#maruyamacho

[ysociety]

rainy walks in shibuya

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Raven

Maruyamacho, Kyoto, Japan

Photographer: Peter Lloyd

[iida-photo]

2019/11/05 渋谷区円山町 . . . #photography #landscapes #cityscape #architecture #nightscape #night #maruyamacho #shibuya #tokyo #japan #東京 #渋谷区 #円山町 #渋谷 #夜景 (Shibuya, Tokyo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7uZaxjgKUg/?igshid=ws7syucj6axw

[japan-at-all]

[japan-at-all]

[geimaiko]

Maruyamacho And Its Geisha

Upon first glance, the area around Shibuya seems unlikely to host elegant Geisha. As a matter of fact, the name Maruyamacho might not ring a bell even for Tokyo’s inhabitants. But the little district, conveniently just a few blocks away from hustling and bustling Dogenzaka, offers its small community of inhabitants a place of peace, aside this world famous entertainment quarter devoted to fashion, dining and love hotels. While even Maruyamacho still features some small cafés, little Jazz-clubs and shops, the quality of life for residents has been an important driving force for the quarters feel, so much so that they have started to form a distinct local pride.

The Geisha of the little district have a long history too: Around 420 registered Geisha worked in Maruyamacho before the great Kanto earthquake of 1923. Flourishing since its inception in the Edo period, the Maruyamacho hanamachi found success due to the proximity to the pilgrimage route of Oyama kaido. It has been one feat of pilgrim sites to incorporate entertainment of many kinds into their vicinity. But the Maruyamacho Geisha had very low prestige attached to them before the prostitution-ban of 1958, because the area was known for its adult attractions.

The earthquake changed the quarters not only visually, it destroyed the old Kyoto-style okiya and ochaya. But also in spirit as the Geisha left for other, more prosperous districts in Tokyo, some to nearby Ginza, Shinbashi or Asakusa. The hanamachi has never been the same, never regained its reputation as a traditional entertainment district. Rather, it dedicated itself to a modern interpretation and even leaned in to the pleasure district aspects with the notorious “Love Hotel Hill”- name being coined. The traditional ryotei that managed to survive closed one after another, after the economic bubble burst. Even just 40 years ago, there were still around 80 Geisha working in 30 ochaya and ryotei left though numbers were on the decline. Yet as always, the sturdy Geisha bend like bamboo and defy all odds. 

One of the most famous Geisha of Maruyamacho is one that the karyukai would love to forget: Hanayo, the Punk Geisha. She debuted in 1985 as a Hangyoku somewhere in Tokyo, but the intense training proved too tedious for the rambunctious teen who desperately wanted to break free. She loved music and loved art, yet lacked the immense discipline needed to conform to age old traditional education. So she left for Maruyamacho, worked half-heartedly as a Geisha though she gained infamy for her main work in photography, noise music, even modelling for Jean Paul Gaultier at one point. Hanayo left for Germany to create her most important work of art: A beautiful daughter. She has been living an interesting life as an artist and mother ever since.

One of the reasons why the hanamachi of Maruyamacho declined, according to Suzuko one of the last Geisha of Shibuya, was that many women preferred the idea of being a housewife and mother, after the war. Even in her lifetime as a local Geisha, she has seen many young girls try to debut and then leave, due to the hard work of keeping afloat and the wish to reconcile family and artistic pursuit. We can deduct that even in Maruyamacho it’s not possible to be a Geisha and be married, a high standard for such a small district nearing absolute extinction. 2018 saw 5 active Geisha, now reduced to three: Aforementioned Suzuko, Koito, a veteran Jikata and Hatsuki who debuted in 2014, a little sensation. Because it might be more attractive to debut from Shinagawa’s hanamachi instead, if the wish for a family were too strong from the start. And maybe some Shibuya Geisha did opt for this. As far as i know, Omori Kaigan and Oi Kaigan are the only districts to allow their Geisha to marry in Tokyo.

