Consisting of five floors—in which the first three form the ochaya and are used to entertain while the top two floors are for her two understudies geiko Masaki and maiko Masano and herself to live in, making up the okiya half of her business—the year-old establishment is an atypical build given that such teahouses are usually no more than two stories.
We are seated in the largest room on the second level, dispersed along a long table with a sunken floor for leg space. One by one the geiko and maiko introduce themselves and hand me their hanameishi , a business card in the form of a narrow rectangular sticker with their moniker given to them by their okaasan printed on it.
The first woman I meet goes by the name of Masaki. She is beautiful, needless to say, in a navy blue kimono with a silver obi belt. Her face and neck, like the other two, are covered in white makeup, and her lips are painted a deep crimson red, with the same hue marking the outer corners of her eyes. But unlike the other two, she was never a maiko.
Formerly at university studying business and media, she worked at Man part-time as a bartender and admired Masami—who she adoringly refers to as her sister—so much that she decided she wanted to become a geiko and began her training at 20 she is now Throughout the night she makes small talk with me—in addition to laying a linen napkin over my lap when the first course arrives and making sure my glass is never empty—and patiently answers, often in English, my questions.
I next meet Masano, a young maiko at the age of 16 in her first year of training signified by having only her bottom lip painted red , who just joined the okiya last year and debuted in December. She had been invited to a teahouse as a guest when she was 14 and was so impressed by the maiko that evening that she had set her mind on becoming one. Her impressively symmetrical hair, which is done every week and takes about two hours to do, is adorned with a number of pins and an elaborate floral ornament known as hana kanzashi another sign of her first year in training , while the back of her neck is only partially covered in white—herein lies two distinctive features that distinguish a geiko from a maiko : The former are allowed to wear wigs, which often cover the nape and thereby do not need to reveal strips of unpainted skin, which is meant to provide the illusion of elongation, and they also tend to have fewer and simpler accessories in their hair.
Kyoto-born, her parents understood what the life of a maiko entailed and gave their blessing for her to pursue her wish. When asked if she plans on becoming a geiko only about half of maiko proceed with furthering their career , her face instantly lights up, an earnest smile spreads across her face, and she enthusiastically says yes.
She goes to school or has private lessons one to four times a week and spends her other days self-practicing or cleaning the okiya. With two days off a month, no cell phone, maybe TV once a week, and only getting the chance to see her family and friends two to three times a year during special holidays, it makes me wonder what her proclivities for such a lifestyle are. Internet Access.
Visiting Japan. The profession of a geisha was officially recognized in the second half of the eighteenth century. Geisha are women who dedicate their lives to Japanese traditional arts and put their talents to use entertaining customers on the occasion of banquets and performances.
Originally, the geisha profession could be practiced by both men and women. Geisha must master of several types of arts , which are generally traditional Japanese dances including those involving a fan , singing, literature, poetry, flower arranging, and the playing of traditional instruments.
In addition to entertaining through the arts, geisha are also skilled in the art of conversation and must have wide general knowledge. Geisha have long embodied the height of refinement and they are undoubtedly custodians of Japanese culture and traditions.
Today, they are highly respected and their loyal customers still spend huge sums of money to enjoy their company, usually in ochaya , tea houses. Their loyal customers are mostly businessmen, politicians, or other wealthy individuals. Traditionally, all wealthy clients could seek a geisha's services as they wish, although they needed to be recommended to the house or introduced by an existing customer. This is more or less the case today, although some geisha have decided to dedicate some of their time to tourism , by conducting tea ceremonies or performing in shows for example.
Note that the cost of the services of a geisha is evaluated according to their time and attendance. Customers also pay for any meals and drinks consumed at the meeting. The bill is often sent some time after the meeting. The geisha universe is governed by dedication to the arts but also has some extremely strict rules that cover several aspects.
Apprentice geisha, called maiko in Kyoto, often wear very distinctive makeup. Their faces are covered with a thick white layer, and they wear red lipstick. Black is also used around the eyes and on the eyebrows. After turning 30 years old, a geisha can wear make-up for special occasions only, the idea being to make room for their natural beauty.
Geisha only wear silk kimono , closed by knotting a wide belt in the back, called an obi. The shape of the knot depends on the age of the geisha; a knot with a long train is displayed by a maiko , while a shorter knot will be used instead for an older confirmed geisha. Similarly, bright colors and patterns are usually by worn younger maiko.
The outfit is completed with white socks tabi and wooden sandals geta. To put on a kimono is a complex task and fabrics are heavy, so often a professional dresser attends to the geisha and helps dress them. This is the only man allowed to enter the okiya , the house where geisha live. Kimonos are traditionally handmade and are of great value. They often cost several thousand dollars.
Geisha wear their hair in very sophisticated chignons held by traditional combs. As it takes so long to style, their hair must be kept perfect over several days, so they sleep by resting their necks on small supports. Geisha are distinguished by their manners. Their need for refinement at all times makes it impossible for them to do things like have lunch at fast food places, go shopping in regular clothing stores or supermarkets, or even use a plastic bag for shopping.
During meetings with customers, they must entertain them while showing the utmost restraint and without ever lapsing into vulgarity. One geisha told the Daily Yomiuri, "Our function has always been that of mediators for customers conducting business, We maintain utmost obedience to them. If one customer says crows are white, we just smile and agree. In this sense, we are no different from hostesses. We give love to people, give water to flowers. Geishas spend a lot of time pouring drinks and, in many cases, drinking.
