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geisha-kyoto
geisha-kyoto
After reading Arthur Golden’s 1998 novel Memoirs of a Geisha, it inspired me to travel to Japan to check out the Geisha scene. To explore and to fully appreciate what I had read. It is a really fascinating experience for me. The book really revived i
nterest in an aspect of Japan that is so intrinsic to the Western stereotype and yet so far removed from the reality of daily life here.
When I was in Japan in Kyoto in the Shimabara district, I
geisha-kyoto
managed a get a glimpse of a few Geishas going about their activities, mostly going to work. Conversation was difficult as I only spoke very little Japanese. I understood from the snippets of conversations and actions that she is on her way to work in a nearby premise. She comes across as shy and smiled a lot. I felt that most Japanese ladies who meet a stranger
Camera Shy Geisha
tend to do that i.e. smile a lot. I wonder if that is because they are shy and also because they do not really understand English well or just a cultural mannerism
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.
I am in awe of their make-up (white painted face) and the way they moved (small quick steps). When you think that most westerners like to have tan skin/face etc and it is also per
ceived that white colour skin is a horrible colour for the skin, I find that most Japanese are very ‘white’, not pale. However, they looked really beautiful. Thus the painted white face on the Ge
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isha really looks exotic. Maybe only the Japanese ladies can carry that colour on their face well, due to their bone structure.
geisha-kyoto
I understood from my tour guide that the role that these modern Geisha played in modern society is minor. They
mostly get the attention from camera-wielding tourists. My tour guide told me that a lot of women are actually tourists themselves or those who seek attention (done up for a few hours of exotic sophistication) They do this mostly for fun. How interesting. Maybe I should do that for fun too and see the reaction I get !
Before I fully understand the significance of the Geishas, I thought they are prostitutes. Now, I fully understand and appreciate that they are entertainers. The word geisha itself literally means ‘person of the arts’ – indeed the earliest geisha were men (imagine that !)- and it is as performers of dance, music and poetry that they actually spend most of their working time.