Japan 2013

My Scholarship Entry, "Geisha - Artists of the Floating World"

JAPAN | Thursday, 4 July 2013 | Views [801] | View Larger Image

(3) In a nearby temple I encountered a group of schoolkids saying “ohayoo” (good morning) to the koi fish, and wondered if in 10 years time any of them would become geisha. In the 1800s many girls would be trained as “Maiko” from as young as 9, and would be taught elegant dances, how to play traditional Japanese instruments and “the art of conversation”. Nowadays, those who do choose to become a geisha start after they leave high school, with some even entering the profession as adults.

(2) As I sifted through the beautiful hand-painted and embroidered silks she told me about how, many years ago, she would sometimes buy, sell or repair kimono from the Okiya (the geisha houses in the Gion District of Kyoto), but hadn’t for many years. The numbers of geisha in Japan have fallen from 80,000 in the 1920s to as few as 1000 practicing today, and it is seen as a dying art.

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(4) Shirakawa canal in Gion, Kyoto. One would be forgiven for thinking you were in a small town in the mountains – the stone bridges crossing the river to the ryokan (traditional Japanese inns) and the wind in the trees give a quiet and picturesque atmosphere in the hustle and bustle of the city. It is here that many tourists gather in the hope of spotting a Geisha scurrying to an appointment, and the complaints from geisha of being hassled by tourist paparazzi have increased in recent years.

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Japan 2013

My Scholarship Entry, "Geisha - Artists of the Floating World"

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