Jon and I spent Saturday night in Gion - Kyoto's famous geisha district - on an outing organized by a local tourist company. The evening started with a walking tour that took us through two of the five geisha districts, and what felt like a walk back in time. If you've seen the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, you might be able to picture the narrow streets lit up with red and yellow lanterns and the kimono-clad women quietly scurrying in and out of doorways. Our Canadian guide was actually one of the location scouts for the movie (most of which was filmed in Hollywood) and is married to an ex-geisha. Needless to say, he is well connected, and his situation affords other gaijin a glimpse of this intriguing part of the Japanese culture. The tour was followed by a dinner at a private restaurant during which two maiko - geisha in training - came to entertain us. They were beautiful young women (17 and 19 years old) and were fascinating to watch.
Click here for a slideshow of the evening.
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