True Geisha - A Documentary

during my trip to Japan I was overwhelmed by the amount of incredible culture and traditions the country has to offer I had the chance of making Thomas sue you a very young girl in the middle of their final week after five years of training to become acacia this is what I've learned in that time about this amazing centuries-old art form and I'm so happy to be able to share with you now acacia is an artist and an art piece at the same time my name is Tommy tzu-yu I am a mica in a few days I'll become a Geisha or as we called here in here to a guy car my name is reka Toma mori I am the mother owner of the house of t-tommy mori they call me mother because that's what the owners of tea houses where cashiers live are called I am almost like an adoptive mother since in a certain way I have to take responsibility like a mother would [Music] in the beginning when I told my parents that I wanted to become a Geisha they said nothing my mom was a contract she would leave all decisions to her that at some point my dad agreed to this decision he said that as a Geisha I would have learned all the elegant manners that they could not teach [Music] [Music] my daughter became a micro five years ago we respect what she chooses to be we could only help her and so we did I am grateful to everyone that has helped her in this difficult world and I am thankful for all the people that have worked for her development in my life every day is different every morning I have dance singing percussions and flute lessons and then tea ceremony training [Applause] when I was young I had to wake up really early to practice then when the big sisters would arrive I'd stay to watch them for a long time [Music] around 3 o'clock I go back to my okiya that's what we call geishas houses I need one hour and a half to put on makeup and get dressed putting on my kimono then I go out to the traditional banquets and I work till midnight when I finally go to bed it's already 2 a.m. in the morning in the morning told me to you has barely any time for breakfast sometimes she skips and go straight to her lessons in the afternoon she needs to work sometimes she would be in charge of a tea ceremony every night she performs at the banquets she finishes at 9:00 but often another tea house would request her and she'll continue till midnight like Cinderella I usually call the mother of that house and ask her to sing told me to you back home when she gets home she removes the makeup take the warm bath and goes to sleep as fast as she can my family in Kyoto produced beautiful kimonos I learned to love them since I was little it is hard to explain but without kimonos there would be no geishas [Music] I am grateful to my grandmother's for my passion towards kimonos they gave me one as a present when I was a child when we celebrate our third fifth and seventh birthdays Japanese girls wear kimonos usually they immediately want to take it off since it is very overwhelming [Music] she started with borrowing Tommy Kiku's kimonos one of her big sister of the house she changes them every month in a year she'll have to provide her own kimonos be no geisha is a lifestyle not a job young people today will not be interested I accept any girl who comes here to become a Michel [Music] if a girl has talent for the traditional arts and if she's passionate about taking lessons that is enough for me I was a very shy little girl I used to play with dolls by myself my big sister was more extroverted she did theater and dancing since she was six years old after middle school she became a Michael since she was in that world after my middle school years I decided to follow her but after three years she left to get married I then stayed alone and was a bit anxious my other younger sister was sad for me so she also became Michael but after a few years she also got married and left at the end [Music] I know I know I'm missing something in an ordinary life a young girl goes to school has a boyfriend a job all of that it's nice to be young I have renounced these things but I have gotten much more in exchange without all of the lessons that I have received I wouldn't have never experienced this amazing life I used to play some wasted instruments like the piano when I was a kid but I knew nothing about traditional Japanese music since I became a Maiko I have learned so much about our culture now I feel lucky that I was born here in Japan it is hard to explain my love for our traditional arts [Music] we have seen her practicing music but honestly we don't get to see her often except when she dances we don't really know what's best for her we don't know in what she accedes she really loves music I feel like she should practice more of that we saw her dance multiple times we saw her play the flute and we know that she is learning the shamisen a traditional three string Japanese guitar but we have never seen her play it I was about to leave at the end of my mic oh yes my big sister and the mother told me to wait to become a Geisha and then freely decide so I started to work as a Geisha I thought about doing something else but I realized that there was nothing else I wanted to do so I told myself let's continue a bit me and Here I am today [Music] [Applause] [Music] when I visit my parents I usually meet some friends from my elementary school they support me on this difficult path to become a Geisha I appreciate that I don't have time to hang out with them I don't have many free days and most of the time I am alone because of scheduling she used to read a lot as a kid especially fantasy novels she would finish any book even a big one really fast she was happy just with books we still have tons of her books at home she would read effortlessly even books not for her age I am a lowly child I used to have a bedroom just for me but yeah we live all together first I shared a room with one of my big sisters now I am sharing with a young one if one of us gets mad she must leave our world