Story here. This is almost worthy of Monty Python: “For many tourists, catching sight of a white-faced geisha in her beautifully embroidered kimono on the streets of Gion is one of the highlights of a trip to Japan. But geisha are an increasingly rare sight; where once there were more than 80,000 across Japan, there are now just 1,000.”
For some reason, this reminds me of a story I read awhile ago about Koalas in Australia becoming stressed out from too much attention by tourists. But it seems in Japan, tourists are running down geisha to have their pictures taken with them, just like with Mickey or Goofy at Disneyland. Local residents are actually forming patrols to protect the geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha).
I ashamed. When I was in Osaka, I did exactly that. Well, I didn’t “run her down” or touch her in any way, but asked if she wouldn’t mind posing for a picture with me.
She didn’t seem to mind, so much, though.
This being Japan, though, I wonder if this sudden concern over defending geisha from “inappropriate behavior” on the part of tourists is heightened by any kind of influx of non-white, non-northeast Asian holidaymakers.
This comes soon after the Tsukiji fish market closed its doors to tourists (they tentatively re-opened last week, with strictly enforced off-limits zones) after the wholesalers and buyers finally got fed up with obnoxious behavior. Tourists (Japanese and foreign) were interfering with the auctions by getting in the way, taking flash photos, touching the fish, etc. The foreign tourists, however, often stood out as treating the place like a theme park, doing things that they would expect to get thrown out or beaten up for doing at a wholesaler’s market in their home cities. I mean really, do you go to the farmers’ market in your neighborhood and lick the produce?
Why I love Cracked Magazine (again, after 20 years). In its rundown of “The 6 Most Sadistic Dishes From Around The World”, it has this throwaway, spot-on analysis of why a tourist dives into traditional Japanese culture to begin with:
This all very sad and depressing, but so many tourists tend to be the same idiots all over the world. Just ask any innkeeper or other business person who has to deal with them.
I lived in Kyoto for two years back in 1949-51. Things were really tough, but other than the military, there were no tourists then to speak of. Just turning into one of the Gion streets then was like going back in time a thousand years. Beautiful and delightful and the Geisha seemed as interested in seeing a foreigner as I was in watching them. I never even thought about taking their pictures.
When I got married to a Japanese lady (and I am still married to her after 57 years), we rented a nice little house in back of the main house, which was owned by a retired admiral. A former Japanese officer and an American GI seemed a bit incongruous, but we got along very well. He rented a back room in the main house to a Geisha, and my wife and she became friends. One day a collage friend who was in Korea got leave and came to visit us. We invited Admiral Honda (no relation) and the Geisha to our party, and she brought her samisen (a stringed instrument with a long handle) and played for us. My buddy, who plays the guitar, asked if he could try it, and she gave it to him. He took the handle, which is in several parts, removed the middle part, and started playing country and western songs. Hilarity ensued.
