Piczo

Memoirs of a Gaijin Maiko

After a Western breakfast at the Kyoto Traveler's Inn, Mom, Nana, and Me set out to look for the Company that would be dressing the 3 of us like Maiko's. For those of you who don't know, Maiko are apprentice Geisha. Maiko are apprentice geisha (geiko). To my knowledge they are only found in Kyoto and are often used as the penultimate symbol of Japan. Maiko are a rare breed now, only several at any one time and confined primarily to the Gion and Pontocho districts. While beautiful to look at Maiko are still young girls, so the social mastery they are expected to attain as accomplished Geisha is still not fully formed and Maiko are usually expected to dance, and be seen, and though performing tasks such as filling drinks they are not intended to entertain guests to the same degree as a Geisha. Young girls may become Maiko at 16, under current Japanese law, as all adolescents must attend high school to this age. A Maiko's apprenticeship is usually 5 years, and so at 21 she may become a fully fledged Geisha. (Poor Nana may have been the oldest Maiko in the world-ever.) Back in the city, we couldn't find the place right away, so Mom and Nana headed back to the hotel, while I stayed behind to search. At 9:30, I returned to pick them up, and then we set out again. The place, a traditional Japanese building with pretty wood and a symbol of Maiko, beckoned us down the road. Inside, we were greeted by one Japanese woman, who spoke no English whatsoever. She told us to take off our clothes and change into the under garmet, a white undershirt type outfit. Then we were told to go down these steep steps to wash our faces, so that the paint would be able to stick better. We followed the directions perfectly. And when we filed out of the bathroom, another Japanese woman, who spoke wonderful English, directed us back upstairs to begin. Nana, Mom, and I sat down in comfortable positions on a Tatemi floor, while the 2 Japanese woman began the task of turning us into Maiko. They began with placing out hair into thick bonnets, with some hair hanging out. We were told that this remaining hair would be later sprayed black. Then the woman massaged our backs and began spreading the white paint on the surface of our skin. Nana went first, so that when she was finished Mom and I had to refrain from wetting ourselfves. Her face was a bright white, becasue it was before the final lip and eye makeup was added, while her hair was in silly looking fishnet. I went next, and by the time I was finished, Mom had to hold in her laughter. The only bad part about the white makeup is that it shows ALL of your wrinkles. Poor Mom and Nana. Although I really can't talk, with some bags under my eyes. The woman then next began applying the final touches. First they painted our lips blood red, which actually ended up getting on our teeth. Then they colored in our eyebrows, well at least mine, since mine were so thing. The last thing that they did was draw in a pink poof around our eyes, giving us a look of youth. When we were all done with the face painting, 3 thick and heavy black wigs were placed on 3 big gaijin heads. Maiko have several different hair styles, which indicate the period of their apprenticeship that they have currently reached. Maiko use their own hair for such displays, rather than the wigs that contemporary Geisha wear. It was so uncomfortable and heavy! The whole face painting process took over an hour and half for just the 3 of us. They warned us that this would be the last opportunity for bathroom, because we would next be placed in the Kimono. So the 3 of us, headed back downstairs and hurried to use the bathroom. They we climbed back upstairs and took some funny before shots. One of the best shots was of Nana trying to get the lipstick off her teeth (see below) I started to worry that Mom and Nana were not enjoying this at all. Not to say that it was fun, but it was something I wanted to do for a long time. The Japanese woman returned to the room, and then brought us into another room. There we got to select just which Kimono we would like to wear. Nana selected the first Kimono that was unraveled; a simple Red kimono. Mom went next a picked a pretty fancy pink Kimono. While my choice was that of a beautiful bright blue one. Maiko are easily recognised by their attire. In the Japanese way, as young girls before they become women, the dress of the Maiko is more outlandish than that of the mature Geisha. The Obi and Kimono of a Maiko is brightly coloured and ornately decorated, the Kimono is of the Furisode style (more specifically of the oburisode type kimono) with long flapping sleeves that fall to the floor. The collar of the under-kimono worn by the Maiko is usually of a red and white patterned material, and shows vividly against the white neck of the Maiko. This makes the "changing of the collar" ceremony (from patterned to plain white) the coming of age ceremony when a Maiko becomes a Geiko rather obvious. The Obi of a Maiko is also much longer, and tied in an ornate style rather than the box knots common in the Obi of both Geisha and other Japanese women. The Obi is tied much higher on a Maiko, coming high into the arm pit, with the knot reaching almost to the collar, with the ends falling to the floor. So when they began the tying of Kimono on Mom and Nana, I made sure to warn them to take one final good air of breath. Sure enough when Nana was finished with, she asked me if the Maiko learned not how to breath. I've always sort of wondered that actually. Downstairs, our final task was to pick the hairpieces for the wig. I chose a yellow flowered piece that went well with my Kimono. When the 3 of us were all suited up in Kimono, it was time for our 30 minutes. In the package we were given 30 minutes to do just about anything we want. Since the Maiko footwear is that of the large platformed wooden shoes, which taper to a smaller point on the sole, called Okobo. Okobo usually force a young Maiko to take very small steps, which is considered attractive by Japanese tradition. Mom and Nana would never be able to walk very far in those suckers. Actually, even I have had loads of trouble walking in them, with bruised knees to prove it. The Japanese owner suggested some pictures at a tiny Shrine just 5 minutes away from the building. Nana was such a good sport, as we trekked toward the beautiful minature shrine. Walking under the Torii gates, and into the sacred area, the Japanese ladies took many photographs of Mom, Nana, and I. But they weren't the only ones. Since are a really rare bred, many tourists assumed that because we were dressed us in the costumes, that we were Maiko. But then the 3 of us are about as Maiko as a can of Tuna, so the jokes on them. The pictures came out brilliantly, and we walked back to take more inside the studio we had just come from. It's really a great thing to see 3 generations of my family, none of which have a drop of Japanese blood, and yet still dressed in beautiful traditional clothes of Japan. Even Nana turned to me and said that she was very glad we got to do this experience. When our time was over, back upstairs, we quickly took off the Kimono. Nana and Mom took deep breaths and I reminded them to not take it for granted. The owners soon took the paint off our back, but we were on our orn for the face and hair paint. Downstairs again, Nana and Mom fought with the faucet and the paint in an effort to get all the stuff off. I had a bit of an easy time, because I didn't really try all that hard. Actually for the rest of the day I pretty much walked around with the white paint on my face. All in all, the experience was truly incredible. I don't know if I would do it again, but I think I did it once and am happy for the experience. It's just something you have to do once in your life, especially if you come to Japan. These are the Memoirs of a Gaijin... haha