~Kimono Life~

Rags and riches by the Myoshoji

2010-02-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

BACKSTREET STORIES
Rags and riches by the Myoshoji
Artisans down by the riverside make a clean job of preserving priceless traditions

By KIT NAGAMURA

Few writers have been able to evoke the bare beams of poverty or the lambent lives of those who endure it with more dignity than Fumiko Hayashi (1903-1951).

News photo
Spotless reputations: Wataru Shimizu (left) and Yukio Kato are expert professionals in the specialist field of shimi-nuki (stain removal from kimono and delicate fabrics).
News photo

It therefore seems fitting that I pick the iciest day of winter to walk northwest of Nakai Station (on both the Seibu Shinjuku and Oedo lines in Shinjuku Ward) in search of the home of this feminist author who ousted penury with a pen.

I find a sign pointing uphill to the Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall, and I worry it will be a dank concrete place full of musty books in locked glass cases. At nearby garden cafe Ra-Ra-Ra, I chat with 65-year-old owner Mitsue Maezawa, who tells me, "I opened my business when my grandchildren were grown. I was inspired by Hayashi's independence."

Maezawa also assures me that the home where Hayashi lived the last 10 years of her short life, from 1941-51, is well worth visiting. Climbing Yon-no-saka (Fourth Slope), I see that she's right. Tucked behind the remains of the bamboo grove that Hayashi loved, a sukiya-tsukuri (refined, tea house-inspired) home seamlessly incorporates features considered modern for 1941, such as a large kitchen and small reception parlor — elements that Hayashi and her architect, Bunya Yamaguchi, designed together.

Building-size restrictions back then meant that Hayashi had to split the residence into what amounts to two houses — one for guests and editorial meetings, the other for her husband, painter Tezuka Ryokubin, their adopted son, Tai, and for writing.

A child of itinerant peddlers and no stranger to poverty or abusive love affairs, Hayashi nonetheless gambled on success, exhausting her savings to buy this land in Nakai. Proceeds from two of her most famous works, "Yukigumo" ("Floating Clouds") and "Horoki" ("A Vagabond's Diary"), then helped cover the building costs.

As I walk the garden, a grounds attendant takes my arm and shows me a purple-tinted yukiwariso ("snow- breaking" hepatica) surrounded by glittering needles of column frost. With plum buds still tight, and the garden mostly dormant, this is an unexpected gift.

Circling the estate, I peer into the rooms of the houses, so open-aired that clouds and bees could waft through unobstructed. But I'm looking for the place where Hayashi actually wrote.

I know it when I see it; it is the storage room in the family wing where she set up her desk. Shielded from the bright winter sun, insulated by closets, the garden view adjustable with horizontally sliding shoji (paper screens) and a teapot poised on a wooden hibachi: here is a room in which imagination could pace.

I linger on the grounds a bit longer before retracing my steps across the Myoshoji River and then heading east beside its bank. I spot homes, some not 2 meters wide, clinging to the top of its floodwalls, and I wonder who lives in such confines. At a garage, where I think to ask this question, I meet 60-year-old Takashi Otani, who is sedulously snipping a complicated curve from sheet metal.

"Curves are the most difficult to execute," Otani tells me, explaining that he's "constructing a roof decoration for Disney, for the 'Hungry Bear' attraction."

Otani has been working in bankin (sheet metal) for 40 years, and is now part of the team doing renovations on the amusement park. "Tokyo Disneyland is 26 years old," he says while leafing through a book of complex specifications, "so it's time."

I discover that Otani lives above his garage workshop, but before I can delve further, he realizes I'm interested in people who work with their hands. He promptly drags me off to meet a friend of his.

News photo
Learning curves: Master dyer Masaru Ono gives quiet pointers to Chikako Okano, one of the apprentices at Futaba-en, as they stretch out lengths of fabric to dry.

Back across the river I go, as Otani explains that this stretch of the Myoshoji used to be full of dyers washing out their fabrics in the clear-running waters. And where there are dyers, there are kimono, and where there are kimono, Otani tells me, there are men engaged in shimi-nuki (stain removal). But as I am about to learn, this is a whole artisan's craft unto itself.

