One of my friends is a journalist who likes traditional Japanese culture.
When I told him about my big job-change he was really surprised, however he said to me that he would support me.
Last August, which was the first month since I quit my previous job, I wasn't called to many ozashiki parties because I was a new geisha. So I asked him to help me.
Although he was very busy, he contacted many people, most of who were in management positions.
In December the first ozashiki party, which he had organized for me, was held.
At that ozashiki party, I met one guy, who runs an electronic company.
At that time, he and I just exchanged name cards.
Let me call him Mr.X.
However soon after that ozashiki party, my friend said to me that Mr.X also wanted to hold an ozashiki party.
So on his behalf, I organized the ozashiki party.
I didn't know the reason why Mr.X wanted to hold the ozashiki party until the actual day.
When I discovered his purpose, I was really surprised.
Mr.X invited his company's managers to the party. Before the day, he distributed some information about the geisha culture to the party's guests.
Mr.X seemed to have an affinity for our culture, so he wanted his guests to understand more about us.
When I saw the information that Mr.X had prepared, I was shocked, because he had highlighted many points.
I and my geisha sisters, whom I had asked to help me, entertained our new customers with our best performance.
After the ozashiki party, I mailed Mr.X a small gift. He quickly replied to my letter.
When I read his letter, I was surprised again.
Mr.X quickly gathered managers who had attended the party, and told them about my letter.
He wanted to show them that my letter was an excellent example of expressing gratitude in a business situation.
Actually it was my first time to communicate with a customer in such a deep way.
I was very impressed.
I also expressed gratitude to my friend who had introduced us.
Since then, our business relationship has been growing.
On my new year's card, I told Mr.X about my upcoming 1st anniversary as a geisha.
So he held an ozashiki party again.
At that ozashiki party, my geisha mother and another experienced geisha sister were also invited, because my friend wanted to talk to them after seeing their dance at a performance, to which I had invited him.
However I thought that in the geisha world, it's impertinent for a new geisha directly call her geisha mother and experienced geisha sister, so I asked my friend to contact my geisha mother directly instead of me.
In addition, I asked Mr.X not to celebrate my 1st anniversary at that ozashiki party.
At that ozashiki party my geisha mother asked me to play the shamisen, and she also asked me to perform "Rakugo", a Japanese comic story, so I was really glad.
After the ozashiki party all guests seemed to be satisfied with our entertainment.
Some of them even went to the after party.
At the after party we enjoyed talking, however when we finished the party, Mr.X wanted my friend, my geisha sister and I to remain.
He said that he had wanted to celebrate my 1st anniversary with just a few people, however my journalist friend had invited many people, so Mr.X couldn't celebrate my anniversary.
He wanted my friend and geisha sister's approval for him to support me.
When I heard what he said, I felt like crying.
Mr.X continued with a metaphor that I was like a satellite which is ready to be launched into the atmosphere. He said that the satellite might burn out, when it enters the atmosphere. However if it successfully goes through the atmosphere, it will orbit around the earth.
Mr.X said that untill I go through the atmosphere without harm, he wanted to support me.
When I heard his words, I was really glad.
To tell the truth, my 1st anniversary was not so important for me, however I was very happy, because someone had shown affection and appreciation of me as a geisha.
My geisha sister also sent me an encouraging email after the party.
On that day, I decided to do my best even more.
2011年3月16日水曜日
The "Obake" event
On the 24th and 25th, the "Obake" event was held.
Hachioji geisha spent a lot of time preparing for this event.
As a result this year's "Obake" event was well-received by the audience.
I paired up with my eldest and favorite geisha sister, and we practiced "Issei-fubi-sepia""s dance and a "Taiko" performance almost everyday before work.
After we had decided to dance the "Issei-fubi-sepia", we also decided to play the "Taiko".
At first, we looked for a rental "Taiko" on the Internet, however the price was very high.
