The meeting for Hachioji-odori

In Kyoto, there are some geisha districts, and each geisha district holds a big annual geisha performance at a public theater in Kyoto, such as the  Gion-odori, Kitano-odori and Kyo-odori.
These performances have a long history and to holding such a performance is very important for the geisha culture.

In Tokyo, there are also some geisha districts; for example, in Shimbahi, Akasaka, Asakusa, Kagurazaka and so on.
Shimbashi’s geisha district holds the Azuma-odori and Akasaka’s geisha district holds the Akasaka-odori.

It was a dream for Hachioji’s geisha to hold their own geisha performance at a public theater.
However since there are less than 15 geisha in Hachioji it has been difficult to hold such a big event with only a small number of geisha.
These annual geisha performances usually last for about 1.5 to 2 hours, and are not held free of charge.

However my geisha mother and geisha sister, who is a geisha mother of another okiya, decided they wanted to hold the Hachioji-odori in the near future.

Before our first traditional dance lesson in December, we gathered at our dance teacher’s house to hold the first meeting for the Hachioji-odori.

At first, we had to decide when we would hold the Hachioji-odori performance.
It will be the first time to hold such a big event by ourselves, so we thought that we would need enough time to prepare and practice, therefore we decided to hold it in the Spring of 2013.

Secondly we decided the program.

Only 9 of the 15 geisha are learning traditional Japanese dance, so if we will hold a performance for 1.5 to 2 hours, we have to decide over 10 songs, would be difficult with only 9 geisha.

We decided to use pre-recorded music instead of live shamisen music.
However since most of the geisha are learning the shamisen and a narimono, such as a Japanese drum or Japanese flute, we decided to play a Nagauta song as the first song with live instruments. I was asked to take charge of the Tsuzumi.

We also decided to ask our Narimono teacher and former Hachioji geisha to participate in our performance.

When we were deciding the program of songs for the event, my dance teacher said that it would be difficult for me to dance in a long piece of music. When I heard it, I was shocked.
Furthermore, my geisha mother said that I should buy a geisha wig.

I thought that if I had to buy it for only the one or two short songs which I would dance at the Hachioji-odori, I didn’t want to buy it. I wanted my dance teacher to permit me to dance a long Nagauta song. Therefore I must practice dancing more.

By the way, the geisha wig is very expensive; about 400-500 thousand yen. I have to start saving my money.

Let me talk about the most important thing which we decided at the first meeting for the Hachioji-odori.

We promised each other that before the Hachioji-odori, we would not get pregnant.
If someone was to get pregnant, that geisha would not be able to practice or participate in the Hachioji-odori.
Since we planned the program of the Hachioji-odori with only a small number of geisha, if one of us couldn’t attend, we would have difficulty to put on the event.

When we decided that we would hold the Hachioji-odori performance 3 years later, one geisha said that she felt anxious, because now she is 34 years old, so when the Hachioji-odori would be held, she would be 37 years old as she wanted to have a baby.

I think all geisha who attended the meeting understood her anxiety, because we are the same generation as her.

However my dance teacher and geisha mother said that if we decide to participate in the Hachioji-odori, we should take on the responsibility.

To tell the truth, I also felt the same anxiety, however when I made a committment to participate in the Hachioji-odori my anxiety disappeared.

I will do my best for the Hachioji-odori.