Yukio Kato is busy repotting plants when we arrive. Otani orders his former school classmate to brush off the dirt and hurry up to show me what shimi-nuki is all about. Kato, extremely good-natured through his puzzlement, immediately complies. He leaps over his low worktable, turns on a gas stove, and spreads out a few kimono and obi fabrics.

As he arranges bottles of bleach, benzene, and "trade-secret" chemical concoctions for stain removal, he and Otani trade banter. I note that some of the solvents Kato is using are toxic. "I don't care," he says. "I'm an idiot, so I became a craftsman. You can tell everyone that."

"Speak for yourself," Otani retorts, turning to me. "We craftsmen actually use our heads, you know."

Kato roars in laughter at this, but as soon as he starts to work, he's utter diligence. Taking a forged spatula-like tool off the gas stove, he quenches it briefly in water, then slides it into the sleeve of a kimono. The heat from the tool, a kote, steams chemicals he has applied to a stain, evaporating both simultaneously and leaving the delicate kimono spotless. Sonically pulsed water and electromagnetic guns may be some of the newer tools of his trade, but where colors have faded, Kato can even spot-dye a kimono the age-old way.

Removing sweat marks or stains left too long, and cleaning fabrics dyed a shade known as "Fuji pink" are the biggest challenges, Kato explains, scrubbing at a stubborn mark with a horsetail brush. When he unscrews an ammonia-based cleanser, it propels me and Otani to our feet and half out the door.

Thanking Kato from a safe distance, we cross the river once again and I follow Otani's directions to one of Tokyo's last dyeing factories, Futaba-en. I tell him I will stop in again soon. He shakes his head as he quips, "Look for me at Disneyland."

The side yards of humble houses on the way to Futaba-en, many piled high with abandoned electrical goods and junk, conjure up Hayashi's "Horoki," in which the narrator bemoans not having enough yen to buy benzene to clean her own kimono.

In stark contrast to these surroundings, Futaba-en's sleek new facilities come as a surprise. From a video display outside the building, I get a quick education in two dye styles.

Edo Komon, a stenciled resist-dye technique, results in teeny, intricate patterns originally designed to sneak by restrictions placed on luxury clothing in the Edo Period (1603-1867) by the simple expedient of appearing to be one plain color from a few meters away.

Edo Sarasa, Tokyo's take on pattern dyeing, was derived from techniques in India and Java and requires as many as 30 or 40 individual stencils to complete the pattern.

News photo
Cultural cache: Originally intended as a storage space, the room in her home that feminist writer Fumiko Hayashi chose as her workplace has a quiet simplicity conducive to conjuring the trials of Japan's underclasses in the first half of the 20th century. The house, now the Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall, is a marvelous 1940s time capsule set in grounds that would be any garden-lover's delight.

Motobumi Kobayashi, the fourth-generation owner of Futaba-en, has pumped fresh color into the world of traditional dyeing by attracting young and motivated apprentices, developing new products made from the fabrics, and showcasing his artistic wares internationally. In fact, I barely get a chance to speak to him before he takes his leave for an exhibition in Paris.

Instead, over Futaba-en's "Milky Way" of drying kimono lengths, I meet 66-year-old Masaru Ono, who has more than 48 years' experience in dyeing techniques. Two apprentices, Chikako Okano, 30, and Yuji Morimoto, 27, work ceaselessly in the background as Ono describes how the correct spacing of the thin shinshi (bamboo struts) that hold the fabric taut while dyeing is one of the trickiest skills to teach.

"But it's all hard," he says with a knowing smile, "learning the process, sequencing, and speed."

To share his skills, though, Ono teaches classes to the public on Fridays and Saturdays in the hope that others, too, will discover the aji (nuance) of genuine dyed work.