Nevertheless when my eldest geisha sister and I were discussing how we could rent a "Taiko", another geisha sister told us that she had seen a big one at the "Kenban", the geisha office.
I checked the place where she said it was, and I found it.
I quickly told my eldest geisha sister, and we took the cover off.
The "Taiko" was very old, however it looked very nice.
After we checked the "Taiko", my eldest geisha sister asked Hachioji's head geisha whether we were able to use it. She agreed to our request.
Soon after I ordered drumsticks on the Internet.
The "Taiko" was very big, so we decided to play it together like in the following video;
Kodo Performing Miyake
In addition, my eldest geisha sister found the following "Taiko" instruction videos on YouTube;
Taiko channel no.1
Taiko channel no.2
Taiko channel no.3
So we decided not to receive "Taiko" lessons from a professional "Taiko" teacher.
We soon mastered the basic rhythm, however we wanted to play like the following video;
Miyake by Takohachi/ Kohei (tako1) and yUmi (tako8)
We created the musical score by ourselves, nevertheless it was very difficult.
Since each performance is limited to about 5 minutes, at first we decided to dance for about 2 and a half minutes and then play the "Taiko" for the same length of time.
I edited "Issei-fubi-sepia"'s music and also edited our entrance music. My eldest geisha sister choreographed our entrance scene. We wanted to choreograph our performance carefully.
Our performance started with us carrying the "Taiko" doing a funny dance, and we put it down and danced. After dancing, we played the "Taiko". We thought thoroughly from the audience's point of view.
Our costume was our biggest worry.
After we decided the details of our performance, we quickly thought of a suitable costume.
We wanted to dress like "Yankees", who are young Japanese rebels.
However it was difficult for us to find the perfect sized costume on the Internet, because most of them were for men.
In addition, when we finally found some which were for women, they were out of stock.
So we had no choice but to rent men's costumes from the Internet.
However fortunately, the jackets were not so big for us, and we could adjust the pants with a belt.
We didn't want to look fashionable. Instead we wanted to make the audience laugh. So after we had received the costumes, we improved them with sewing.
Let me show some photos which a member of the audience took.
http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/78/a7/d6391b6f8f5983256418a64a7ff90485.jpg
http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/06/7a/92a01e0f551594da964f02d0a58066f5.jpg
Did you notice our crazy hair styles and make-up?
We refered to the famous J-Pop group "Kishidan"(氣志團) for inspiration.
When the audience asked us how we could find such interesting wigs and we answered that we created them by ourselves, they were really surprised. Actually the wigs were my eldest sister's idea.
Our funny make-up was also her idea.
We planned almost everyday how we could best entertain the audience and decided all elements of our performance together.
Without spending too much money, we wanted to use our creativity to unique produce an interesting performance.
As a result of our efforts, we were praised by the audience.
Let me explain a little about that day of the "Obake"event.
Before the event day, all geisha decided the schedule; ie. how we could efficiently visit all restaurants and bars which had joined the "Obake" event.
I heard that at last year's event, some customers got angry, because there were too many restaurants and bars for the geisha to visit in a single day.
So this year, we separated the event day into 2 days to make the schedule easier.
We communicated with each other by email, when we arrived at each event site and when we moved to the next site.
We had decided the day's schedule in detail; ie. how much time was allocated for each performance and how much time was necessary to move between each venue.
On the first day of the "Obake" event, my eldest geisha sister and I wanted to transport the big "Taiko" by taxi, because it was a bit far from the first event site to next site.
However when my eldest sister loaded the "Taiko" into taxi, she couldn't, because the "Taiko" was too big. So we changed our plan and carried the "Taiko" by ourselves. We were becoming frustrated.
That was the hardest part of the event which I can recall now.
The most impressive thing for us was that we performed outside.
At one bar, we couldn't carry the "Taiko" inside. The front door of that bar was too narrow for the "Taiko".
