By Maria Sonora
ReadOasis Step 1

Geisha are traditional performing artists from Japan. These women are good at various Japanese arts, such as traditional music, dancing, and song. The word "geisha" comes from Chinese words that mean "art" (GEI) and "person" (SHA). So "geisha" actually means "artist." In the 1920s, about 80,000 geisha were working in Japan. But today there are probably only about 1,000 to 2,000 working geisha.

The geisha tradition is oldest, strongest, and most common in the ci...