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Tomitsuyu on how she went from a New Zealand schoolgirl to a Geisha in Kyoto, Japan
AT night I sleep on a wooden pillow.
All maikos (apprentice geishas) must do this. It’s so we don’t spoil our hair. We have it styled by a special government-licensed hairdresser every week.
When I rise, I dress in a kimono — you can’t get a T-shirt over big hair like this — then attend maiko training school.
I’m studying Japanese tea ceremony, dancing and music. At the moment, I’m learning the Japanese flute.
When I finish, around lunchtime, I return to my home in a Kyoto tea house, put on my make-up, which takes about an hour, then attend a series of banquets where I’ll dance, play music and games, and serve sake. I usually finish about midnight.
This will be my life for the next five years. As an apprentice, I receive no payment, I cannot use the phone, Facebook or internet.
I can’t go to a convenience store or fast-food outlet. I certainly can’t have a boyfriend.
Maikos and geishas (or geikos, as they are called in Kyoto) are married to the arts. If they marry, they must leave the profession.
Maiko girl, Japan
It is very different from my life a year ago as a schoolgirl in New Zealand. I went to New Zealand from Japan at age 12.
I’d always been interested in Western culture and learning English, so I asked my parents for permission to go overseas to study.
I enrolled in high school and once I learned to communicate, and got over my homesickness, I enjoyed it very much.
Unlike Japan, life was slow and relaxed, and I could study subjects I was interested in, such as playing the trombone, textiles and fashion.
I played in the national secondary schools brass band and won a fashion design competition, so I thought about continuing those studies.
However, I was very interested in traditional Japanese arts and had always had this idea I might be a maiko.
If I wanted to do that, I had to return to Japan and start training before I was 20. I told myself I could always go to university later.
My friends in New Zealand weren’t happy when I told them. They’d seen the film Memoirs of a Geisha and thought I was being sold to a tea house, and it was something bad.
I explained that it was my decision and actually quite a gorgeous life.
To become a maiko, I had to be interviewed and accepted by the mother of a tea house.
She is a sort of agent. She pays for all my expenses — including kimonos, make-up fees, lessons and hairdressers — and I repay her by working for her for five years as a maiko.
I receive just a small allowance, but I don’t mind. I don’t need money.
A group of geishas on a street in Kyoto.
I found my training very hard at first. Dancing, for instance, is slow, low and controlled, and my knees were very sore.
It doesn’t help that my kimono weighs 10 kilos. I also had to learn to walk in okobo (traditional wooden shoes up to 10cm high).
I often fell off and twisted my ankle. Even now I am still practising with the make-up. The first time it was terrible.
The white didn’t go on evenly at all. I think the hardest bit is painting the shapes on my back. I need two mirrors for that.
Perhaps the most difficult thing about being a maiko is being hassled by tourists.
When I am hurrying between banquets, they stop me, wanting photos, and often won’t let me go. This makes me worried. I also rarely see my family.
I get just two holidays a year when I can return to my real home, wear normal clothes and meet up with my friends.
They tell me about school, their cute uniforms and their part-time jobs in clubs.
Sometimes I feel I’d like to be experiencing that with them, but I do love being a maiko. When a customer is happy, I feel happy as well.
I don’t know how long I will continue this life.
There are said to be geikos in their nineties in Kyoto — although we never reveal our age, so you can’t be sure.
Do I miss New Zealand? Yes, sometimes I miss it very much — especially the fish and chips.
A group of geishas visiting a garden in Japan..
What is a Geisha?
Geishas are professional entertainers-cumhostesses who look after guests during banquets and other occasions.
They are trained in various traditional arts such as dancing and playing the bamboo flute — and for women who are trained to be super-graceful, they can surprise with their skill at drinking games.
Although some girls called themselves geishas and acted as prostitutes during World War II, a true geisha never goes beyond a little harmless flirting.
Although they can be found in various cities across Japan, the most proud and prestigious are in Kyoto.
