A geisha's lifestyle

Some people, not only my foreign friends but also my Japanese friends, sometimes ask me about a geisha's life style.

Even though I don't know about other "Karyu-kai(花柳界)", areas in which geisha are working, let me write about my life style as a geisha in Hachioji.

I usually wake up around 7am or 8am, eat breakfast and check email.
After checking my email, I iron some undergarments of kimono, which takes about 15 minutes.
After ironing, I put on my make up and practice the shamisen, At around 1pm I leave my apartment for Hachioji.

From my place of residence area to my working place, Hachioji, it takes about 45 minutes by train, so I usually listen to shamisen music as part of my practice or read books in the train.

Some people say that it's very tiring to spend 2 hours commuting everyday, however for me the time in the train is very important in order to learn some new things.

Every 2 or 3 days, I go to the hair salon, which most of the geisha in Hachioji go to in order to have our hair set in "You-hatsu" style.

We usually don't have our hair set in "Nihon-gami(日本髪)" style, which is just for special events. Our daily hairstyle is called "You-hatsu(洋髪)".
It takes about 30-40 minutes to have our hair set.

Our hair stylist has a special technique, however the hair stylists who can set a geisha's hair are becoming rare in Japan.

The "Ozashiki(お座敷)", parties, usually start between 5-7pm, so we start putting on our kimonos, which we borrow from our geisha mother, at about 4-4:30pm.

Most of us, except for the new geisha, can put on a kimono by ourselves, but in order to fit them beautifully, we help each other.

By the way, we don't usually wear a long and black kimono except for special parties and during the new year season.

We usually wear "Tsukesage(付け下げ)"or "Komon(小紋)" kimonos.

There are various types of kimono, such as "Tsukesage" and "Komon", that are worn according to the formality of the "Ozashiki".

If I don't have any parties, I wait at the Okiya for someone to call me, and practice the shamisen or the tsudumi after putting on my kimono.

After the evening's parties, I go back to my apartment. The time to reach home is different everyday, because if I have 2 or 3 parties in an evening, I have to work till midnight.

After going back to my apartment, I have a bath, however I don't wash my hair.
To tell the truth, I keep my hairstyle for about 2 or 3 days, so I wrap my hair with a scarf to keep it in a shape.

At first, it was difficult to sleep well, however I'm getting used to it a bit now.


The above scenario is my usual daily lifestyle, however sometimes I have a shamisen or tsudumi lesson in the morning, or a group practice session with other geisha in which case I have to go to work early in the morning.

Most of the geisha are learning dance, the shamisen, the tsudumi, the Japanese flute and/or the tea ceremony, so we are very busy every day.


In my case, I'm learning only the shamisen and the tsudumi now, however from December I'll start to learn dance too.
So I imagine I'll be more busy than now.