Although Puccini's Madama Butterfly is a geisha, her prototype was not. Loti was emphatic that those who entered into the 'treaty port' marriages were neither geishas not prostitutes. Still, in an era where a woman's place was either in the home or in a brothel, the life of a geisha provided an alternative for someone like Cio-Cio-San, not lucky enough to have a secure home.
The word geisha literally means 'arts person' — a Japanese girl trained to be an entertainer. The true geisha are living works of art and, to popular opinion, geisha are not prostitutes. While some may have 'protectors', the strenuous life of a geisha is not compatible with that of a 'lady of the evening'. The Geisha tradition for women goes back to the eighteenth century. Before then, the earliest geisha were men! One hundred years ago there were about 80,000 geisha. Today there are fewer than 1,000. While some geisha are still being trained, their art is disappearing. The system is under attack from Japanese women and other social reformers, who see it as a relic of Japan's past.
A girl wishing to become a geisha goes through several years of rigorous training. As a maika she must remain a virgin, and she lives in an all-female house. She is not even allowed to go home during her first year of training. This training is very expensive. She must learn to sing, dance, and play the koto (harp) and the samisen (Japanese ukelele). She must have enough general education to tell stories and converse intelligently about business and current events with her clients, and she must be discreet, keeping to herself the business and state secrets discussed by those clients in her presence. She must also learn all of the Japanese customs relating to costume and flower arranging. And she must learn how to turn away amorous men with discretion. At fifteen, Cio-Cio-San was young to be a full-fledged geisha. Training normally starts about age eleven and takes at least five years.
When appearing before the public, the geisha wears an extremely colorful kimono, a wide sash or obi, and exaggerated white makeup which conceals emotions. She becomes the image of the perfect woman, the symbol of Japanese culture and refinement, a living work of art. She is not allowed to cry, must always be smiling, and must never seem bored. Her one job is to amuse men and her clients are usually men in their fifties and sixties who often treat a young geisha as they would their daughter.
Most geisha remain single, if not virginal, all their lives. It is an occupation which can last a lifetime (one geisha performed regularly until a few months before her recent death at age 102), and a good geisha can become very rich. Only the wealthiest men can afford to be protectors to a geisha.