Tomitsuyu on how she went from a New Zealand schoolgirl to a Geisha in Kyoto, Japan
AT night I sleep on a wooden pillow.
All maikos (apprentice geishas) must do this. It’s so we don’t spoil our hair. We have it styled by a special government-licensed hairdresser every week.
When I rise, I dress in a kimono — you can’t get a T-shirt over big hair like this — then attend maiko training school.
I’m studying Japanese tea ceremony, dancing and music. At the moment, I’m learning the Japanese flute.
When I finish, around lunchtime, I return to my home in a Kyoto tea house, put on my make-up, which takes about an hour, then attend a series of banquets where I’ll dance, play music and games, and serve sake. I usually finish about midnight.
This will be my life for the next five years. As an apprentice, I receive no payment, I cannot use the phone, Facebook or internet.
I can’t go to a convenience store or fast-food outlet. I certainly can’t have a boyfriend.
Maikos and geishas (or geikos, as they are called in Kyoto) are married to the arts. If they marry, they must leave the profession.
Maiko girl, Japan
It is very different from my life a year ago as a schoolgirl in New Zealand. I went to New Zealand from Japan at age 12.
I’d always been interested in Western culture and learning English, so I asked my parents for permission to go overseas to study.
I enrolled in high school and once I learned to communicate, and got over my homesickness, I enjoyed it very much.
Unlike Japan, life was slow and relaxed, and I could study subjects I was interested in, such as playing the trombone, textiles and fashion.
I played in the national secondary schools brass band and won a fashion design competition, so I thought about continuing those studies.
However, I was very interested in traditional Japanese arts and had always had this idea I might be a maiko.
If I wanted to do that, I had to return to Japan and start training before I was 20. I told myself I could always go to university later.
My friends in New Zealand weren’t happy when I told them. They’d seen the film Memoirs of a Geisha and thought I was being sold to a tea house, and it was something bad.
I explained that it was my decision and actually quite a gorgeous life.
To become a maiko, I had to be interviewed and accepted by the mother of a tea house.
She is a sort of agent. She pays for all my expenses — including kimonos, make-up fees, lessons and hairdressers — and I repay her by working for her for five years as a maiko.
I receive just a small allowance, but I don’t mind. I don’t need money.
A group of geishas on a street in Kyoto.
I found my training very hard at first. Dancing, for instance, is slow, low and controlled, and my knees were very sore.
It doesn’t help that my kimono weighs 10 kilos. I also had to learn to walk in okobo (traditional wooden shoes up to 10cm high).
I often fell off and twisted my ankle. Even now I am still practising with the make-up. The first time it was terrible.
The white didn’t go on evenly at all. I think the hardest bit is painting the shapes on my back. I need two mirrors for that.
Perhaps the most difficult thing about being a maiko is being hassled by tourists.
When I am hurrying between banquets, they stop me, wanting photos, and often won’t let me go. This makes me worried. I also rarely see my family.
I get just two holidays a year when I can return to my real home, wear normal clothes and meet up with my friends.
They tell me about school, their cute uniforms and their part-time jobs in clubs.
Sometimes I feel I’d like to be experiencing that with them, but I do love being a maiko. When a customer is happy, I feel happy as well.
I don’t know how long I will continue this life.
There are said to be geikos in their nineties in Kyoto — although we never reveal our age, so you can’t be sure.
Do I miss New Zealand? Yes, sometimes I miss it very much — especially the fish and chips.
A group of geishas visiting a garden in Japan..
What is a Geisha?
Geishas are professional entertainers-cumhostesses who look after guests during banquets and other occasions.
They are trained in various traditional arts such as dancing and playing the bamboo flute — and for women who are trained to be super-graceful, they can surprise with their skill at drinking games.
Although some girls called themselves geishas and acted as prostitutes during World War II, a true geisha never goes beyond a little harmless flirting.
Although they can be found in various cities across Japan, the most proud and prestigious are in Kyoto.