The day draws to a close, but Ono insists that I meet yet another shimi-nuki expert, Wataru Shimizu. Sun glints like gold foil on the river as I cross it yet again. In a third-story workshop with no sign outside — those who need to know where Shimizu is, already know — the 58-year-old expert quietly works on a kimono that to me appears perfect. But, no. He points out a bit of color that has bled where it shouldn't. He eyes it with a loupe. Yes, he will need to fix that. He takes a matchstick, soaks it in a solvent and, using his fingernail as a guide, drums the infinitesimal flaw out of existence.

As he works, Shimizu explains that the sound a kote makes when dipped in water lets him know if it will bake the kimono or not. Shimizu learned the trade from his father, who studied in Kyoto.

I ask if Shimizu knows Kato, who also employs a kote. He smiles. "Kato is the apprentice of one of my apprentices," he says, with pride.

Shimizu's wife quietly receives delivery men who come and go with boxes of kimono as we talk. When I finally head home, I muse that along this drab backstreet live some of the most enriching people in the city.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fv20100131kn.html

All for the love of wearing kimono

2010-02-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009

All for the love of wearing kimono
Young and old have been gathering in Ginza for years to promenade in their favorite garb

By SAYO SASAKI
Kyodo News

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in mid-December, several dozen people in Christmas-themed kimono appeared in Tokyo's bustling Ginza district.

News photo:
Fashion passion: Women take part Dec. 12 in "Kimono de Ginza," a monthly event to wear the traditional costume on the streets of Tokyo's bustling Ginza district. KYODO PHOTO

People watched them pass, clad in traditional belted robes of differing patterns and flower motifs, standing out in the otherwise monotone crowd.

As the clock struck 3 p.m., they started moving down a pedestrian street in loose groups, heading off to shops in the area, while the curious followed to take snapshots and others asked if this was part of a film shoot. One woman smiled and shook her head.

The sight has become common in the area as "Kimono de Ginza," a monthly occasion to wear kimono, marks its 10th anniversary in 2010.

The event is open to anyone who shows up at the specified time and place on the second Saturday of every month. Participants can exchange information on kimono and can leave anytime to go off on their own, but all are invited to a dinner at the end of the day.

Over the years, what started as a gathering of less than a dozen male friends has grown into a more public event, drawing an average of about 50 men and women ranging in age from their 20s to their 80s. On some days, more than 100 people have turned up.

"The only rule we have is this — do not criticize others for how they are dressed," said a man who goes by the name Gojyaku Kyoya, stating the rule that some say is the key to why the event has lasted so long and unites people who like formal kimono and those who like casual kimono.

The 59-year-old longtime participant said he was looking for a place to wear kimono "more casually" and ended up at Kimono de Ginza, disliking the strict dress codes imposed at some gatherings.

For many decades kimono were worn with a serious face — considered appropriate for special occasions such as graduations, coming of age ceremonies and weddings. But over the past few years, they have been gaining popularity as casual wear.

Popular Japanese social networking Web sites like mixi and GREE list more than 700 Internet communities on kimono, with a number of them holding gatherings in the real world. Meanwhile, inexpensive secondhand kimono shops are sprouting up everywhere.

Writer-illustrator Ima Kikuchi, who has published several books on kimono, said the trend picked up sometime around 2002 and the number of kimono lovers has since steadily grown.

"A nonceremonial style of kimono has established itself as a new genre today, and people are enjoying it, just like Western clothes," she said, explaining the increase in kimono shops and availability of colorful socks and decorative collars for kimono that attract younger generations.

She also noted the different desires of people who wear kimono, saying, "I think there are people who wish to transform themselves by wearing kimono and those who just want to be themselves."

She added that women in their 30s and 40s are leading the kimono trend, while older generations tend to go for wearing kimono they got from their parents.

While past Kimono de Ginza events have had many young participants, including university students and people in their 20s, there were many more people in their 40s and 50s whose parents frequently wore kimono but who themselves grew up not wearing them.

"My mother loved kimono, but for a long time I could not understand why she loved them so much. I wanted to find out," a 50-year-old woman from Yokohama said in explaining why she started wearing kimono and coming to the event.

