My first public Narimono performance

On June 26, in Ota-ku, I participated in a Narimono show which was organised by my Narimono teacher’s teacher.
It had originally been planned to be held in March, however it was cancelled to pay respect to the victims of the M9 Tohoku earthquake.

Before March, my narimono contemporaries and I practiced very hard, however when I heard that the show had been cancelled, I was disappointed.

Subsequently, my narimono teacher said to us that the show would be rescheduled for June.
Nevertheless my enthusiasm was still down.

Last month, we restarted the group practice sessions for the show. Nevertheless I had already forgotten some parts of the song that I knew perfectly before March.
So I started to listen to the song in the train, on my way to and from Hachioji everyday.

However I had another issue, which the my skin trouble on my hands.
My skin has never been very strong and in this summer in particular, my skin condition has become worse, more so than in March. My hands are sensitive and painful and it is more difficult to play the Tsuzumi.

In the early morning of the day of the show, we gathered at the okiya and changed into our kimonos.
It took about 1 hour from Hachioji to the venue in Ota-ku by car.

When we arrived at the hotel where the show was being held, we greeted our Narimono teacher, her teacher, and his pupils.

After greeting everyone we prepared the venue for the performance, and then I went to a coffee shop with my geisha sister to buy our lunch.
After a short break, the show started. My turn came soon.

Contrary to my expectation, I didn’t get nervous. When I appeared on the stage, I felt that everyone was staring at us.

In that show, we played with some singers and shamisen players. Usually we practice the Narimono to cassette tape or CD, so it was my first time to play the Narimono with live singers and shamisen players. I was excited.
I felt the performance was very short. I really enjoyed my first public Narimono performance.

After the show, my geisha mother said to me that I should focus my gaze on the floor a little in front. When I saw the photos of the performance, I realized what she was saying.
I was looking directly into the audience and it looked strange.
I also realized that the direction of the eye line of a performer is as important as their pose.

I think doing regular shows is valuable for us in order to improve our performance.

My trip to Urawa to see my geisha sisters’s performance.

My narimono (鳴り物 - a term used for traditional Japanese instruments except for the shamisen and flute like instruments) teacher asked my geisha sisters to accompany her in a performance where she would be a guest performer.

That show was held in Urawa which is located in Saitama prefecture, about 1 hour by train from Hachioji.

They performed 2 songs at that show.

The first song, “Zyonetsu-tairiku (情熱大陸)” which is very well known as the theme song of a TV program, is usually performed with only Western instruments.

Nevertheless at that show, “Zyonetsu-tairiku (情熱大陸)” was performed on traditional Japanese instruments; the Koto (箏), Shakuhachi (尺八), Shamisen (三味線), Taiko (太鼓) and so on.

* View an example of this song on YouTube.

They used only 1 Western instrument, the tambourine, which was played by my geisha sister.

The second song was a very famous Nagauta song (長唄 - one style of traditional Japanese music which is often used in Kabuki), “Genroku-hanami-odori (元禄花見踊り)”.

The original version of “Genroku-hanami-odori (元禄花見踊り)” is not played on the Koto (箏), however, since the main artist in the recital was a Koto player, I could enjoy an interesting performance of that song on the Koto.

One of my geisha sisters danced to “Genroku-hanami-odori (元禄花見踊り)” . Her dance was very beautiful and creative. I was fascinated by her performance.

The most surprising thing for me was that my geisha sisters were able to master an unusual Taiko performance and dance in such a short period of time.
I remember that my narimono teacher had asked them to perform in the show only 1 month ago.

I don’t think my geisha sisters received any performance fee, nevertheless they practiced earnestly, and they performed perfectly. I admire their professionalism.

As the performers prepared to play “Genroku-hanami-odori (元禄花見踊り)”, one geisha sister was interviewed by the main Koto player and she and the other geisha sister were introduced as the geisha from Hachioji.

I was worried that if my geisha sisters didn’t perform well at that show, the audience might have developed a negative image of Hachioji’s geisha. Nevertheless they could succeed.
When I greeted the receptionists before the show, they complimented me on how beautiful I looked, because I my hair up was set up and I was wearing a kimono.
Also when my geisha sister was introduced as one of Hachioji’s geisha, I heard some people in the audience comment how beautiful she was.
So I could realise that people in general have a favourable image of geisha.

Not all geisha however always live up to that positive image. To give you an example, one of Hachioji’s customers said to me at an ozashiki party that he once called Kyoto’s geiko and maiko to his ozashiki party in Kyoto. At that ozashiki party he enjoyed talking with them. However at an after party, he was very disappointed, because the geiko and maiko stopped behaving in a professional manner and their conversational tone also changed to that of ordinary young people.

He said to me that I should behave as a professional geisha at all times when I am outside of my home.

Now I’m working hard to develop my professional image as a geisha by improving my conversation and performance skills.