Beware Geisha Knockoffs
12/11/2007 @ 12:00 am
Among the useful American expressions I’ve had fun teaching my Japanese friends is the term “knockoff.” As in: “Don’t buy any Louis Vuitton bags from sidewalk vendors. You’ll just end up with a knockoff.”
I was delighted to learn that my teaching had stuck when, in Kyoto, my friend Isao spotted the girl in the photo above and said: “Be careful. Kyoto knockoff.”
Beware, oh tourists, of being fooled by cheap silks and a bad makeup job. You have not really seen a geisha if she’s posing so theatrically for you in public. In fact, is that even a girl?
When I was living in Kyoto (boy do I miss it!) my family and I used to call them Fakesha (I guess it would be フェイクシャ in Japanese). You could tell because they prance around Kyoto looking to get their pictures taken. No harm in that, but the real deal is MUCH better.
Why don’t we start a “you can spot a fakesha if:” thread. I’ll start.
You can spot a fakesha if you see visible hair pins or a wig (the horrors!).
Anyone else…
December 13th, 2007 at 4:19 amフェイクシャ! I love it.
Well, you can spot a フェイクシャ if she’s wearing polyester, or a tag sticks out that reads: “Made in China.”
December 13th, 2007 at 5:14 amDo thay ask for money or anything?
December 14th, 2007 at 12:49 am[...] You can’t help but be amused by American Branding in Japan.- Beware of knock off geishas.- I can’t believe this many Japanese men sit down to pee.- If you like old pictures here [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 4:44 am[...] Which of the following photos is of real maiko, and which is of fakers? [...]
April 17th, 2008 at 4:00 pm