"Here I met with people who wear kimono like they wear T-shirts. It was an eye-opener," she said. "This event taught me that a kimono is something to play with, not something to admire."

Handcrafting and mixing different materials is part of the fun. The Yokohama woman wore a yellow ribbon used for wrapping a bottle of wine instead of a thin strap used in keeping the "obi" (sash) in position. Others had sewn a Christmas-themed cloth together and made it into an obi or painted a snowman on a kimono jacket to suit the season.

"You don't have to pay millions to enjoy kimono," said Kyoya, pointing out another female participant, who jokingly said the total amount she paid for her full ensemble, including sandals, was "cheaper than buying clothes at Uniqlo."

Another participant, Sheila Cliffe, who teaches English at Jumonji University in Saitama Prefecture, gave an artistic reason to love kimono.

"A kimono has poetry. It has many different motifs, like flowers, vegetables and even bugs that you won't see on Western clothes, and by wearing it you can create a story, like Christmas," she said in Japanese, showing her kimono coordinated in Christmas red, green and gold.

There have been several non-Japanese participants and others who did not know how to wear kimono.

Many participants said this is not a concern because others can teach them how to wear kimono, show them how to coordinate different colors and items, and provide information on where to get them.

"Anyone is welcome here," said Shigematsu, one of the earliest participants in the event. "I just think it is nice that we can all enjoy wearing kimono as friends."

Regardless of age or background, the participants appear to have built a strong bond by the time they come together for the dinner and drinks portion of the event.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091231f1.html

Maiko sing Gion theme in Maruyama Park

2008-12-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Gion Kouta Festival

Miyagawacho maiko Toshiteru-san (16) and Toshimari-san (17) present flowers and sing.

Mikihiko Nagata (1887-1964) is credited with writing the lyrics of "Gion Kouta", the Balad of Gion.

The popular tune explores the seasons in Kyoto, and maiko ozashiki still perform the song, a staple at ozashiki banquets.

WA-frica

2008-11-27T00:23:00.000-08:00

Wa (Japanese) + Africa = Wafrica.

Tendhunter's Gallery - Cross-Cultural Couture - Wafrica Kimono

Wafrica is a unique cross-cultural clothing line is comprised of traditional Japanese kimonos made from African fabrics. It's the brainchild of well-traveled, Nissan car designer, Serge Mouange (born in Cameroon, raised in Paris and now lives in Tokyo)

While the Wafrica kimonos retain every bit of their Japanese sensibilities, the bright traditional African patterns lend them a vibrance and energy that makes these stoic models come alive.

wafrica.jp - But beware! It's unlinkable, music-in-background, browser-crashing Flashs-trosity.

From Trendhunter

Maiko in Vogue

2008-10-27T01:50:00.000-07:00

Vogue’s ‘Stranger in a Strange Land' Spread

The October 2008 issue of Vogue Nippon featured a very captivating editorial that fashionably showcases what it feels like to be a ‘Stranger in a Strange Land.’

Styled by Anastasia Barbieri in true haute couture that is worthy of a Vogue editorial, model Carmen Kass is captured by talented photographer Yelena Yemchuk as a European or American in Japan.

In addition to the exquisite couture fashion, the art direction of the shoot adds a subtle yet deep dimension that transcends an otherwise typical fashion shoot into a captivating story.

The 'maiko' are just girls dressed up in kimono, but it's done very, very well. I doubt they could have afforded real maiko to stand by for hours (sometimes days) for a photoshoot if they weren't the main subject.

Komomo: A Geisha's Journey ~ Book Tour

2008-05-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

A Japanese geisha has been teaching New York about the ancient art of her profession. Komomo, which means Little Peach, danced, sang and signed copies of her book titled "A Geisha's Journey" for curious onlookers in an art gallery and book store.

