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Geisha

Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res
Geisha training high res

Who Wants To Become A Geisha?

I followed a young Japanese student, Hikaru Maruyama, on her first steps to become a Geisha.
Ever fewer girls want to sacrifice their whole life to this profession.
To become a Geisha is a fulltime job, but few girls in Japan are interested in this training and aim for another kind of career.

In the 1920s, there were over 80.000 geisha in Japan. Today there are far fewer.
The exact number is unknown – but estimates run from 1000-2000 in total.

So who wants to become Geisha?

Hikura is a third year University student as she decides to combine a Geisha training and studying. She tells me she is fascinated by the life of Geisha as of a young age. Her parents never allowed her to go in training, but encouraged her to study. But now they could no longer hold her back, so she enters the secretative world. I was allowed to document the first week of her training.

A few month later I found out she stopped and decided to focus on finishing her studies.

© 2025 · Saskia Wesseling Photography