Maiko Stalking

I love seeing Japanese women in traditional dress so today I went out stalking in Gion, looking for them. I was pretty discrete about it, which is why most photos are of the backs of them.

Maiko are technically apprentice geisha, but the term geisha is not really used, and I notice Japanese people say maiko, not to be confused with maito which is Finnish for milk... Kyoto (which has its own dialect, says geiko, not to be confused with gecko... )

There are 180 maiko / geiko in Kyoto. They are women who are well versed in visual and performing arts, including playing a Japanese stringed instrument, singing ballads and dancing.
They don't reflect the things that a Westerner might associate with the term geisha ie they're not call girls.

And they actually make a dainty job of shuffling in wooden sandals and toe socks. Admirable.