3.31.2008

The Real Thing


This morning I went down to Kaburen-jo Theater to finally get my hands on some Kyo Odori tickets, since they sell out pretty fast, I went early and got there at around 10:00 am.
As I arrived at the theater there was an old lady dressed in a kimono struggling with the zipper on her purse, I walked by her and said "ohayo gozaimasu" as I passed , she smiled and looked up then said the same thing back to me, then another old lady arrived and said "ohayo gozaimasu oneesan" to the lady with the zipper problem I thought they were really nice ladies by the way they were greeting each other and other people as they made their way in to the theater.

(here she is still struggling with that zipper)






I couldnt find the box office so I went in through a side door that looked like an office and waited after 2 ladies also dresed in kimonos for my turn to ask someone behing the huge counter to tell me where I could buy the tickets .




As I waited I noticed that they had some pretty cool Geiko dolls for a regular office I looked to my right to an open door at the far end of the office and saw a Maiko standing there for about 2 seconds, then she went back in, so then it hit me like a ton of bricks and I realized that this was the entrance for the Geiko and Maiko for rehearsals because right after that the office got swamped with Maikos bowing and greeting each other and making their way in , all dressed in their daytime kimonos, and no white makeup.



I couldn't move but the office had very little space between the door the wall and the counter anyways so I tried to get my self out of the way and not be a bother, there was a really really really, extremely nice woman standing next to me, she too was dressed in a kimono and she smiled at me very kindly and told me that the tickets were not being sold yet that the sales would start tomorrow morning in a little booth outside the theater, while she took the time to talk to me the Maiko that were coming in kept bowing at her and saying "ohayo gosaimasu oneesan, I waited until the door was clear so i could get out and so I thanked the lady to my left and bowed as I went out to the little street in front where there were still more Maikos making their way in to what I think can only be rehearsal.


Some Maiko were coming out of okiyas right on that street, I could not believe my luck. On the picture bellow you can see 2 Maikos that came out of the doorway where now a girl in a sweatshirt and jeans is seeing them off, this girl is a Shikomi now but someday she too might become a Maiko, she lingered for a long time at the door until she could no longer see the 2 Maikos then she went back inside.

After that wonderful incident, I headed to the Terramachi dome area again to go shopping but for the rest of the day I kept thinking about the lady that helped me out at the office, she was way too nice, it was what I can only describe as professional niceness, I think she could have been a Geiko with out her makeup on or maybe it was just a real classy gal in a kimono, who knows.

I'm still in shock though, for me to come from my little country in the middle of nowhere and to have had the luck of getting lost in a room full of real Maiko , not impersonators, not cheap imitations , no, this was the real deal, I'm so thankful for my camera right now.



Jya ne

2 comments:

peter01 said...

I hope you purchased tickets for the tea ceremony and have the geisha serve you tea prior to the dance :-)))

Dominik Anita said...

I was able to get tickets :))))

Ill post all the pictures, Im actually loking forward to the tea part since its the first time I go to one of these shows.