{"id":42195,"date":"2026-04-06T17:17:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=42195"},"modified":"2026-04-06T17:17:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:17:38","slug":"a-system-of-slavery-ex-geisha-apprentice-on-the-dark-side-of-the-japanese-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=42195","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A system of slavery\u2019: ex-geisha apprentice on the dark side of the Japanese tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

When Kiyoha Kiritaka left Kyoto\u2019s geisha district in 2016, she was escaping what she now calls \u201ca system of slavery\u201d, exposing a darker reality behind one of Japan\u2019s most celebrated traditions.<\/p>\n

Kiritaka entered the geisha world<\/span> as a teenager, drawn to its traditional arts. She practised Japanese dance, the shamisen (a Japanese stringed instrument) and the tea ceremony, hoping one day to become a fully fledged geisha.<\/div>\n

But after just over a year as a maiko \u2013 an apprentice geisha \u2013 she says she found herself trapped in what she describes as an \u201cextremely abnormal world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her path began in junior high school. Aspiring to become a fashion model, she joined a talent agency and performed in underground idol groups and local shows.<\/p>\n

Her interests shifted after she discovered Japanese dance. Watching a master perform at a studio, she recalls being mesmerised by the fluidity of the movements \u2013 \u201can almost unbelievable smoothness, like something a real person wouldn\u2019t do\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Kiyoha<\/div>
Kiyoha Kiritaka takes part in an event showcasing geisha culture in Kyoto in 2016. Photo: Kyodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the spring of her final year of junior high school, a man approached her after a recital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Kiyoha Kiritaka left Kyoto\u2019s geisha district in 2016, she was escaping what she now calls \u201ca system of slavery\u201d, exposing a darker reality behind…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[19819,4583,19818,1884,2581,19817,2020,5408],"class_list":["post-42195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-apprentice","tag-dark","tag-exgeisha","tag-japanese","tag-side","tag-slavery","tag-system","tag-tradition","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}