Did Geisha Engage in Acts of Prostitution?

 

This is a bit of an emotive subject. It's the cause of many a heating under the collar and numerous ruffled feathers, with some geisha enthusiasts becoming fiercely protective when the subject is raised. Well, referring only to 18th and 19th century geisha, as that's the period I have both feet firmly planted in, the answer is yes. It should be noted, however, that I'm making a distinction between being a prostitute, where an income from the profession is the sole or main means of support, and engaging in acts of prostitution, and it is the latter that I'm addressing.

First of all we have the practice of mizuage. Basically, this was the ritual deflowering of a young maiko (apprentice geisha) to mark her coming of age. Some do not regard the mizuage as an act of prostitution. However, if we look at the process ~ a young virgin has her virginity auctioned off to the highest bidder and receives a large sum of money for it ~ I think the evidence speaks for itself. Offering sex for money is an act of prostitution, and there's no getting away from the fact. The mizuage in its traditional form, involving a patron paying to take a young maiko's virginity, became illegal when prostitution was banned in Japan in the 1950s, and that tells you something of where the law stands on the matter.

Geisha in the Yoshiwara were strictly prohibited from engaging in prostitution within the quarter, to prevent them from competing with the courtesans who worked there. Now, ask yourself why it would be necessary to prohibit something if it were not being done to begin with. That would be like prohibiting vegetarians from eating hamburgers. It was a known fact that geisha in Edo who worked outside of the quarter did exchange sex for money, and that only the ones within it were forbidden from doing so. Whether or not those working within the quarter did refrain from engaging in prostitution we'll never know. The temptation must have been great, when considering the sums of money that were to be made, and these women were only human after all.

Anyway, in conclusion, whilst geisha may not have been full-time prostitutes who relied upon selling sex for their income on a daily basis, they did engage in activities which would fall within the bounds of that profession.