Part 2 of that segment here:
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-gb&vid=d3834244-70d8-48a8-b175-4d7df465d6ec&fg=rss&from=en-gb

Komomo's story has spawned some more questions among Westerners:
http://www.citizensugar.com/1573126

Daily Yomiuri: Kyoto Kagai Photo Book

2008-05-24T20:33:00.001-07:00

Kyoto's entertainment districts captured in photo book
Hiroko Ihara, Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20080522TDY16003.htm

KYOTO--A recently published photographic guide to five Kyoto entertainment districts has been widely praised, both for the succinct introduction it offers newcomers to the city's traditions and culture and the spotlight it places on the area's retention of long-standing Japanese customs.

"Kyoto, an Ancient Capital of Traditional Culture and Musical Art," which features 81 pages of widely varied color photographs accompanied by English text, is the first book of its kind, according to its publisher, the Kyoto Traditional Musical Art Foundation (nicknamed Okini Zaidan).

"We've been told it's very helpful, because there was no material like this [about Kyoto's entertainment districts]. The photos provide a brilliant visual guide for the foreign audience," said Osamu Ito, the secretary of Okini Zaidan.

About 10,000 copies have been given free of charge to people and organizations involved with introducing Japanese culture to the international community, such as tour guides, researchers, universities and international exchange groups.

The about 200 photographs featured in the book were taken by Hiroshi Mizobuchi, a photographer based in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture. Having shot Kyoto's entertainment districts for the past 35 years and published more than 10 collections on the theme, Mizobuchi has a deep understanding of the area.

His work in the Kyoto guide casts light on every aspect of life in the entertainment districts, called "hanamachi" or "kagai," but it pays particular attention to geiko, entertainers who have mastered their techniques, and apprentices to the trade, who are known as maiko.

A number of annual events are featured, starting with the Shigyoshiki New Year ceremony, which sees the geiko and maiko appear wearing hair ornaments made of rice plants and formal black kimono with patterns on the bottom.

Kyoto's natural scenery, famously distinct from season to season, is beautifully captured in pictures of dance performances by geiko and maiko at different times of year. Their contribution to the festive atmosphere at annual events like the Gion Festival in July and the Kaomise all-star-cast kabuki performance in December is delightfully evident.

Elsewhere, Mizobuchi's pictures show the geiko and maiko performing for customers at ochaya teahouses, their day-to-day workplace.

Other sections of the book go behind the scenes: Brief pictorial essays reveal how to put on a kimono, apply makeup and do hair in the style of geiko and maiko.

Mizobuchi said: "Their culture and lifestyle used to be part of the Japanese way of life. They're separated a bit from ordinary Japanese these days, but they're still active in these districts."

He recalls a time, several years after he first began photographing maiko and geiko, when trade in the districts was declining. The proprietor of an ochaya in the Gion Kobu entertainment district told him: "The number of maiko in my district is down to 10. You're taking our photos at the right time--we might become extinct."

The comment spurred Mizobuchi to expand his focus to include the entire district, taking in its landscape and events as well as its people.

Fortunately, the districts' fortunes revived, and there are now about 100 maiko working in Kyoto. "Their training consists of Japanese dance, learning about the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and playing musical instruments. It's very severe. Those who come from outside Kyoto also need to acquire an elegant Kyoto accent," Mizobuchi said, noting that only one out of 10 trainees actually go on to become maiko.

"But those who hang on are extremely lively and dedicated. It's a special thing," he said.

Here's the thing: the foundation is making the book available to Daily Yomiuri readers free of charge. Hiroshi Mizubushi 溝縁ひろし is the unofficial official geisha photographer in Kyoto (his books are sold at the district odori).

Sayuki of Asakusa

2008-01-07T03:32:00.000-08:00

Tokyomango: http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2007/12/first-white-gei.html
Japantoday: http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/423498
Telegraph UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/07/wgeisha107.xml
and debito's blog: http://www.debito.org/index.php/?p=876

Japan’s first ever foreign geisha
Courtesy of Sayuki

For the first time in the 400 year history of the geisha, a Westerner has been accepted, and on December 19, will formally debut under the name Sayuki.

Sayuki is specialized in social anthropology, a subject which requires anthropologists to actually experience the subject they are studying by participating in the society themselves.

