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This is the front page of the Simple English Wikipedia. Wikipedias are places where people work together to write encyclopedias in different languages. We use Simple English words and grammar here. The Simple English Wikipedia is for everyone! That includes children and adults who are learning English. There are 142,749 articles on the Simple English Wikipedia. All of the pages are free to use. They have all been published under both the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 and the GNU Free Documentation License. You can help here! You may change these pages and make new pages. Read the help pages and other good pages to learn how to write pages here. If you need help, you may ask questions at Simple talk.

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Geisha-kyoto-2004-11-21.jpg

Geisha (芸者) or Geigi (芸妓) are traditional female Japanese entertainers. They are skilled at different Japanese arts, like playing classical Japanese music, dancing and poetry. Some people believe that geishas are prostitutes, but this is not true. The term "geisha" is made of two Japanese words, (gei) meaning "art" and 者 (sha) meaning "person who does". The most literal translation of geisha to English is "artist". Geishas are very respected and it is hard to become one.

Another common word to call geishas is Geiko (芸子). This word was made in Kyoto, and it is what they are called there. Kyoto is the city where the geisha tradition is older and stronger. Becoming a professional geisha (geiko) in Kyoto usually takes five years of training.

Apprentice geishas are called "maiko" (舞妓). This name is made of the Japanese words (mai) meaning "dancing" and (ko) meaning "child". The traditional image of the geisha in white make-up and kimono of many bright colors is really the maiko. Full geishas wear simpler kimonos, and only use white make-up at special times.

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Did you know...

From a collection of Wikipedia's articles:

Cohen in 2013

  • ... that Leonard Cohen (pictured) wrote about eighty different drafts of the song "Hallelujah" before finalizing the original version in 1984?
  • ... that Tetris has been downloaded over 170 million times, making it the best-selling video game of all time?
  • ... that Martin Van Buren was the first President of the United States who was born as a citizen of the United States?
  • ... that in May 2017, Puerto Rico filed for the largest government bankruptcy case in American history?
  • ... that before acting, Academy Award winner Martin Landau was hired as a cartoonist for The New York Daily News when he was a teenager?
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