However, my eldest sister, who is an acquaintance of the owner of the parking lot in front of the bar, negotiated with him, so that we could use a part of the car park for our performance.
She also called out to her regular customers who were drinking coffee at a nearby coffee shop.
As a result, before our performance had started, many people had gathered to watch us.
During our performance, some passersby, who didn't know about the "Obake" event, also stopped to watch, and the people who knew us explained to them what was going on.
I really enjoyed the "Obake" event and I could learn a lot of thing through it.
Hachioji geisha spent a lot of time preparing for this event.
As a result this year's "Obake" event was well-received by the audience.
I paired up with my eldest and favorite geisha sister, and we practiced "Issei-fubi-sepia""s dance and a "Taiko" performance almost everyday before work.
After we had decided to dance the "Issei-fubi-sepia", we also decided to play the "Taiko".
At first, we looked for a rental "Taiko" on the Internet, however the price was very high.
Nevertheless when my eldest geisha sister and I were discussing how we could rent a "Taiko", another geisha sister told us that she had seen a big one at the "Kenban", the geisha office.
I checked the place where she said it was, and I found it.
I quickly told my eldest geisha sister, and we took the cover off.
The "Taiko" was very old, however it looked very nice.
After we checked the "Taiko", my eldest geisha sister asked Hachioji's head geisha whether we were able to use it. She agreed to our request.
Soon after I ordered drumsticks on the Internet.
The "Taiko" was very big, so we decided to play it together like in the following video;
Kodo Performing Miyake
In addition, my eldest geisha sister found the following "Taiko" instruction videos on YouTube;
Taiko channel no.1
Taiko channel no.2
Taiko channel no.3
So we decided not to receive "Taiko" lessons from a professional "Taiko" teacher.
We soon mastered the basic rhythm, however we wanted to play like the following video;
Miyake by Takohachi/ Kohei (tako1) and yUmi (tako8)
We created the musical score by ourselves, nevertheless it was very difficult.
Since each performance is limited to about 5 minutes, at first we decided to dance for about 2 and a half minutes and then play the "Taiko" for the same length of time.
I edited "Issei-fubi-sepia"'s music and also edited our entrance music. My eldest geisha sister choreographed our entrance scene. We wanted to choreograph our performance carefully.
Our performance started with us carrying the "Taiko" doing a funny dance, and we put it down and danced. After dancing, we played the "Taiko". We thought thoroughly from the audience's point of view.
Our costume was our biggest worry.
After we decided the details of our performance, we quickly thought of a suitable costume.
We wanted to dress like "Yankees", who are young Japanese rebels.
However it was difficult for us to find the perfect sized costume on the Internet, because most of them were for men.
In addition, when we finally found some which were for women, they were out of stock.
So we had no choice but to rent men's costumes from the Internet.
However fortunately, the jackets were not so big for us, and we could adjust the pants with a belt.
We didn't want to look fashionable. Instead we wanted to make the audience laugh. So after we had received the costumes, we improved them with sewing.
Let me show some photos which a member of the audience took.
http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/78/a7/d6391b6f8f5983256418a64a7ff90485.jpg
http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/06/7a/92a01e0f551594da964f02d0a58066f5.jpg
Did you notice our crazy hair styles and make-up?
We refered to the famous J-Pop group "Kishidan"(氣志團) for inspiration.
When the audience asked us how we could find such interesting wigs and we answered that we created them by ourselves, they were really surprised. Actually the wigs were my eldest sister's idea.
Our funny make-up was also her idea.
We planned almost everyday how we could best entertain the audience and decided all elements of our performance together.
Without spending too much money, we wanted to use our creativity to unique produce an interesting performance.
As a result of our efforts, we were praised by the audience.
Let me explain a little about that day of the "Obake"event.
Before the event day, all geisha decided the schedule; ie. how we could efficiently visit all restaurants and bars which had joined the "Obake" event.
