Hear All Sides

It would appear the article was vastly under-researched and the reporter had little interest in her subject, which seems to have made her unduly critical of the amazing women she was interviewing.

Having spent a week in the company of Fumiyu and Miehina, I can honestly say they are the most incredible women I have met.

Life of the party one minute, professional singers/dancers/musicians the next, able to cope easily with any situation and always in command of the whole room, providing endless entertainment even on their time off. Their only criticism of us was that we'd not worked them hard enough.

To say they are nothing more than "shy women in Japanese dress" is offensive and untrue (no one would describe Fumiyu as "shy").

I can't blame Fumiyu for being reticent to answer questions such as "Have you ever had a bad experience with a customer?" Would Ms Foster ask another professional woman, such as a lawyer or doctor, the same question?

I'm not even sure their escort, Peter Macintosh, bothered to translate it as he would not want to expose Ms Foster's ignorance to the geisha. The tiniest amount of research would have answered the age-old "prostitution question" which was clearly being hinted at (and would also have alerted Ms Foster to the highly inaccurate title of "geisha girls" given to the piece).

I could pick apart the article indefinitely, but there is little to be achieved by back-biting. Any reader could see it was heavily biased and nothing the geisha could have done would have impressed Ms Foster. I don't blame them for not giving her much to go on.

What Ms Foster failed to realise is that it is a geisha's very job to be able to sense a customer's feelings and react to them - in this case they sensed her disrespect and reacted accordingly. Hats off to Fumiyu and Miehina. - Katie Chaplin, Director, Geisha Events, Newton-le-Willows, Bedale, North Yorkshire.

I WAS sorry to read Sarah Foster had such a disappointing time with Fumiyu, Miehina and Peter (Echo, May 25).

Although entitled to her views, I feel certain things in the article were unfair. Miehina and Fumiyu worked very hard during their stay and were in considerable demand by visitors. To have anticipated they would have worked on their day off after a lengthy flight just because a reporter may wish them to is difficult to comprehend, as is the expectation of a performance.

Describing Peter's clothing as looking like "a dressing gown", was ignorant and disgusting. Would you describe a kilt as a skirt? I think not.

Ms Foster is entitled to her view of not seeing what all the fuss is about, but there are many who don't see the point of football yet millions watch it.

If you fail to understand it, dig deeper and find out why others do. At least you can appreciate why it is such a big thing that people want to travel from America just to be part of it. If you don't wish to understand, do not comment on it.

Congratulations Katie and Jill for organising a wonderful festival. - Simon Gibson, Newton Aycliffe.

INDEPENDENT COUNCILLORS

KEN BOWES cannot understand why an Independent councillor was chosen to be a group leader of other Independents (HAS, May 27).

In my case, elected in 2003 with two others, the Labour Group would not offer any of us a place on a panel, committee, etc - when some Labour councillors were given over ten places each and one was given almost 20.

We were told by the council this was because we were not in a group, so we formed the Middlesbrough Independent Group.

I contacted the Local Government Association who said the council was wrong. There was no need for a group at all. When I put this to the council I was told "What's it got to do with them?"

I pushed it further and the head of legal services consulted a specialist London solicitor and we were told we should have had places from day one, group or no group. The council tax payer paid the legal bill, of course.

Another reason we chose a leader was because at many functions and certain meetings, only the political leaders are invited. Without a leader, the Independents would miss out again. - Joan McTigue, Independent Councillor, Middlesbrough Council.

KEN BOWES asked "When is Independent, not Independent" (HAS, May 27).

Answer: When he joins or supports one of the major political parties. When a community-minded person wants to stand as councillor, but disagrees with politics interfering in local government, he stands, more often than not, as an Independent.

Independents can, of course, agree with each other and have common aims.

In Shildon, they unanimously want to do something constructive for the town after decades of mismanagement by the political parties.

But alas, Mr Bowes has got it wrong.

Shildon Town Council elected a Leader of the Council, not a Leader of the Independent Group at their last town council meeting.

Most large town and parish councils elect a leader including, among others in this area, Labour-controlled Ferryhill, Great Aycliffe, and Spennymoor.

That, quite categorically, has nothing do with an Independent's independence from politics. - John M Smith, Leader, Shildon Town Council.

RUBBISH JUSTICE

I WAS walking through town at lunchtime the other day and was approaching a litter-bin on the edge of the pavement.

A police car drew up and stopped on the double yellow line. The officer in the passenger seat reached through the open window and stuffed some newspaper into the bin.

He next attempted to deposit a large polystyrene drinks carton, with straw. This he failed to do and the carton dropped onto the road. Which is where they left it as they drove off.

A hard-up acquaintance of mine was recently fined £50 for dropping one cigarette end outside the bus station.

Where's the justice in all of this? - Rose Reeve, Durham.

DIVORCE SETTLEMENTS

RECENT large divorce settlements will give great hope to the overworked husbands of "clackers" - those rich, half-male career women in pin-striped "business suits", whose presence is announced by the sinister clacking of their steel-tipped, high-heel shoes as they walk.

Husbands, if they cite the Equal Opportunities Act, will be able to get big money by showing how they sacrificed their masculine rights of train-spotting and pub darts to help create and to look after children.

They can point out the tyranny of having to respond to their wives' mobile telephones, forcing them to break off their own work in order to collect and feed the children because their high-earning clacker wives have "suddenly" had to attend weekend "workshops" in luxury Mediterranean resorts. - E Turnbull, Gosforth, Newcastle.