I have never understood the rationale for paying someone to chitchat with you. If I feel like talking to new people, there are so many avenues for doing so without spending a penny (except maybe paying for a drink or meal). My experience living in Japan, however, tells me that it is the norm in Japan. I have visited so many bars in Tokyo and Osaka with my ex-colleagues and friends where not only did you pay for your drinks, you also spent a fortune on a companion who does nothing more than pour drinks, giggle at your stupid jokes, and try to make you feel important. While geisha is supposedly an artist (neither a hostess nor a prostitute, though she can become a mistress in some cases), her more important role is to make a man feel what he aspires to be and what his wife may not find credible.For these reasons and to understand the world of geishas in Japan, the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" is a must watch. It might seem like a documentary on the life of a geisha, but as you watch the movie, you will find that it is actually a beautiful love story - that of Sayuri (childhood name: Chiyo Sakamoto played by Zhang Ziyi) and the Chairman (played by Ken Watanabe). There are twists and turns in the story, including the backdrop of the Second World War, but what starts off as a very tragic tale of a little girl sold by her parents, actually ends on a very happy note.
What we didn't like?
You might be disappointed to know that most of the movie was not shot in Kyoto, but in a studio in California. We also did not like how all the Japanese characters spoke English - it is heavily accented English (neither now nor during the time of the movie do Japanese people speak to each other in any other language than Japanese) and simply difficult to understand, despite the fact that almost all of my Japanese friends talk like that. In my opinion, the characters should have simply spoken plain American English, or even better, in Japanese (subtitles would have worked just fine).
Otherwise, strongly recommended, especially if you are a Japan lover like me.