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Geisha at work in Kyoto, Japan.
Apparently the Japanese occupation/tradition of women working as geisha is nearly extinct. In the 1920s there were about 80,000 “geisha girls” performing for the pleasure of men in Japan.
There is no doubt that the geisha tradition is rooted in prostitution. But the modern reality is slightly more complicated than that.
From the London Daily Telegraph:
By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo
Shimoda, a small seaside city in Shizuoka prefecture, was home to as many as 200 geisha working its tea-houses as recently as 30 years ago.
However, the number currently based in Shimoda has now declined to just five, prompting the rare intervention of government officials to keep their presence alive.
As part of the plan, three prospective geisha will receive wages from central government employment subsidies for a six-month period, during which they will be trained fully in traditional singing, dancing and instrument playing.
and this piece, also form the the Daily Telegraph: