Pale skin. Red lips. Black hair. Geishas almost seem like a fairytale. Women who perform Japanese traditions from centuries ago. And women who fascinate many tourists.

Tourists have always been interested in geishas. And there have been many misunderstandings about these mysterious women – one of the most common is that geishas are prostitutes, which they are not. Since there is so much mistery, people are intrigued by them. Especially in modern times when everybody has a camera or smartphone with photo device, tourists are eager to “catch” a geisha and have an everlasting memory. This has become a problem for geishas that it sometimes becomes difficult to do their job. Warning sings appear now in the streets where geishas appear to notice (especially foreign) visitors to not touch the women and to not block them in their way to their next job for some selfies . Seems pretty clear that you shouldn’t touch someone you don’t know, but if you can compare the craziness people show with Western celebrities at a hotel or at a concert, you can see that this can be a huge problem if these delicate geishas feel the same experience.

That’s why I like to give some tips to see geishas on a respectful way.

The first option (and the most obvious one) is walking in the geisha district and just wait. The geisha district in Kyoto is called Gion – which has beautiful streets with wooden buildings. But prepare yourself; you’re not alone. Many tourists are in those streets to see and photograph these women. If a geisha appears, she’ll move really quickly. What makes some people following them and even blocking them. So being at Gion is an option to see them but prepare yourself that it will really be a glimps. If she’s too far, don’t try to catch her for a picture but realize that you see something that has been part of Japanese culture for centuries (and that seeing a geisha is on the bucket list of many tourists but many never will).

Second option is booking a tea ceremony or dance performance. I don’t have any experience with this but many sites and organisations offer this. I know that’s it not cheap but you have some time to spend with a geisha, see her perform, sometimes you can even talk with her and have a picture.

The last option and this is one that I would recommand is going to a traditional performance. Each of the five geisha districts of Kyoto perform for public once a year. Those performances are done by many geishas and maikos (geisha apprentices) in an authentic theater. The tickets aren’t cheap but you see an art form that exists for a very long time. When I was in Kyoto, the Kamagowa Odoro was held. Waiting for entering the building, it was obvious I would be experiencing something special. There were other tourists but most of the public were local people, dressed at their best. Many other geishas entered the building to watch the performance as well. Before the performance, there was a small tea ceremony by a maiko. For me this ceremony was not really special, we were seated with a lot of people and we had to drink the tea very fast. Although seeing the tea ceremony by the maiko was nice to see (especially before the Kamagowa Odori) but for me it wouldn’t be a need to see, if it would have only been the tea ceremony. The room were the performances were held, was really atmospheric. I felt transported back in time. Next to me (with only two people between) was a geisha seated. The performances were obviously in Japanese but looking at the geishas, their costumes, the dancing and listening to their singing made the performance interesting enough. I’m glad I saw the performance, especially noticing that so many locals also want to see it, I realize that I have witnessed something truly Japanese. So if you want to see lots of geishas: check the agenda for the dance performances.