My friend got Japanese blood but she was born in Puerto Rico?

Question:

My friend got Japanese blood but she was born in Puerto Rico?

and raised in puerto rico do she would be accept to become a Geisha? she is fluent in Japanese,Russian,English,Portuguese & Spanish. she look Japanese tough but her mom is no Japanese her father grandfather was Japanese. I think on her mom might been some Japanese too but her bioligical from tree from mother part is hard to find, sorry for bad english on a rush

Answer:

Ah, the every-popular "Can a foreigner become a geisha" question.

Short answer: Maybe, but it will be nearly impossible, especially if she wants to join a large and more well-known community like that in Kyoto.

Long answer: There have been four known (and three potential) foreign geisha in the entire history of the profession in Japan. One, Liza Dalby, was a graduate student of anthropology who was doing research for her doctoral dissertation (you can read the non-dissertation version in her book "Geisha"), worked for a couple of years in Kyoto's Pontocho district. The second, Fiona Graham, worked for a few years in Tokyo's Asakusa district. At first it seemed like she was doing research, then it seemed like she just wanted to make it a profession. She was allegedly fired this past February. The third, a Ukrainian woman named Eve, is currently working as a geisha in Anjo. The fourth, a Romanian woman named Isabella, is currently working in a district in Shizuoka. While I'm not sure about the history of Eve or Isabella, both Dalby and Graham had extensive experience with the Japanese language and culture before even attempting to become geisha -- for example, Graham graduated from a Japanese high school and Dalby had been studying the culture for years. Both could speak Japanese fluently, and both already knew basic cultural things that would be difficult for most non-natives to know. Dalby was already proficient at playing the shamisen, a traditional geisha instrument.

Just knowing Japanese or being Japanese is not enough, and while being and knowing Japanese are certainly assets, I would argue that being foreign no longer makes becoming a geisha an impossibility. But that doesn't mean it's easy, and the chances of it happening are very low, especially for someone who is set on joining a community in Kyoto or Tokyo. Going to one of the smaller communities like Anjo still wouldn't be easy, but it might be easier.