nowadays in some places a Geisha can get married but in reality once you get into married life you will abandon the geisha lifestyle I wasn't brave enough to do that I'm used to the rhythm of this life I wasn't confident enough to form a family if a Geisha wants to get married she must go there isn't much else to say when she leaves we do a ceremony called he keeps a wife the retirement ceremony they are geishas that left without ceremony it really depends on the person I do have a bit of regret my sister's the young one and the old one have families with children and me sometimes I think that I should have gotten married then I think that maybe as a married person I would have other difficulties so I am still not sure what would have been the best choice for me I [Music] see beauty in the geishas they love the arts they perform for their entire lives I see it in the strength that the older geishas have inside it starts in their soul that's beauty I know I'm not a day level yet but I hope to reach it soon [Music] the beauty I will explain it to you when I entered this world I knew nothing I first learn good manners and how to behave especially with people older than myself I was warned many times about my and graceful gestures and movements this drove me to learn how to present myself better this is how you form the aura obligation and this aura becomes beauty it is important to put on makeup and wear an amazing kimono but it is more important to be capable of adapting to the challenges this world puts in front of us watching all the biggest sisters I would think they are so beautiful I'd admire them I wanted to be just like the beauty wasn't just on the outside it was suggested in the three lines on Tommy to his neck are only for special occasions in all the time a woman was beautiful if she had a long thin neck so geishas would do anything to make the neck look long and thin Tommy sweet draws herself those three lines and she's always perfect being a Geisha requires incredible perfection and precision in the way they present [Music] in the beginning I was so excited to have this hairstyle now I have to admit that it's hard to keep it like this for long periods of time it is even like this when I am sleeping it is not nice to say but in a specific area my hair is pulled so tight that sometimes I bleed when I have rest days I laid my head go and relax I dressed normally and I go for a walk the Maiko is a symbol for Tokyo tourists are fascinated by them Maiko is not a real geisha yet she is an artist who's studying to become one you can say that she's doing a sort of internship you'll see Michaels dance and play instruments together with the geishas but if you ask them they'll tell you they are not professionals I don't know the exact me of having makeup just on the lower lip in the all the time they Myka would start at just ten years old it is possible that they thought that such a young girl should not wear full makeup so having only the lower lip with makeup on is like a bad show beginning it's like saying but she's just starting so forgive her if she makes some mistakes [Music] the hair cell of a Michael was the style of young Brides but a Geisha needs to retire if she gets married so I think that at least once in our life a Geisha should appear like a married woman yes it is a reversal of ideas since she is actually preparing to live a life dedicated to the Arts alone [Music] ages ago when a young woman would get married she would blacken her teeth to let everyone know she was not available anymore today Michaels are between 15 and 20 years old they are very young when they do the ceremony to become geishas in a way they are becoming women like married women even they hairstyle is a traditional style of marry I think that is why we also blacken out black-winged the tea is very old and obsolete tradition today very rarely used in the sixteen hundreds married women used to paint the teeth black before that it used to be the tradition between high states nobility for males and females some say they used to do that for oral hygiene I have my own theory if the married women were really beautiful it could have become an issue so having black teeth with service a shield a way to communicate immediately that they were married but this is only my theory it is upsetting that people in the Western world think that our lifestyle is related to that of prostitution maybe that's because in the 1600s the Ino times in Japan and the Shakespearean time in England those who work in the performance arts would be associated with prostitution but this was because the US needed financial help there were no public funding in the world of geishas who needed patrons 100 years ago if a geisha had a relationship of a patron it would be almost considered a marriage it is something completely different from the concept of prostitution today it is impossible for a married man to have a sexual relationship with a Geisha is not even possible to privately fund the Geisha we have public funds today I want to make it clear that geisha was never a prostitute not even in the past when she would have had a relationship with patrons or anybody else [Music] I want to add that nowadays geishas in Kyoto have much stronger models than regular women they have a very strong idea of chastity in the geishas world we normally don't accept new clients only the regular clients can bring their relatives or new people this is the only way to get new clients mine was a particular case my mother was sick for 10 years and we did not have clients anymore so I look for contacts between people that showed a sincere interest for our art I wanted them to gradually become our clients the first step was the tea ceremony today we have many clients from overseas in the past only the men working outside their home would come after work and relax but today even the women come after work so we also have female clients too they are usually very interested in the makeup and the kimonos