I had myself a busy week with celebrating my 25th birthday, hanging out with geishas and getting my Halloween groove on in my cozy onesie.
The highlight of the week was the geisha event that I attended. It was a private lunch that is part of a cultural celebration that Niigata is holding to increase awareness of the historical and current cultural richness of the city. For three weeks you can buy tickets to these small intimate lunches where the rare geishas of Niigata perform traditional nihon-buyo (Japanese dancing), play instruments, and have conversations with you. The geisha lunch was held in a quaint Japanese restaurant in the district of Furumachi. I learned that Furumachi is considered to be one of the most prestigious areas in Japan to see geishas, along with Kyoto and Tokyo. For over 200 years geishas have been an elegant and traditional symbol of Niigata as a vibrant port town. During the Edo period, Niigata was the most frequented port city in Japan and during its peak of prosperity and popularity there were over 300 geishas in the Furumachi district. In Niigata they call geishas "geigi" and the job of the Furumachi Geigi is to welcome visitors to the city and show them the cultural treasures that exist here. Now the geisha community consists of only 24 people, only nine of which are actually geishas that do the full makeup and kimono, the others play the instruments during the dances and train the geishas. I was told that this event is extremely rare and that us (as foreigners) are lucky to see such a special event. Apparently, not many foreigners attend events like this because they are not advertised in English and most people know about it only through word of mouth or those who are familiar with the geisha community. I heard about this event through a lovely Japanese lady who is deeply involved in the art and culture community in Niigata. Luckily Suzuki-san speaks English and loves to meet foreigners and get them involved too! I told a bunch of my ALT friends about it and they jumped on board and the 5 of us made up the largest group of foreigners to attend this type of event that the coordinators had ever seen. The geishas were incredibly beautiful and graceful. Their poise seemed so controlled and yet so effortless. Their fluid movements boasted an elegance of the past, a quiet seduction, and a powerful demurity. They had an esoteric charm that hypnotized us and held our interest until the very last bow. When they came to talk to us I was disappointed but not surprised that they did not speak any English but luckily my friend translated for us. We were able to ask her questions but it was disheartening that we could not carry on a conversation with them because I am sure that is where they really engage with people. They are skilled in the art of conversation and it would be interesting to have understood them. Moments like those make me wish I learned Japanese before coming here. I could pick up some words but I still can't string enough together for full understanding especially when they are talking about more complex things like education and culture. Hopefully the next time I meet a geisha, I will find my Japanese much improved. There are moments when I am caught up in the day-to-day aspects of living and I forget that I am in Japan. Then I experience these wonderful traditional and truly Japanese things and I remember why I came here and re-realize how lucky I am. I love Japan and how there are geishas, temples, and holy mountains just around the corner just waiting to be seen and appreciated.
The highlight of the week was the geisha event that I attended. It was a private lunch that is part of a cultural celebration that Niigata is holding to increase awareness of the historical and current cultural richness of the city. For three weeks you can buy tickets to these small intimate lunches where the rare geishas of Niigata perform traditional nihon-buyo (Japanese dancing), play instruments, and have conversations with you. The geisha lunch was held in a quaint Japanese restaurant in the district of Furumachi. I learned that Furumachi is considered to be one of the most prestigious areas in Japan to see geishas, along with Kyoto and Tokyo. For over 200 years geishas have been an elegant and traditional symbol of Niigata as a vibrant port town. During the Edo period, Niigata was the most frequented port city in Japan and during its peak of prosperity and popularity there were over 300 geishas in the Furumachi district. In Niigata they call geishas "geigi" and the job of the Furumachi Geigi is to welcome visitors to the city and show them the cultural treasures that exist here. Now the geisha community consists of only 24 people, only nine of which are actually geishas that do the full makeup and kimono, the others play the instruments during the dances and train the geishas. I was told that this event is extremely rare and that us (as foreigners) are lucky to see such a special event. Apparently, not many foreigners attend events like this because they are not advertised in English and most people know about it only through word of mouth or those who are familiar with the geisha community. I heard about this event through a lovely Japanese lady who is deeply involved in the art and culture community in Niigata. Luckily Suzuki-san speaks English and loves to meet foreigners and get them involved too! I told a bunch of my ALT friends about it and they jumped on board and the 5 of us made up the largest group of foreigners to attend this type of event that the coordinators had ever seen. The geishas were incredibly beautiful and graceful. Their poise seemed so controlled and yet so effortless. Their fluid movements boasted an elegance of the past, a quiet seduction, and a powerful demurity. They had an esoteric charm that hypnotized us and held our interest until the very last bow. When they came to talk to us I was disappointed but not surprised that they did not speak any English but luckily my friend translated for us. We were able to ask her questions but it was disheartening that we could not carry on a conversation with them because I am sure that is where they really engage with people. They are skilled in the art of conversation and it would be interesting to have understood them. Moments like those make me wish I learned Japanese before coming here. I could pick up some words but I still can't string enough together for full understanding especially when they are talking about more complex things like education and culture. Hopefully the next time I meet a geisha, I will find my Japanese much improved. There are moments when I am caught up in the day-to-day aspects of living and I forget that I am in Japan. Then I experience these wonderful traditional and truly Japanese things and I remember why I came here and re-realize how lucky I am. I love Japan and how there are geishas, temples, and holy mountains just around the corner just waiting to be seen and appreciated.
There were also Halloween festivities this weekend. A couple of friends and I bought adult sized furry onesies! I found a gizmo costume which I was ecstatic about because Gremlins is my favourite Halloween movie that I watch every year. We found a really cool old school American diner that was having a party and wore our costumes to dinner. We then went out to a few clubs in the Furumachi and Bandai area and got our fuzzy dance on. I loved being warm and cozy because it was a chilly and windy night. I love fun times with friends! My first Halloween in Japan was a success.
I also celebrated my 25th birthday this week. I have been so busy lately that time has been flying by and I didn't even realize that it was coming up. Usually at home I plan something with friends quite far in advance and look forward to celebrating with everyone but this year I knew would be different. I actually had to work late on my birthday so I moved my birthday dinner to Friday when everyone was free to come into town. My friend who lives in the city, dragged me out for a quick dinner on the actual day but I needed to run home and get marking and planning done for the next day. My students are super sweet and every class that I taught surprised me with a cute birthday message on the board and they all sang Happy Birthday. I even got a bunch of presents! Oh, the perks of being a teacher :) I'm not sure how I feel about this "getting old" thing that keeps happening every year, but I do know that I am doing something that I've always wanted to do and in this moment I am happy. I have a feeling that this is going to be an interesting year that is full of adventure and as a restless and wandering soul, unknown globetrotting adventure is all I can wish for. I also realized that I have made some really great friends and that I wasn't alone like I had anticipated I would be. They came from all over the prefecture to celebrate my day with me and made me feel like I was a part of an awesome group of people. I can't wait to see what 25 has in store! I'll likely have a quarter-life-crisis so stay tuned for that.
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