KYOTO, Japan — On the quiet streets of Kyoto you will get a glimpse of them. Dressed in Kimono. The familiar white makeup. Walking quickly. That is the extent of what most people see of a geisha.

With her perfectly lacquered hair, painted face and a submissive demeanor meant to please the men she entertains, the Japanese geisha has the reputation of being a lady of uncertain morals. Delicate, ...

Geishas in Japan have an enigmatic charm about them. They are so revered that a teacher of the art was once declared a “living national treasure” in the country. Seeing a real geisha is not that easy, ...

Arthur Golden’s 1997 novel “Memoirs of a Geisha” is an addictive read: an involving, almost Dickensian tale of a young woman’s rise from poverty in a fishing village to fame as a Kyoto geisha in the ...

Geisha have been the subject of Westerners’ fascination and fertile imaginings for well over a century, but Lesley Downer’s “Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha” is one of ...