every once in a while I start to diet that means not having my midnight snack anymore I'll admit that it is amazing having a sweet snack in the middle of the night chocolate ice cream cake but I am a bit worried I am getting a bit chubby I'm not keeping myself in shape with this hairstyle it's hard to exercise if I run and move too much my hair will lose its shape so ultimately I'm only moving during my dance classes a kimono does not adapt to the body it's the body that adapts to the kimono but not that I think about it wearing this kimono is an exercise I'm always getting up and sitting down and this kimono weighs 10 kilos I don't know how a Geisha I should keep herself in shape but I can tell you that the dance lessons are very hard way harder than what it looks at those gloves to keep every movement fluid and effortless you have to use your internal muscles very well it is hard geisha practice every day it is good exercise more practical in fact I don't do anything to keep myself in shape I need good muscles I need to exercise I know but I don't do it it would be nice if I gained some weight I am getting older and my skin gets older with me a Geisha needs to be very attentive to every detail a color should never stick out the hairstyle needs to be curated the makeup has a white base they all say that the skin becomes softer once he remove his white base and washing face I'll admit that I feel a bit strange like I'm not myself I can't laugh I feel constricted I ask myself when I can move my face but I feel like I should not move it because of my new hairstyle I also don't know how tall I am she used to swim really well she was so good at it when she was at school they brought her on a trip to swim with the dolphins she was so little and she went by herself alone in the sea with the dolphins I have forgotten most dreams but I do remember some of the more I was dreaming of being late to a show or I would dream of being the only one not capable of dancing with all my strength I would try to follow my sister but I would be incapable panic sometimes I would wake up crying I [Music] don't remember my dreams when I was a beginner mica I used to sleep with one of my big sisters she told me while I was sleeping I would talk and say sorry sister I'm not sure why maybe in my dreams I would make a mistake and had to apologize I remember a dream where my older sisters would not understand my emotions I would cry I would try to explain but no one would understand me when I woke up I was ripping off my clothes very weird dreams really as a young one I would never remember my dreams I would go to sleep thinking today it's over I am happy if we were talking about real dreams then I always dreamed of becoming a Geisha and never considered anything else this dream is about to become a reality soon I'll become a Geisha my age right now I would not know what to say about real dreams I just hope to live my life safe relaxed and healthy I'll continue being a Geisha till something stops me I'll continue till the day I consider my performance is not acceptable anymore maybe that day is getting closer but for now I'll continue I feel anxious I'm about to do the Eric I the ceremony of the exchange of the color that turns me into a Geisha I keep asking myself if everything is okay or if I need to prepare some more my big sisters have helped me I know I can count on them but seriously I'm really nervous if she wouldn't show any artistic abilities she would never become a Geisha she must have worked really hard because only like this you can create a solid background to become a Geisha [Music] [Applause] [Music] I couldn't even imagine that I will continue for five years I had some difficult moments I was unsure between leaving or continuing now I am proud of myself I've so many people that support me it is hard to explain what drives me let's say that I want to work hard to become a Geisha that is appreciated by a lot of people [Music] [Music] the meat so he doesn't have time to celebrate now she needs to introduce herself as a new geisha in the district we wish you all the best and we thank you for letting us tell your story as of today in Kyoto there are approximately a hundred and eighty geishas and eighty Michael but I heard that after the war they used to be thousands in our zone alone they used to be a tea tea houses it is unfortunate that the situation has changed so much but our world has survived anyway no matter what Katia's will continue to exist the modern world has changed a lot of things but we need to be aware of what could be changed and what must absolutely remain the same if we understand how to adapt to the modern world the indicators will continue that is I've been told the winner head becomes lighter and our hair falls down the lacrimal glands relax but I do understand that reaching your objective after five years of hard work can make you emotional so please do it to you feel free to cry cry a lot today so you will not tomorrow from now on she left to study even more if she wants to become an amazing geisha if she wants to become a masterpiece [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Seba Tv

Views: 309,478

Keywords: Japan, documentary, kyoto, Geisha, woman, women, real geisha, real women, hystory, history, traditions, traditional japanese, kimonos, short movie, short documentary, historical documentary, traditional japanese costumes, tea house, kyoto tea house, kyoto tourism, travel, traveling, beauty, tea cerimony, tea, japanese tea, true beauty

Id: J8egNe34CQI

Length: 31min 1sec (1861 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 23 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/queenblackacid]

Not sure how I missed this doco. I loved Tomitsuyu's sakkou ensemble, gosh.

[u/zenaukahvenom]

This is one of the nicest hanamachi documentaries I've ever seen tbh. I recommend it to everyone.

[u/StandardKey9182]

I loved this one. Iirc it’s about a Kamishichiken maiko going through sakko right?