are not allowed to do unless they retire.
 * Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo and Pitti-Sing are three Maiko (apprentice Geishas) from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. The work is (intentionally) far from being accurate, and many productions play it Up to Eleven, making these characters a pile of anachronisms and inaccuracies.
 * In Pacific Overtures, the number "Pretty Lady" is sung to a pretty Japanese girl, whom the three sailors can't figure out if she's a geisha or not.

Video Games

 * Pokémon Gold and Silver and their remakes, Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, feature five Geisha (called "Kimono Girls" in the English versions) who the protagonist encounters in Ecruteak City. They all use evolutions of Eevee, and defeating all five nets you the Surf HM from a man in the audience section.
 * In HeartGold and SoulSilver, they appear in an event where they use a dance ceremony to summon the version mascot (Ho-oh or Lugia).
 * The Lady from Little Nightmares seems to be based on this concept - her dress is a dull brown kimono, and her face covered by an emotionless porcelain Noh-like mask rather than makeup.
 * Madame M from Final Fantasy VII dresses like one, but is definitely not a true Geisha, as her polite and formal facade goes away when Cloud annoys her, becoming a nasty woman with a foul mouth. As a Genius Bonus, her obi (sash) is tied in the front, which in Japan indicates a woman in The Oldest Profession, which is very likely true for Madam M given the seedy reputation of Wall Market and her involvement in approving "candidates" for  Don Corneo's auditions.
 * Geisha; the villain is trying to turn a kidnapped damsel into a cyborg Geisha.

Western Animation

 * Originally, Yumi's Lyoko form in Code Lyoko seems to be based at least in part on that of a Geisha, altered into that of a Kunoichi. This is changed in the fourth season where Jeremie's upgrade makes her look more like a Ninja.