One geisha told the Japan Times, "You need to be able to drink. You have to drink every day. The customers are usually drunk and they try to get us drunk. Geisha are taught to go uh huh, uh huh and not offer their opinions. A Tokyo geisha told Cobb, "In this world the man holds the higher position, and the woman follows him.
That's the way it should be. I must help and support him but not let him know. This a woman's virtue: to be strong on the inside but not let it show. One geisha told the New York Times, "There is a technique to good listening. It may sound impolite to wives, but men have a world that wives cannot understand. Men release their inner self in a place like this and then go home.
You can only do that after your 40s. It's taboo to talk about everyday stuff. Geisha activities and movements are carefully crafted. The way her body sinks to a kneel, or she uses just the fingertips of her right hand to slide open wood-framed Japanese doors. Dancing and instrument playing are expected to be heartfelt. Geisha work at nightly parties that often go into the wee hours of the morning.
They receive generous wages and tips but they also have pay thousands of dollars for expensive silk kimonos and other clothes and items. Geishas are not allowed to marry so many of them take older lovers "for financial and emotional support.
Most geishas go by a single professional name. Some geishas have specialties. Golf-geishas are particularly skilled in chatting with clients about golf. Others are good at playing games that men find amusing. Those that dance, sing and play an instrument are taught to do so with an expressionless face. In the old days geisha often lived and worked at the same place.
This is no longer the case. One geisha told the Japan Times, "Nowadays we are like regular office workers and the okiya is an office to which we commute from the suburbs. A typical day for a typical geisha begins at around am with breakfast followed by errands, household chores and singing and instrument practice and maybe some dance exercises.
She takes a bath and begin preparing for work at around pm. Work usually ends around am and about an hour is needed to remove the make up and take off the kimono. The routine day in and out does a take its toll.
A Kyoto geisha told Cobb, "I'm tired of people's eyes. I'm tired of pretending to be someone I'm, tired of flattery. I would love to be thought of as a frank and honest person, speaking and acting as I really feel. But this business won't allow that. One geisha in Atami told the Asahi Shimbun said she became a geisha for the money after she was forced to quite her company job because of health problems and she needed to pay off a car loan.
The endless nights of cigarette smoke and singing over many years also take their toll. Many veteran geishas have a gruff, deep voice. Some even have polyps on their throat. Some geisha continue working until they are well into their eighties. The famous geisha, Haru Kato, performed almost until the day she died at age of in In , the oldest working geisha was Today most geishas retire before they are forty. Geishas wear a bright outer kimono, two under-kimonos, 11 obis belts and sashes ; lacquer their hair and place ornaments in it; and apply layers of paint and make up.
Before the geishas put on their kimonos they apply white powdered make-up on the faces and paint to their necks and backs. Some geishas paint their teeth black, a custom once considered beautiful for women. Putting on the obis and kimonos is like going through a maze to a complete a jigsaw puzzle. Young helpers and an "auntie" often help the geishas to get dressed. A man is sometime necessary to do the strenuous parts of putting on the obi.
Geisha clothes weigh 10 kilograms. I'm like a businessman putting on a suit in the morning, preparing for his daily battle, forgetting his personal life. When I put on make-up and a kimono, I turn into a geisha in my mind also. In a kimono, I am a professional. One Kyoto client told Cobb, "I have seen how geisha prepare their makeup, but I don't like to.
I want the romantic ideal, not the reality. I don't want to know the trick. I don't want t known their sad stories. I want to keep it as a dream, and they want to keep it as a dream for me. That's the business. A hairdo can weigh up to three kilograms. The hot irons and wax used to create the hairdos take their told and leave geisha with bald spots when they get old.
These are sometimes hidden with wax and yak hair. He dragged it roughly through the remaining pots of wax in her tumbling locks He then put his hands on her porcelain-white neck, stuffing in required patches of yak hair to give her a variation of the split-peach geisha hairdo that some Japanese consider highly suggestive. Hairpins worn by geisha can be quite elaborate and change according to the season with as many as 20 variations worn at different times of the year. A hairpin worn by an experienced maiko during the Gion Festival has five tiers of flowers and butterflies with blue fabric.
One worn by a maiko with only a few years experience has three tiers with 48 silver flowers and four butterflies. Flowor decoration are made from heavy paper doubled over and put on a wire and fixed with silk thread. Butterflies are made with heron or stork feathers. A skilled craftsman can make only one or two hairpins a day. A discreet, white lit-up sign identifies the geisha house. A signboard list the geisha and maiko that work there. The only time geishas perform in public is when maikos do dances during the annual Cherry Blossom Dances in Kyoto.
Many geisha work in tearooms, that generally serve much larger quantities of alcohol than tea, and ryotei , traditional inns made up of a mazelike configuration of private, screened rooms, where businessmen and politicians met to make deals while being entertained by geisha. Some have secret stairways and passageways so VIPs who don't see each other can avoid chance encounters. Ryotei have traditionally not published their prices, which are said to be very high.
Small parties are usually entertained by three geishas: a tachikata dancer , jikata samisen player and a maiko.
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