Sayuki has been doing anthropological fieldwork in Asakusa - one of the oldest of Tokyo’s six remaining geisha districts - for the past year, living in a geisha house (okiya), and participating in banquets as a trainee. She has been training in several arts, and will specialize in yokobue (Japanese flute).

Sayuki took an MBA at Oxford before turning to social anthropology, and specializing in Japanese culture. She has spent half of her life in Japan, graduating from Japanese high school, and then graduated from Japan’s oldest university, Keio. Sayuki has lectured at a number of universities around the world, and has published several books on Japanese culture. She is also an anthropological film director with credits on NHK, BBC, National Geographic Channel programmes.

http://www.sayuki.net

But oh wait, even after sending out her press release to debito, and giving interviews about being "inducted into the mysteries of geisha," she wants you to forget her real name and hope you can't google her using the clues she's already provided.

SAYUKI has said:

(It has been a very long road to becoming a geisha, and has taken several years of preparation, an enormous investment, and considerable perseverance. Whatever you are imagining geisha life is like, it is a great deal harder than you know.)

I had made a decision to keep my life as an academic and my life as a geisha as separate as possible. Confusing the two could have very unwelcome implications for my my fieldwork now, particularly when I have struggled so hard to begin. I would be very grateful if those people speculating about my identity could please not do so and remove the posts.

This is purely anthro conjecture, from one card-carrying anthropologist to another, but...
To get a BA in anthro (in the States at least) you have to take at least one ethnographic methodology course, and that usually means conducting some kind of participant-observation study. Now clearly you've already written books on your first-hand research into Japanese insurance corporations.

One of the pitfalls of participatory research is not being able to separate your various selves - academic, political, familial, real-life, what have you - from the work. It's sucks, but you can't always hole yourself up in your tent and make notes in some optimal Boasian environment. Gay and lesbian researchers don't lie about their sexual orientation when the issue comes into play. Feminist researchers can't mask or hide their political viewpoints. Non-native 'outsider' anthropologists usually have to acknowledge that they just don't look like the population they're supposed to be studying. It will all come out in the work anyway, so what's the big deal about full disclosure? Is it going to compromise an already compromised identity?

Maybe anthro in the UK is just done differently, but what you ARE is hard to separate from what you are DOING. Is it a question of motivation? I can understand if you want to become a geisha because you genuinely want to become a geisha. Cool. I can understand if you want to become a geisha so you can write a book. That's fine too.

The public doesn't have to speculate. The 'secret' identity is already out, published by legitimate news sources no less. As far as I'm concerned, she opened the door on identity.

Discussion, speculation, critique - these are all sorts of 'mean' things anthropologists do to one another in their circles. If you put up a good defense in getting your doctorate, the greater public will be a cakewalk.

Japan's oldest geisha turns 99

2007-10-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-05-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

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...

キモノバッグ ~kimonobaggu

2006-12-28T01:34:00.000-08:00

I shall not rest until I make this bag mine.

Like nodate chanoyu perfected, it's a traveling kimono tansu!

It has clear pockets for finding kitsuke items and storing essentials like zori and jime. There's also an interior hanger to keep obi and kimono from creasing while inside. 6 different patterns to choose from. Original by tsuki to kame.

Here: Rakuten

口紅 (くちべに) ~kuchibeni

2006-12-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

[Lit. "crimson mouth", or lipstick.]

Lip Service: Photog Sues Hip L.A. Restaurant for Copyright Infringement

Usually when a photographer sues someone over copyright infringement, you end up reading about it in photo industry trade newspapers and Websites. But when National Geographic staffer Jodi Cobb sued the Geisha House restaurant in Los Angeles for using her photographs without permission, word of the legal action appeared on the Website of The Hollywood Reporter, a mainstay of the entertainment industry.
That might be because the restaurant is one of the town’s hottest nightspots. Or because one of its owners was the winner of the CBS reality TV show Big Brother. Or maybe it was because one of the investors in the restaurant is actor Ashton Kutcher.
Whatever the reason, the case should also be of interest to photographers around the country, simply because it illustrates how cavalierly the notion of copyright is treated by many people today.

