Trekking the Nippon Highway

Well hello again, and it has been a while since I have updated…but like I told some people this is going to take several weeks to complete. I got a lot going on right now!

Following the conclusion of the tour de Kinkakuji, the group and I took a bus from the northern parts of Kyoto where we were toward the Geisha district. Now there are a lot of misconceptions and strange ideas about what Geisha girls do, but we will straighten some of those out here. We walked from the bus station across a river as the sun was getting ready to go down on us, and stopped to wait for Peter (from Canada) to meet up with us. He was a former soccer player in college, and decided he wanted to travel around the world doing journalism. He headed west and landed in Japan, and said he never made it past japan! He currently resides with his wife in Kyoto…and has lived there for twelve years.

The river near Gion

Hustle bustle outside the Kabuki theatre

Peter explained to us that the statue pictured below is a monument to how the Geisha culture started. He said that originally Kabuki and Geisha were basically part of one group of eccentric artistic-type people that roamed the banks of the above river making art, dancing, performing music, merry-making and “doing other things.” Supposedly the more powerful castes decided to get them off the banks of the river and into the theatres. Eventually Geisha and Kabuki parted ways…as developed rules that only men were allowed in Kabuki and of course only women could be geisha.

Monument to those who danced along the riverbanks

Entryway to a tea-house district

Before long we were following Peter into the heart of a geisha district neighboring Gion. Peter explained to us, as we stopped near a tea house, that Geishas are basically waitresses, musicians, dancers, and flight attendants (without the flight) all kind of balled into one. They may be hired out as escorts for a single person, a group, a couple or what have you to be entertainment for an evening on the town or at a party. They do, however, mainly work in the tea houses that are numerous in the area. Below you can see a photo of japanese characters on wood above a doorway. These are the names of all the girls that work in the tea house. Likely most of them live there…but this is not always the case. Notice that all the first (top) characters in their names are the same. The girls on that board have all apprenticed and learned the art of Geisha from the tea house mother. They must take part of her name into their professional name to indicate that they were trained by this mother. Above each name is a symbol with three interlocking circles, which is a symbol of tea houses in this district…Gion’s tea houses had a different symbol.

Professional names of girls working in the tea house

Peter also told us that all the tea-houses are a members-only business. The only way to be introduced into a house is by another member. That member puts his reputation on the line by inviting you in, so you had better be on your best behavior! They serve drinks as I understand it but these are not bars…mostly a form of cultural entertainment that the financially-well-off indulge in to distinguish themselves.

The girls start their training in the early teens, and usually begin full time work as Geisha at the ages of 16 to 17. These girls are skilled at conversation, playing instruments such as the Shamisen, serving, dancing, and other such trades. Though peter spoke a lot about the Geisha, a more in-depth glance at this culture is recommended if it piques your interest. For more accurate 😉 information on the Geisha culture, go here: Geisha.

Maiko girl

Can you guess who?

We concluded our evening with a dinner and drinks with Peter. He and I spoke a lot about living in Japan, and he gave me some helpful hints as to what one can do in order to put a foot in the door for living in Japan. This is a goal of mine. Well maybe I’ll hook up with a Geisha girl when I go back 🙂

Next up I have a full day of touring Kyoto independantly and the adventures that lie therein.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 29th, 2005 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.