Friday, May 30, 2008
Komomo: A Geisha's Journey ~ Book Tour
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
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Daily Yomiuri: Kyoto Kagai Photo Book
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).
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).
Monday, January 7, 2008
Sayuki of Asakusa
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
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.
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.
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.netBut 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.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
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.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Damn you, Bill Cunningham.
Photographs by Bill Cunningham/The New York Times
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.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
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.
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