Tokyo Weekender - October 2017

A DAY IN
THE LIFE
OF A
GEISHA
Interview by Bunny Bissoux
Geisha are some of the most iconic figures of
traditional Japanese culture and yet remain
cloaked in a veil of mystery and strict etiquette.
We spoke with Sayuki, Japan’s first foreign
geisha, to find out about her daily life and learn
more about her unique profession
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL
DAY LIKE?
Normally, I correspond with customers
in the morning, practice
or do classes in the afternoon,
and do banquets when I have
bookings in the evening. I am a
flute specialist and do classes at
different times of the year for
flute: in nagauta music from the
kabuki theatre, hauta and kouta
– “little songs” that are like haiku
set to music (and are the most
common type of geisha music) –
festival music, lion dance music,
and minyo folk music. I also take
lessons in singing and shamisen.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE
THIS JOB?
I was working previously on
documentaries for NHK, the BBC,
National Geographic Channel and
other broadcasters. While I was
trying to sell the idea of a behindthe-scenes
geisha documentary,
I suggested that I be the geisha
being trained and filmed over
a year. After my initial planned
year was up I had only just
debuted – and wanted to learn
so much more – so I asked and
got permission from the Asakusa
Geisha Association to continue
as a geisha. I would still love to
make my own program, about
how I am currently helping the
Photo by Saskia Wesserling
Fukagawa geisha to revive
their district.
HOW DO YOU BECOME
A GEISHA?
You train by being accepted into
a geisha house, most often in a
recognized geisha district. All
the training is done by following
one’s geisha mother around
in her everyday activities and
learning by example, and by
24 | OCTOBER 2017 | TOKYO WEEKENDER