I heard that at last year's event, some customers got angry, because there were too many restaurants and bars for the geisha to visit in a single day.
So this year, we separated the event day into 2 days to make the schedule easier.
We communicated with each other by email, when we arrived at each event site and when we moved to the next site.
We had decided the day's schedule in detail; ie. how much time was allocated for each performance and how much time was necessary to move between each venue.
On the first day of the "Obake" event, my eldest geisha sister and I wanted to transport the big "Taiko" by taxi, because it was a bit far from the first event site to next site.
However when my eldest sister loaded the "Taiko" into taxi, she couldn't, because the "Taiko" was too big. So we changed our plan and carried the "Taiko" by ourselves. We were becoming frustrated.
That was the hardest part of the event which I can recall now.
The most impressive thing for us was that we performed outside.
At one bar, we couldn't carry the "Taiko" inside. The front door of that bar was too narrow for the "Taiko".
However, my eldest sister, who is an acquaintance of the owner of the parking lot in front of the bar, negotiated with him, so that we could use a part of the car park for our performance.
She also called out to her regular customers who were drinking coffee at a nearby coffee shop.
As a result, before our performance had started, many people had gathered to watch us.
During our performance, some passersby, who didn't know about the "Obake" event, also stopped to watch, and the people who knew us explained to them what was going on.
I really enjoyed the "Obake" event and I could learn a lot of thing through it.
2011年3月6日日曜日
Hatsu-uma(初午)
When I saw a flier about the"Hatsu-uma"(初午) at the "Kenban"(見番), the geisha office which sends geisha to ozashiki parties, I was not able to understand the meaning of "Hatsu-uma".
On the flier, details about a shaman visiting at the "Kenban" at 12:30am, were written.
So I asked my geisha sister what the event meant so that I could understand about the "Hatsu-uma".
In Japan, there is a custom which is called "Zyuni-shi"(十二支).
In that custom, 12 different animals are assigned to each direction, each day, each month, and each year. This custom comes from ancient China.
"Hatsu-uma" means "The first horse day in February", which is the seventh animal of the "Zyuni-shi".
"Hatsu-uma" is also the day which "Inari-shin"(稲荷神) who is the god of "Fushimi-Inari-shrine"(伏見稲荷神社) came down to the earth.
There are many Inari-shrines in Japan, however "Fushimi-Inari-shrine" is the top "Inari-shrine" in Japan, so we celebrate the "Hatsu-uma" day.
In Fact, the "Inari" god is a fox who represents a god of harvest, succession in business and safety of the family.
Next to the "Kenban", there is a small "Inari-shrine" so we celebrate the "Hatsu-uma" there.
In my hometown, there is not a similar custom, so it was my first time to experience "Hatsu-uma".
The day before the "Hatsu-uma", I saw the staff of the "Kenban" preparing a lot of bags containing snacks to give to the children.
The hair stylist who usually sets our hair, explained to me that, when she was a child, on the "Hatsu-uma" day, the children used to take a big bag to the "Kenban" in order to get many snacks.
On the day of the "Hatsu-uma", I put on my kimono and my apron and went to the "Kenban".
When I arrived there, I saw that some vegetables, sardines, red sea bream, sake and "Abura-age"(油揚げ, deep‐fried tofu), were being offered to the Inari god.
"Abura-age" and sardines are the favorite food of the Inari god.
Around the small Inari-shrine, I also saw some colorful flags on which Hachioji geisha's names were written. I started to get excited.
At 12:30am, the shaman arrived at the Kenban, and started to pray. While I was listening to his prayer, I also prayed for the prosperity of Hachioji's geisha.
After the prayer, the geisha, the owners of some restaurants, which belong to the "Hachioji-sangyo-kumiai"(八王子三業組合, the Hachioji geisha organization), and the head of the local traditional carpenter's association, ate lunch together.
