Interview with a Geisha

A geisha offers a glimpse into an ancient lifestyle
By Julian Ryall
Photos by Robert Gilhooly

It's impossible to tell whether Yoshimaru is blushing because of the thick layer of white make-up that coats her skin from the hairline to the folds of her kimono, but she places a hand across her mouth and drops her eyes to the tatami mat floor at the question.

"There are still lots of things that I want to learn about being a geisha before I can think about getting married or even having a boyfriend," she says, the ornaments in her wig catching the light at the smallest movement of her head. "What I want more than anything is to be able to sit back in the future and know that I was a good geisha."

Yoshimaru is not her real name, but belonged to a geisha who worked in the narrow back streets of the Asakusa district of Tokyo a generation or more ago. In the traditional manner, it was handed down when she joined one of the last remaining "okiya," or geisha house, in what was once the heart of the entertainment industry, two years ago.

Her real name -- along with her age -- are closely guarded secrets. Yoshimura looks to be in her early 20s, but will not admit it.

"We geisha are ageless and have just one name that is not our own," she says. "It is part of our tradition to remain mysterious."

She is wearing a kimono of powder-blue silk, a design of flowers and leaves picked out in silver and greys across the arms and front. The broad "obi" belt is similarly richly decorated and not a hair on her head is out of place. She sits on her knees, her feet tucked beneath her, perfectly still from the waist down. Only her face and hands are animated.

"I decided to become the first geisha in my family because of the culture and history that goes with all this," she says. "I have always been fascinated with the beautiful clothes, the festivals that geisha attend, the musical instruments, the dances and the songs. It's a part of Japan that is very old but unique, and that is why we must work hard to protect this way of life."

As recently as five years ago, there were around 60 geisha based in Asakusa; today, that number has fallen to about 45. But the heyday of the "karyukai," which translates as the flower and willow world, was back in the 1930s, when more than 1,000 geisha could be seen making their dainty way to restaurants and tea-houses where they would entertain customers.

Her "big sisters" -- not blood relatives, but older geisha -- tell stories of grand banquets where they would be in attendance to pour sake rice wine and sing and dance, but they complain that young customers nowadays do not know how to have fun. Instead, Japan has become a nation that can turn to 24-hour karaoke lounges, bars of all description and the Internet for entertainment.

"I usually get up at 10 a.m. and come to the office that looks after all the geisha in Asakusa," Yoshimaru said. "In the morning and early afternoon we have classes in playing the small drums that we use, as well as the bamboo flute and the 'shamisen,' a type of three-stringed lute."

The oldest geisha still working in Asakusa is a sprightly 84 and a professional shamisen player. And she keeps an eye on the younger women, telling them that they need to practice every day -- like her -- because they must never stop learning.

"I also have to study dancing and traditional songs, plus it is good to practice the basic things that we learn when we first join the okiya, such as how to sit properly -- and without fidgeting -- how to open the sliding paper doors and how to serve the customers' food and drinks," she says. "They probably sound quite easy things to learn to do, but they have to be done in exactly the correct manner.

"We have to have pride in ourselves and what we do," she adds. "You have to really love this job and keep trying hard otherwise you would not be able to continue. Every year we have new trainee geisha join us, but many of them find it too hard and they drop out."

It is also not a job that will make them rich, she says, as the kimono that she wears for her debut, after six months of intensive study, costs upwards of Y500,000 and lessons cost Y100,000 every month.

Yoshimaru's first appointment of the evening is usually around 6 p.m., so she needs to start getting ready shortly after 4 p.m. It takes about 40 minutes to carefully apply her makeup -- completely white all over her face, neck and down an exposed V at the back of her neck where the kimono parts, followed by black to pick out the eyebrows, bright red lips that are painted on much smaller then her own lips, as well as a dusting of pink above the eyes and down the sides of her nose. And while all geisha look similar, they make sure to introduce subtle differences in their own make-up to ensure they are different from their sisters.

Next comes the wig, tailored to perfectly fit her head and made of real human hair. The ornaments change with the seasons, and today she has a sprig of dried grass that is traditional at New Year, as well as a pair of turtleshell combs and a metal pin with a design of flowers and intertwined leaves.

Finally, she is helped into three layers of kimono, a task that takes around 15 minutes to get just right.

"The first time my parents saw me in all these fine clothes, they were so proud of me and kept telling me how beautiful I looked," she said. "They have always supported me, and even though I'm working in the entertainment industry, they trust me to behave properly."

The misconception that geisha are prostitutes still lingers, but the "gei" in their title means are and entertainment, which are the commodities that they sell, rather than their bodies. Other errors are perpetuated by movies such as "Memoirs of a Geisha," based on the book by Arthur Golden, that was recently released around the world, to varying degrees of acclaim.

"It portrays a completely different world to the one in which I live and work," says Yoshimaru. "The clothes, the make-up, the dancing are largely incorrect, but I suppose it really only is a Hollywood movie that is more of a love story than a factual account of the life of a geisha. And at least it is making people more interested in us once again."

Once she arrives at the restaurant where she will be entertaining, along with two or three sisters, they wait until the guests are seated and then enter their tatami room. After making their introductions and serving the first round of drinks, the geisha begin their performances, often starting with the drum and shamisen. A party usually lasts three hours and costs around 19,000 yen, after which the guests are escorted to the door and waved off into the night. And then the geisha go on to their next appointment.

"I usually get home around midnight, but sometimes it can be as late as 2 a.m.," says Yoshimaru. "By the time my day off comes around, I'm pretty tired. I wear jeans and I like to spend my free time with my friends. We go out shopping or to eat and talk about the week we've just had. I guess that makes me a pretty normal 20-something Japanese woman."

"To me, this is usually just a job, like any other person has," she says. "But then I sometimes catch sight of myself in a shop window as I am going to work and the image is wonderful. Maybe I take this life for granted but I really can't imagine doing anything else now."