Suzuko is not only dedicated to her own career as a Maruyamacho Geisha but she has also founded her own company, to help revive the Shibuya Geisha tradition: The Shibuya Cultural project, or “Otohime To Taro No Kai”, is a connection of local shops and restaurants who support the Geisha and offer ozashiki to first timers. The project incorporates traditional Nagauta musicians and artists too, even Eitaro has been involved at one point. The most interesting aspect of Suzuko’s efforts is her work as a dance instructor for little children. She believes in getting them hooked at a very young and hopes to spark the interest in traditional culture in the smallest of her pupils, one might grow up to become a great Geisha one day. Currently she has three trainees, so called “Nadeshiko”, so not quite Hangyoku, probably something more akin to hobby-Minarai. Suzuko loves to invest and doesn’t care that they will, with high probability, eventually drop off. So safe to say that she is in it for the long run, her dedication knows no rewards except her own.

One of the key problems in her endeavors are the missing spaces for ozashiki. She laments the fact that there are so few ryotei and tatami rooms for traditional entertainment in the district. So if the Geisha have to leave the quarters to entertain in their fashion, how long can they be classified Maruyamacho Geisha? A dilemma Suzuko faces, as she wished more restaurants would go back to offering traditional cuisine. In a hyper modern city like Tokyo, where everything is possible, specially so in fast-paced Shibuya, maybe a faint dream. She has done her best to set an example, as she herself runs her own teahouse, the Fujimura, since 2010.

As with many aspects of the karyukai across Japan, one has to look deeper. Shibuya, glittering and modern, Maruyamacho the sleazy hot spot for hook-ups and the Geisha, they themselves still fighting misconceptions surrounding their profession. A more in-depth look reveals the very real and very human struggles of talented and dedicated artists, fighting for survival of their trade in their little district. It is nothing less than a small miracle that we still have Suzuko, Hatsuki and Koito, a legend in her own right, as one of the most senior active Geisha of Tokyo. At least, and this with all hope i can muster, Koito will not go the same path as Ayako-sama of Kumamoto, as she still has her two imouto to take care of her. In a life without a family in a traditional sense, these women take solace in each other and even more so as time passes. Wishful thinking would design a prosperous future for Maruyamacho, a district with an amazing history and even more amazing Geisha from yesteryear to today.

Sources: Yuko on Facebook / Olympialetan on Instagram / Activityjapan.net / Route207.net / Vaziri57 on Instagram /

[geimaiko]

Katsumaru of Nagasaki

Repetition is key. Katsumaru, a Geiko of Nagasaki has known this for years. She will forever be a student in her chosen artform, the Hanayagi school of dance. Every month in the second week she takes classes with a teacher of the school but in Nagasaki it is tradition for all Geiko, Tachikata and Jikata of all ranks, to practise together. This makes for a rather fluid performance. Observers of Kyoto’s artisans have noted that Maiko of the same okiya usually dance more in sync than those of different houses, imagine the perfect harmony of Katsumaru und Jikata Kotone’s performance after years of rehearsal.

As with many professional performers, Katsumaru started dancing as a little child, her parents had seen it as an integral part of her education. As she grew older though she felt that her Nihonbuyo classes weren’t a priority anymore, especially after she started working and left Nagasaki for a new employment opportunity. During that time she started flirting with the idea of becoming a Geiko and so she returned, thinking that she would pursue her dream in the city she grew up in, where her parents lived, where she would be connected. 

She was 20 now and had to accept that the dancing didn’t come as easily as it did when she was a little girl. Training was grueling and even though she had gotten the chance to train with the other, more senior Geiko of the kagai, she didn’t like it at first: Too much bossing around, critiquing, nagging... But she was very determined, her doubts had to take back seat for the next five years. This was the time it took for her to start enjoying her chosen profession. 

The part she loved most about being a Geiko wasn’t the dancing, Nihonbuyo was just the packaging, what she really was selling was her skills as mediator and salesperson. For the duration of an ozashiki her patrons could count on her savvy as diplomatic intermediary and lighthearted entertainer, her reputation made her a very popular choice for business men and managers of big companies looking for a discrete setting for their deals. Katsumaru still is a chameleon, adapting to the wishes of her patrons, this was her strategy from the start.

Even though she has carved out a niche for herself, nobody could ever say Katsumaru isn’t an accomplished Geiko. Even though she sees herself as a student of Hanayagi, she is a dedicated dancer that captures the essence of elite chic, the simple elegance of decades of Nihonbuyo. Her understatement is the key to her success. As is practise and repetition.

Source all photos: annagayoshi on Instagram 

[wyeong]

太鼓堂 // Kyoto // Japan (Taken w Fujifilm X70)