Continue reading "Lip Service: Photog Sues Hip L.A. Restaurant for Copyright Infringement" from PopPhoto.com

Article from Hollywood reporter esq
Article from the Defamer
Article from reality blurred

I'm a bit disturbed by the idea that red lips on a white background could be "owned" exclusively by Jodi Cobb. The lips on the restaurant are slightly different, but Cobb calls it "virtually identical". Her proof? She had it analyzed by a National Geographic expert - the same organization she once worked for. How different are red lips on white painted skin supposed to look?

Clearly the book cover and the photo on the door are NOT the same. They are similar, but as mentioned way down in the article, the restaurant intentionally copied the theme and reproduced a similar photo (variations on a theme). The cover of A Year in Search of Wa features red lips on white skin, but with the kimono collars showing.

I can see why Cobb would be pissed (I might be a little mad too). But the restaurant didn't quite steal her photo - they recreated a similar photo. Is recreating a similar photo the same as copyright violation? That's a question of access. Well, I'm not an attorney, but it seems like the case could go either way. I mean, is an idea copyright-able? Cobb is also suing about the t-shirt the guy wore on Big Brother too. The use of her images inside the building is one matter (apparently the original cease and desist complaint is dated from 2005). The restaurant interior from the website doesn't appear to have anything immediately Cobb-esque - unless it's in the ladies room or something - so it seems as though they've complied on that front. But Cobb is asking for $150,000 per image plus damages. I'm tempted to get a copy of the filing.

Now Geiko usually seem flattered by the various artworks that people make of them. I find it odd that Cobb, who was granted a boon by the Miyagawacho geiko, couldn't work something out with a Hollywood restaurant. If I were the restaurant manager, I probably would have done the same. You could either go for the world-class photog for way too much, or go with the unknown photog for a hundred bucks. I've known lots of struggling artists who are thrilled to exhibit their works at cafes and restaurants just for the exposure. And it's pretty clear that geisha haven't officially trademarked their red lips/white skin combo (otherwise the maiko henshin studios would be in serious trouble).

Though I can't see anything immediately from the Geisha House site that obviously resembles Cobb's photos (Aside from the red lips-white face composition - Official Gallery) - maybe a visit is in order.

I'll admit that I'm approaching this situation with a photographer's mindset. I often see really well-crafted images and think "Oh, I could totally do that." I usually end up with something completely different, but sometimes it's the same.

I know Peter MacIntosh once called Cobb's book "a typical 'take what you can get from Japan and run without thinking about all the bridges you burned.'" My biggest fear is that buying these Paparazzi-esque photobooks (including Cobb) I'll only encourage more photographers to book a month-long trip to Japan with the hopes of getting published just by standing along Kyoto curbsides at dusk. It feels too much like encouraging the geisha mystique rather than the geisha livelihood. One of the biggest tests for an ethnographer (or photo journalist in this case) is if he/she can return to the community and find their relationships intact. Dalby still maintains her relationship with her geisha mother, even bringing her husband and kids to visit her old Pontocho haunts. Cobb would probably not be as welcome in Miyagawa-cho.

Some of these recently published maiko/geiko photobooks, particularly Western photographers, are no more than pictures of geisha on the street (which is pretty much legal everywhere, but also ethically questionable). Are these photos released with the approval of the geisha? Does the photog have permission? Does the maiko who pauses politely to pose give consent to have her image published for profit? Cobb says she was granted permission to shoot, otherwise she never would have gotten past the door, but were her photos published with the geisha's concent? Cobb shot back when film cameras were used, so did she ask for permission before or after the images were proccessed? Were any of these factors taken into consideration? It's... a grey area.

