Japan's oldest geisha turns 99

Japan's oldest geisha marks her 99th birthday

ATAMI, Shizuoka -- Japan's oldest active geisha, Kokin Nee-san, celebrated her 99th birthday.

Kokin has been a geisha for more than 80 years. She still practices playing the shamisen and singing kouta songs at least once a week even now, keeping her ahead of the country's 2,800 younger geisha.



"I've gotta do my best for the customers," she says, adding that she hopes to be able to give a performance on her 100th birthday next year.

Kokin was born in 1909, then served as an apprentice geisha in Kofu after graduating from elementary school. Kokin celebrated her 99th birthday this week because of the old practice of counting ages as starting from 1 at birth.

Damn you, Bill Cunningham.

On the Street: Look East

Photographs by Bill Cunningham/The New York Times

By BILL CUNNINGHAM

Published: April 29, 2007
(link: here)

The cherry blossoms have slip-covered the parks in their annual pink splash. And for many women attending spring benefits, Asian-style dress adds corresponding exotic decoration to the evening. From authentic Japanese kimonos to richly embroidered Indian saris, to the subtlety of a black-and-white jacket embroidered with Asian calligraphy. Others chose colossal gold ethnic jewelry.

"...Asian-style dress adds corresponding exotic decoration to the evening."

Asia = exotic. *sigh* Why don't they just say "Oriental" if they mean Oriental? Not P.C. you say? Bah, humbug.

Spring Kateigaho International Edition

Mainichi Daily in English

KIE gives an insider's view of rarely seen Kyoto

Kyoto's esoteric world of intricate conventions and traditions can sometimes be intimidating, especially in the hanamachi, the world of the geisha. But the spring 2007 issue of Kateigaho International Edition (KIE) (on sale March 1) provides a glimpse through the eyes of insiders that makes more accessible the ancient capital's world of geiko, as geisha are called in Kyoto.

KIE explores often unknown nooks and crannies of Kyoto -- with a strong emphasis on the city's geisha districts of Ponto-cho, Miyagawa-cho and Gion -- and finds insightful clues into what has made Miyako tick over the past 1,200 or so years.

"We have taken representatives of Kyoto's geisha world and got them to give a 'Best Picks of Kyoto,' " KIE'S Editor-in-Chief Takeshi Kudo says.

KIE's "guides" are an exotic cross-section of the 21st century version of the city. They include a Canadian who gave up the hurly burly world of professional soccer to become a Kyoto connoisseur and multi-faceted entertainer together with his Japanese wife, who is herself a former tayu, historically the most artistically adept inhabitants of Japan's floating world.

Kudo points out that the spring 2007 issue contains a bonus pictorial guide on how to dance like a Miyagawa-cho geiko, with dozens of the outstanding photos Kateigaho is known for accompanying an explanation of the seasonal elements involved in the dance.

"By covering a story to this extent, we can show readers the correct manner and customs involved in Japanese dance, even if the meaning isn't always fully passed on," Kudo says. "It's a page for a little bit of added fun."

KIE's Sales Division Manager Takeharu Suzuki agrees, adding that "this is a special containing information even the average Japanese wouldn't know of."

Also providing a slice of Kyoto life are the remarkable four generations of geiko from the Hatsunoya, a Ponto-cho geisha house whose founder has provided a direct line of performers that now includes her great-granddaughter.

Kyoto's traditions would be nothing without the long lines of artisans who have provided the talents that have kept the conventions alive, even when it would seem other choices would mean less strain.

Learn from KIE about the fascinating stories involved in the decade-long creation process of the exquisite, decorative boxwood combs the geisha use in their hair, folding fans, and the wagasa paper umbrellas still now a favorite in the ancient capital.

Adventurous types can also get an extremely close to home look at centuries-old living through KIE's introduction of a supplier to the geiko who also dresses up tourists like the geiko and maiko (apprentice geisha), using completely authentic cosmetics and costumes.

KIE's spring 2007 edition also contains an extensive -- and removable -- map and guide of some of the best wares available in Kyoto with geiko and maiko providing recommendations for 60 businesses that may be of interest to foreign visitors.

"These are places maiko and chaya recommend for eating. It's not just high class establishments, it's a bit of everything from Western food to Japanese food to cakes," Kudo says. "You can find places where geisha shop and geisha hang out."

From Kyoto to kabuki, where KIE tracks the Opera National de Paris performance of Ichikawa Danjuro and Ichikawa Ebizo. KIE goes behind the scenes at the Palais Garnier as the father-and-son superstars bring the common theater of the Edo-era (1603-1868) to the traditional home of entertainment for the French nobility.

Other features in the spring 2007 issue include KIE showcasing how the new head of one of Shikoku's best known Shinto shrines is taking a so far unseen approach to preserving cultural artifacts.

KIE also gets a bite of the action in the seasonal delicacy scene in Western Japan, giving readers a year-round calendar to get the tastiest treats on offer throughout the country.

Combined with the eye-grabbing galleries, whose charms this issue also feature a show of uniform-inspired fashions, KIE's spring 2007 is a feast for the senses, with its hands-on approach to tackling Kyoto and the literally mouth-watering look at some of Japan's incredible edibles. (Text by Ryann Connell, Photos courtesy of Kateigaho International Edition)

Kateigaho International Edition http://int.kateigaho.com/
March 1, 2007

The link at the bottom of the article features more photos: Special Photo Preview

Miyako Odori Costume Fitting in Gion Kaburenjo

The dance, which commences on April 1st, now in its 135th season, will feature 114 musicians, geiko, maiko. Twenty three people were present for photographs to be published in the Odori program.

This year's theme is Elegant Picture Scroll "to furyuu meisho emaki," with the fifth act Tale of the Princess "mukashi monogatari kagu ya hime" and others: ?????? First visit to the Duck Shrine of the New Year ????? Saga field-tinted autumn leaves.
4300-1900 yen.

Photo: Ichiyuri, Kotoha, Koyuki, Mameshino, unidentifiable geiko

Sources:
Asahi Shimbun
Kyoto Shimbun

Oh, I thought it was strange that they're all wearing August kanzashii when it's Feburary, but might be due to the section of the dance (if set in late summer). These photos were all taken 22 Feb 2007.

Gion Corner in New Languages

Gion Corner will now feature an audio guide in 5 languages to introduce the traditional arts of Kyoto - English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Korean, says the Kyoto traditional arts promotion foundation. Gion Corner, as you know, features seven traditional performances like koto and Bunraku in 45 minutes for 2800 Yen.

While in the past Japanese tourists formed a large portion of visitors, the number of foreign travelers - who used to account for almost half - have rapidly increased.

Photo: Mameyuri and Mamesaho

Source: Kyoto Shimbun 京都新聞 2007年3月1日

藤花 ~Fujika

Fujika is a former gei-maiko from the illustrious Gion Kobu. Her autobiography based on her blog has been published in Taiwain.

Fujika is actually a renegade geisha. In the mid-1990s a maiko openly sued her geisha-mother and went independent. Fujika is a geiko who followed her into a maiko-for-hire gig. There was no follow-up on the story, but their business partnership seems to have lasted a few years until the maiko got too old to play the part.

It explains why Fujika's book isn't published in Japanese, but only in Taiwan.

Life at Night blog

Tasseography

Reading my tea leaves today I saw a child playing near a silhouette of a dog's head. A child means a new idea, and a dog represents a good friend. I wish now I had taken a photo, so someone else could interpret it.

But I know reading tea leaves is a little like reading the contents of a toilet bowl.

Looking for omens in all the wrong places...