In fact, on that day, I had an ozashiki party at 4pm, so since I was already wearing my kimono, I put on my apron to help with the preparation of lunch and the clearing away of tables.
During the lunch, the head of the local carpenter's association, who is called "Kashira"(頭) grilled "Abura-age" and sardines outside on a charcoal fire.
Before I took them up to the second floor of the "Kenban" where everyone was eating lunch, I ate some of them. They were very delicious.
One part of our lunch was Sushi, which had been made by one of the restaurants which belongs to the " Hachioji-sangyo-kumiai". It was also very delicious.
I'm sometimes called to ozashiki parties at that Sushi restaurant, however I didn't know the taste of their sushi, so I'm happy to finally know how good their sushi is.
The experience of my first "Hatsu-uma" was really interesting.
I recognized that people who are concerned with the "Karyukai"(花柳界), the geisha world, really value such traditional culture.
On the flier, details about a shaman visiting at the "Kenban" at 12:30am, were written.
So I asked my geisha sister what the event meant so that I could understand about the "Hatsu-uma".
In Japan, there is a custom which is called "Zyuni-shi"(十二支).
In that custom, 12 different animals are assigned to each direction, each day, each month, and each year. This custom comes from ancient China.
"Hatsu-uma" means "The first horse day in February", which is the seventh animal of the "Zyuni-shi".
"Hatsu-uma" is also the day which "Inari-shin"(稲荷神) who is the god of "Fushimi-Inari-shrine"(伏見稲荷神社) came down to the earth.
There are many Inari-shrines in Japan, however "Fushimi-Inari-shrine" is the top "Inari-shrine" in Japan, so we celebrate the "Hatsu-uma" day.
In Fact, the "Inari" god is a fox who represents a god of harvest, succession in business and safety of the family.
Next to the "Kenban", there is a small "Inari-shrine" so we celebrate the "Hatsu-uma" there.
In my hometown, there is not a similar custom, so it was my first time to experience "Hatsu-uma".
The day before the "Hatsu-uma", I saw the staff of the "Kenban" preparing a lot of bags containing snacks to give to the children.
The hair stylist who usually sets our hair, explained to me that, when she was a child, on the "Hatsu-uma" day, the children used to take a big bag to the "Kenban" in order to get many snacks.
On the day of the "Hatsu-uma", I put on my kimono and my apron and went to the "Kenban".
When I arrived there, I saw that some vegetables, sardines, red sea bream, sake and "Abura-age"(油揚げ, deep‐fried tofu), were being offered to the Inari god.
"Abura-age" and sardines are the favorite food of the Inari god.
Around the small Inari-shrine, I also saw some colorful flags on which Hachioji geisha's names were written. I started to get excited.
At 12:30am, the shaman arrived at the Kenban, and started to pray. While I was listening to his prayer, I also prayed for the prosperity of Hachioji's geisha.
After the prayer, the geisha, the owners of some restaurants, which belong to the "Hachioji-sangyo-kumiai"(八王子三業組合, the Hachioji geisha organization), and the head of the local traditional carpenter's association, ate lunch together.
In fact, on that day, I had an ozashiki party at 4pm, so since I was already wearing my kimono, I put on my apron to help with the preparation of lunch and the clearing away of tables.
During the lunch, the head of the local carpenter's association, who is called "Kashira"(頭) grilled "Abura-age" and sardines outside on a charcoal fire.
Before I took them up to the second floor of the "Kenban" where everyone was eating lunch, I ate some of them. They were very delicious.
One part of our lunch was Sushi, which had been made by one of the restaurants which belongs to the " Hachioji-sangyo-kumiai". It was also very delicious.
I'm sometimes called to ozashiki parties at that Sushi restaurant, however I didn't know the taste of their sushi, so I'm happy to finally know how good their sushi is.
The experience of my first "Hatsu-uma" was really interesting.
I recognized that people who are concerned with the "Karyukai"(花柳界), the geisha world, really value such traditional culture.
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