mizuage

was a ceremony undergone by apprentice () and some (apprentice geisha) as part of their coming of age ceremony and graduation.

For , who had often already lost their virginity, a patron would pay for the exclusive privilege of being a new 's first customer; for who underwent , it formed part of a number of ceremonies and occasions used to mark graduation into geishahood, including symbolic changes in hairstyle and official visits to benefactors. Before the outlawing of prostitution in Japan, who underwent would see patrons and benefactors bid large sums of money for the privilege of taking their virginity, a sum of money the (the geisha house an apprentice was affiliated to) would take entirely.