Page:Sketches of Tokyo Life (1895).djvu/84

60 the required license if she persists in the application, notwithstanding his paternal admonition. When she is questioned respecting the house she is going to, she generally answers that her new home is kept by an aunt of hers. If she trips in the catechism, the license is refused as, according to the law, she cannot be bound for a term of service to any employer. The third and last class of geisha is the tataki-wake, who has money and ability enough to set up on her own account, but is in want of an effective introduction to the teahouses of the locality where she is a stranger. She, therefore, puts herself under the ægis of a geisha of established reputation, with whom she lives, and agrees in return to share her earnings equally with her mentor. She is almost as free as a jimaye, except that she must earn enough to bring a fair profit to the house, though she entails on it no expense beyond her board.

Among the geisha are many who are yet too young to become full-fledged ones. These are called hangyoku (or half-fees) as their charges are always half those of their older sisters.

They are generally under sixteen years of age and always kakaye. A hangyoku is usually bound to serve for five or seven years, though she is registered at the district office as the adopted daughter of her employer; but she is not, except in rare cases, of much profit to the latter, for she has to be taught the usual geisha accomplishments, and, by the time she has become mistress of her art,