The dark truth about geisha girls from one who escaped

The young apprentice steps quickly along the narrow alleyway, her wooden “geta” sandals clip-clopping on the flagstones of Pontocho, one of five traditional geisha districts in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto. A “maiko”, or trainee geisha, she keeps her head demurely angled down beneath her elaborate wig and her stunning kimono ripples in the evening breeze.