"But if someone comes knocking here asking, 'Excuse me, I would like to see a Maiko,' he will automatically be refused," said Harema.
He said that through Ichimame's blog, the teahouse hopes to keep the traditions of the geiko alive and help make the Kamishichiken district, tucked behind the Kitano Tenmangu shrine in northern Kyoto, better known.
"It's important to protect this culture especially in this age, but at the same time I also don't think it's good or possible for outsiders to enter. So it's hard to find a balance between the two," he said.
A job for life, unless you marry
Being a geiko is a job for life — until they marry. Then they must retire.
Ichimame giggles when asked if she expects to wed. "Oh, I haven't given it a thought yet," she said.
"To marry means to stop being a geiko," explained Harema. "To be married and to be a geiko is impossible."
Before World War II, many geiko had male sponsors and some of the artisans chose to become their sponsors' lovers outside wedlock. Still today it is not unknown for geiko to fall in love with their customers.
"Of course when wealthy businessmen, successful men, and beautiful, artistically trained women hang out a lot they fall in love," said MacIntosh.
But he stresses that geisha are not prostitutes. "There's a difference between sex and sex appeal," he says.
Fueled by the success of books like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha and the movie it inspired, Kyoto has a thriving geisha tourism industry offering tours, an evening with a geiko and a chance to dress up in the fabulous costumes of the Maiko.
Few of the "maiko" who can be seen at Kyoto's famous scenic spots surrounded by tourists are the real thing, although sometimes genuine geisha can been spotted in hanamachi districts like Gion as they step out gracefully in wooden platform sandals on their way to evening appointments.
Ichimame said she had nothing against tourists dressing up as Maiko, but admitted she worried that people might think they are the genuine article.
"People will think Maiko always wear that kind of kimono. We never walk into convenience stores with this kind of hairstyle. But they do. So if we think about our image, we wouldn't really want them to be walking outside, although we understand their desire to be looked at," she said.
On her days off she dreams of visiting far-flung countries. Sometimes geiko are invited to go overseas to perform and Ichimame hopes one day she will have the opportunity.
"I would like to go to France, Italy, Hawaii. I have never boarded a plane, so that is the first thing I want to do," she said.
"I dream a lot."
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