Chapter scope:  This chapter introduces how one becomes a maiko (apprentice geisha) and a geiko (as Kyoto geisha are known) in Kyoto’s hanamachi (districts where maiko and geiko work). We learn about the training, skills, and responsibilities associated with each stage.  We see how contemporary Japanese experts praise the transformation of the “ordinary girl” into the maiko-like maiko and fully-fledged geiko.  Experts’ books emphasize decorum, femininity, and “learning through the body” in “on the job training.” They celebrate the hanamachi for preserving older forms of Japanese etiquette.

Discussion Activity for Small Groups/Class

Discussion can lead from understanding the key points of this chapter to broader conversations on etiquette, expectations for gender-role performance in the workplace, and even satire. Here’s one idea for extending the conversation.

In class discussion, students suggest careers in Japan or another country that require the polished performance of etiquette on the job. Divide into groups, each group choosing one career to discuss in more detail:

• What kinds of behaviors does the role require? (Speech? Uniform? Body movement?)
• Who is the employer and who is recipient of this performance?
• Hint: If you need examples, try searching for online articles for videos on Dos & Don’ts for Job Interviews.
• Share your group’s thoughts with the class.
  RETURN TO WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION
• Considering all examples suggested, what do you see emerging as the broad goals for on-the-job etiquette?
• Are these performances associated with age, gender, physical ability, national or regional identity, or other categories?
• How would you assess the pros and cons of on-the-job etiquette performance?
• What etiquette skills do you think might be required to perform in the kinds of career paths that interest you?

Short Writing Exercises:

Ad for prospective maiko:  Imagine that you are writing a short article (250 words) for a local Japanese newspaper encouraging girls to consider applying to become shikomi trainee. Use evidence from Ch. 3 to describe the training, the living situation, and the expectations.

Reflect on training philosophy: “Form sustains spirit. Spirit sustains form. I sense that is what constitutes cultivation (shugyō) in the hanamachi (64).” What does Aihara mean by this comment? Give an example of how some aspect of maiko training exemplifies this philosophy.  (150 words).

News report:  Imagine you are reporting on the misedashi debut of a new maiko  for your hometown newspaper (250 words). Describe the maiko’s look,  what happens in the scene, its significance to the hanamachi.  To do this exercise, find an online video of a misedashi. Try using the characters for maiko-san misedashi 舞妓さん店出し. Here is one uploaded to YouTube by Anna Film Productions on Dec. 9, 2019  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klM3kHmJwbE

Schedule a maiko’s week:  Imagine a week in a busy, successful maiko’s life, full of routine day and evening activities, but some special events, too.  Write the activities for a week in her planner (150 words).

Interview a new geiko: Imagine that you have the chance to interview a geiko, newly independent and moving into her own home.  Imagine how she describes her new situation, responsibilities, and freedoms. (150-200 words). Use details from Ch. 3.

Reading Questions: Keep these questions in mind as you read the chapter and organize your thoughts.

Chapter Introduction

• What sources inform this chapter?
• What is the main argument proposed?
• How does hanamachi training compare to some other forms of etiquette for women in Japan or your country–in homes, schools, and corporations?
• What are the philosophical codes underpinning hanamachi etiquette training? How have these changed over time?

The Shikomi Trainee

The prospective maiko has serious training ahead before she ever wears the maiko’s formal costume.

• What kind of training and living space is an okiya? Who runs it and who lives and works there?
• What do okiya mothers expect the shikomi to learn? What do the mothers see as the main difficulties in training shikomi?
• What are kata and how do shikomi learn them?

The Minarai Period and the Misedashi Debut

Minarai maiko: Katsunosuke of Odamoto okiya (Gion Kôbu). 2011. Photo: lightstars posted to Flickr.  Wikimedia Commons

• Describe where minarai training takes place and what is involved.

The Misedashi Debut

• How does Komomo, the maiko featured in A Geisha’s Journey and cited in Ch. 3, experience her shikomi and minarai training, and her misedashi?
• Maiko experience the misedashi as an exciting, nerve-wracking blur of excitement. How does what you read about the event in Ch. 3 compare to videos online  of misedashi (see writing exercise News Report above)?

Working as a Maiko

What do clients and hanamachi elders expect of maiko?
“The maiko becomes the perfect daughter (74).”  What does this performance of daughterhood entail? How does this help define maiko-likeness?

Turning the Collar to become a Geiko