Geisha, Geisha, Where are You?

We are back in Kyoto after our week-long stay in Tokyo.  During our first day in Kyoto – we didn’t have enough time to go around and see all the sites.  The House of Queens just realized we can’t leave Japan without a sighting of the traditional houses that Kyoto is known for.  However, we also wanted to see if we can spot a Geisha.

We got off the Gion bus station.  Within five minutes of walking we did spot a Geisha or a Maiko.  I fumbled through my camera to get it to turn on.  She was crossing the street and as I got my shot, a car passed by between us.

Believe me. There’s a Geisha behind that car.

So I learned my lesson.  If I had any chance of taking a photo of the elusive Geisha, I would have to treat this like a Safari shoot.  I need to have my camera on stand-by.   We did find the traditional district of Gion and we were amazed at the old houses.  We decided to have dinner in one of the restaurants.  Still – there were no sightings of a Geisha. We did get a good shot of a couple of ladies in Kimono.  If we were not looking for a Geisha, we would have been ecstatic over the shot of these ladies walking side by side with this tourist couple.

The camera was still on stand-by.  Ready to shoot a picture.  Then, while we were not expecting it, another Geisha was approaching us.  My camera was ready and this time, I got a good shot of a Geisha (or maybe she’s a Maiko) as she walked along Hanami-Koji.

As soon as she got spotted, she quickly “glided” into the entrance of this house and disappeared.