Kiyoha Kiritaka wearing a maiko costume. She was only 16 years old at the time. She was laughed at, saying, “The way she used her hips, she was not a virgin.”  Even so, she could not resist the customers. Moreover, even before the “barbaric” behavior of the customers, the standard “games” in the tatami room were hard for her, as she was only 16 years old. “The “games” in the tatami room were mostly for the “enjoyment” of sexual acts. For example, there was one in which the loser of the rock-paper-scissors game would lie down in the ozashiki, and the winner would mount on top of him and move his hips up and down in a gesture. Whether you were on top or on the bottom, it was an embarrassing game. There was no refusal. There is a basic assumption that ‘maiko are children and they don’t understand anything.’ So they must not understand that it is a sexual movement. They are children, so they don’t have a big reaction, but for some reason, they are embarrassed. The audience enjoys this kind of behavior.” The words sound as if he is surrounding a helpless little girl and teasing her. When Seiwa was on top and moved her hips up and down during this “game,” the guests who were watching said, “She is not a virgin with her hips,” and the geiko around her laughed.   On rare occasions, female guests would be present at such banquets. In such cases, the men would turn off such “erotic elements.” They drink sake quietly and play “very normal” ozashiki games. Even so, when there was a female college student among the customers, there was a scene in which the maiko would mount a horse with the female customer “underneath” her. The customer was very excited to see the two young women “playing” with each other. You’re the one who seduced them, aren’t you? When he talked to others about such sexual harassment, he was told, “You’ll just have to put up with it.” The Okiya’s owner even told her, “You’re the one who’s seducing them.” “I thought that geijutsu was as mainstream as maiko because we were still minors. I thought that even if they went out to the ozashiki, they would only perform dancing at most. So it was hard for me not to go to dance practice because I was too busy with the tatami room. Even if I asked the ladies to practice for me, they didn’t have time either. It was a different world from what I had imagined.” At the Okiya where she worked, she was not given new kimonos. They were all hand-me-downs from her seniors. In addition, she was often reminded that “maiko are no better than dogs and cats.” “One time, a stray kitten came into the house. We would keep our food until that kitten finished eating. When she finally finished, they didn’t even disinfect the table and put our food on it. I felt as if they were telling us that we were no better than cats.” However, during her working years, she heard a similar story from another maiko. One day, the maiko’s dog left some chicken meat for her to eat, and it became the maiko’s meal. The maiko was told that she was instructed to thank the dog with three fingers before eating it.