プレゼント ~ purezento

2006-12-14T06:51:00.000-08:00

帯飾り(かざり~obi-kazari) obi-charm

簪 (かんざし~kanzashi) hair ornament 箸（はし~hashi）stick

芸妓ハンメイル ~ Geisha fan mail

2006-12-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

Mail - I loved it as a kid. Getting it, sending it - good old fashioned United States Postal Service snailmail - all of it. I was a philatelist and my father still has envelopes from Hong Kong with the upper right hand corner torn out from where I had harvested his Queen Elizabeth II stamps. I knew how to spell Lichtenstein at age twelve.

I still feel a little thrill holding a package or postcard from a country I've never visited, so I can understand the eagerness young people have at the prospect of a message from a foreign place. Now imagine that you are a young trainee in traditional arts and something of a minor celebrity, a walking tourist attraction if you will. Now turn the adoration into fan mail.

It's not impossible to figure out the address of an okiya from the other side of the world (if I did it, surely you can). The difficult part is when fans write mail in earnest to the person of interest, they often expect a positive response in return. This can create considerable burdens for celebrities. Calculate in your head roughly the amount of free time a maiko/geiko has between classes and engagements and you'll remember why being a art-person is a character-defining lifestyle in Kyoto.

But one can hardly count on a busy arist to respond like a penpal, especially if you have no prior relationship with her. Chances are good that her okaasan intercepts anything that arrives through the mail and filters it to her accordingly ("Oh, you got a congratulatory card from America, but it's not in Japanese so I'll just put it in the pile with the others and you can look at it later" or something). It might be best to channel your energy into going to Kyoto to congratulate these women in person, where their art and charm really shines through. They seem to like entertaining regular customers as much as they like meeting new, interesting people. [The secret is: they want you to keep coming back.]

I channel my energy into supporting artists - buying their CDs, paying full price to their events, and respecting their right to privacy. It's one thing to post online for the world to see who is and is not associated to a geisha's particular okiya (they themselves post it for the world to see, therefore it's okay). But I'm not about to surrender their home addresses or class schedules or listings of their engagements for the common internet stalker.

ねこふんじゃた ~ Neko funjatta...

2006-12-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

I must confess - I am a blog dilettante. I've retired a Xanga account (too many trollers), a half-hearted LiveJournal (too emo), and I'm too tired to edit strands of hypertext markup language (soo 1995). I used to write long before the days of popularized, dummified, pre-packaged web-logs (before they were known as 'blogs' - remember what Usenet and IRC #channels were like then? Ah, the mid-1990s... ) and online journals, but I have been impressed by the quality of some Blogger layouts. I've learned to put my faith in Google.

My parents were always sketchy on the details of how they came up with my Chinese name (羅慧英). It's probable my dad just liked the way it sounded, kinda like how they admired a certain female newsreporter of Chinese descent. The CEDICT dictionary gives me more fruitful results like the idiom "Discerning eyes can tell greatness from mediocrity" [慧眼識英雄 (wai6 ngaan5 sik1 ying1 hung4)] or the phrase "to enjoy the beauty of words" [含英咀華 (ham4 ying1 jeui2 wa4)] - even the term "heroine" [女英雄 (neui5 ying1 hung4)]. Seems almost poetic now.

'Satoai' (さとあい) is the closest japonification (japanisation? nihonising?) of my auxiliary Chinese name if I were to haphazardly tack the kun reading of my generational name [さとい (satoi)] with the on reading of my given name [えい (ei)]. I'm pretty sure name construction doesn't work that way in Japan, but I don’t exactly have a friendly oba-chan prodding me into correction.

As for the title, Neko funjatta, it's a Japanese ditty kids learn on the piano.

ねこふんじゃた　ねこふんじゃった
Neko funjata, Neko funjatta
I stepped on the cat, I stepped on the cat

ねこふんじゃったーら
Neko funjatta-ra
When I stepped on the cat

とびだした！
Tobidashita!
It leaped away!

It's known as the Flea Waltz in Europe, but the notation indicates it's not in 3/4 time. I suspect it's played in vivace with a slight ritard on the "-jatta". Damn, my sight reading sucks. :{

Wiki it: Der Flohwalzer

2006-12-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

着物ライフ ~ Kimono Life ~

It actually says “kimono raifu”, but it’s close enough.