Asagao-ichi in Hachioji

In Tokyo, there are "Kagais", in Shinbahi, Akasaka, Kagurazaka, Yoshicho, Mukojima, Asakusa and Hachioji.
Except for Hachioji, "Kagais" in Tokyo are called "Rokukagai".
"Roku" means six, so "Rokkagai" means six areas in which geisha are working in Tokyo.

However I'm working in Hachioji.

Actually when I looked for some "Kagais" on the Internet, Hachioji seemed to be an active place and have a good atmosphere where it's geishas are blending in with the town's people.

I soon noticed that my decision to work in Hachioji was a good one.

There was a very symbolic event for life as a geisha last weekend.

Hachioji's geisha participated as the event's staff at the Hachioji Asagao-ichi *1.

At that event, I realized that the geisha in Hachioji really like Hachioji town and it's people.

Early in the morning, I arrived at my Okiya, an "Okiya" is the name of the house, where geisha have their kimonos fitted and do their makeup.

Geisha usually wear a formal kimono, which is called "Tsukesage", but on that day, we wore a summer casual kimono, which is called "Yukata" in order to work as the event's staff.

By the way, you might imagine a typical geisha as someone who wears a long black kimono, and whose face is painted white.

However we don't wear long black kimonos so often, except for special ceremonies.

In addition, not all geisha always wear the special white makeup "Shironuri".

For example, "Zikata" geisha who participate in parties and playing the shamisen, drums and other instruments, don't always wear special white makeup.

Back to the main story about Asagao-ichi.

The most famous Asagao-ichi in Tokyo is held in Iriya which has a long history.

However in Hachiohi, 2010 is just the ninth year of the festival. Nevertheless, I heard that Asagao-ichi in Hachioji is becoming popular between the town's people.

In Hachioji, geisha sometimes participate in festivals and ceremonies.

At first we participated in the opening ceremony, and after the ceremony, we helped the staff who were selling Asagao.

It was my first time to sell Asagao as a geisha, so at first I was confused about what I should I do.

For a while, I observed the other geisha sisters *2, and imitated them.

Suddenly one staff handed me a microphone and asked me to attract the people walking by.

I hesitated to do such a thing, but I encouraged myself.

As a result, some customers bought some Asagao, which were grown by local farmers in Hachioji.

I could talk with some important people in Hachioji and enjoyed my time with them.

I bought one Asagao on my way home, and enjoy admiring it every morning.

*1 Asagao is a native Japanese flowers.
*2"Geisha sisters" means senior geisha. In the geisha world, the head of a geisha family is called "Oka-san", which means "mother" and we call our geisha sisters "O-ne-san".