A Visit to the Yoshiwara

Konnichiwa minna-san, I hope you enjoyed last week’s blog post by Amethyst-chan. Here is her second piece (well, this is her third blog post to date, and her second in this series). ^_^
-          Okamisan Aisya

A Visit to the Yoshiwara

*Tossing a wooden sandal over the walls over Little Yoshiwara, and trying to climb over the wall in her tight red kimono.  Heaving her body weight as she grunted lifting herself: Ame-chan is trying hard as she sneaks away from her home at the Shinmachi.*

Today, for some reason, she is having this feeling to visit Little Yoshiwara.  

As she came near the ochaya she was greeted with a bow from Sayu-san, a beautiful Geisha of the hanamachi in Little Yoshiwara.  Returning the bow, Ame-chan's eyes moved around the main room as she removed her shoes.  Proceeding in more, she was greeted by Okita-san. 



Bowing, Okita-san waved both of her arms delicately in front of her with a small smile.  She remembered Okita-san from when she was a young minarai; at the time she was learning, too, before she moved over to Shinmachi.  Ame-chan pondered on how she would give her small tips and offer her help on learning about the world of the Geisha.


Ame-chan preceded into the room as she greeted others and then took her position on the cushion.  Wondering what was going on, she waited quietly.

With guests filling the room, Sayu-san and Okita-san came to join the patrons as they served each customer while smiling and bowing.  With the lovely, swishing sound of the rustling kimonos, they slid across the floor when they walked.


With a voice from Geisha Sayu-san, she welcomed the patrons:

"Nice to see you.  Welcome...Oideyasu, it's nice to see so many friends, we have a nice treat for you today, as you know."

"Ikebana is a part of the Japanese tradition of art and design for centuries and it’s been a huge influence in the west for over 100 years.  I’ve had the honor of knowing and being Okita-chan's Oneesan for over a year, and it’s been nothing but good feelings."  Sayu-san smiled as she looked at Okita-san.

Ah.  Smiling, Ame-chan's eyes turned on to Okita san while she was doing her presentation, which was showing Okita-san's explanation about Ikebana.  This is part of the training for the minarai to move up in rank to become maiko, and it was done with so many of minarai here.  In the past, as Ame-chan was training to be a Geisha, she remembered how shy Okita-san was when greeting others and was usually in the back.  

Ame-chan was seeing now how Okita-san flourished by still continuing on her with learning to become a Geisha one day.  She was showing how strong she was with no matter to how hard it is.  Okita-san was able to continue which helps Ame-chan know she is able to continue with her training, too.

A part in the Festivals of the Shinmachi

Konnichiwa minna-san, I hope you enjoyed the series on the Five Elements Festival. We are constantly moving and honing our arts, and are so excited to begin preparations for a small festival occurring in late January for the New Year and Setsubun. And, there are rumors about a new furisode shinzo debuting soon. On a completely unrelated note, hikikomi kamruo Amethyst-chan has been hard at work; she has prepared the next two blog posts. Enjoy ^_^
-          Okamisan Aisya


A part in the festivals of the Shinmachi District



Being in Shinmachi, I keep learning more while mingling with the others here as best as a kamuro can.  I am being careful to not miss out on the events and activities here. Sometimes, it is hard when there is so much to do as well preparing for more events.  How do Okamisan as well as Jinchi san do it? 

*Giggles softly as she thinks of how her Oneesan Tsuyu-san calls her "Jinchi-sensei." She clears and throat and continues*

I was trying to remember something but couldn't think of it; except, I do remember a meeting for the Five Elements festival that was held in October.  This was to be a celebration for Shinmachi’s five years in Second life.  The meeting was to prepare for the festival, during which the Okamisan was announcing the need for help for each element...  Earth...  Fire...  Water...  Wind... and Void. While determining who wanted the parts and signing them up to help out, I  ended up getting sick which caused me to sink into sad, despair of not being able to do a rehearsal for the finale Godai performance: The Elements of the Shinmachi.  This performance was acting out with the story of life within the Shinmachi.


Then, one day my Oneesan mentioned to me that she was going on a trip.  In her absence, I was hoping to take tons of pictures of the Festival since she couldn't be there.  This made me think that maybe I can go to the events, especially since I have been resting each day to regain my strength. 



Okamisan sent out notices saying she still had parts that could be filled, as well as practices. So, I went to talk to her to see if there was anything I could help with. Being the most wonderful Okamisan she is, she let me have a part in the show.  I was just happy to actually do something with my Shinmachi family.

I played two parts during the finale performance: the ‘buyer’ and one of the shinzo.  It made feel so much better that I wasn't so down anymore; the tiny enjoyments are always taken for granted.  This entire event was so fun and a different experience I didn’t get to do yet in Second life.



I caught a glimpse of my big brother Haku-san and Icy-san at the performance, too.  For him to be there and to actually see our group, perform made my day.

Part V: Godai Days

Godai Days
The Festival Comes to an End

We ended the festival with our largest production to date: Elements of Shinmachi. This performance was a fascinating: it went through each of the five elements and how they related to Shinmachi.

Introduction: The intro set of Elements of Shinmachi introduced the audience to each of the godai elements.

This performance focused on music, dance and the interaction on stage among the courtesans and actors. Some introductory narration was used at the beginning of each section to provide some description for the scenes, but the stories in each set were shared via dance. It was a wonderful way to end the festival and I can’t wait until the next one (New Year’s!).




Grounded in Tradition: Two shirabyoshi make their way down a path, one their way to their next courtly performance.







The Water Trade: A buyer and trader haggle over the price of a young girl, brought to the quarter to become a courtesan. She escaped while they argued.







Burning: Jealousy erupts into a battle between two patrons, whom fought over the attentions of a geisha. 






A Want of Wind: A shinzo bids her latest patron farewell, wishing she was able to leave the quarter as well.




A Void Oiran Dochu: The final elemental set featured a void rendition of an oiran dochu. The kamuro, then the shinzo and finally the oiran walked up and danced their part in the dochu.







Finale: We ended the performance with an “everyone on stage” finale dance. The two in pants did a martial arts demonstration mid dance!

Part IV: Void Days

Void Days

Something a Little Different

空 Kū or sora, most often translated as "Void", but also meaning "sky" or "Heaven", is associated with creativity, spontaneity and inventiveness. Our void performances were a little out of the box, blending traditional Japanese dance with highly creative and out of the norm settings and special effects. 

  

Sensei Jinchi-sama produced a larger than life version of her performance: “Metamorphosis.” It was an interesting look at what happens to the world when one falls asleep. I particularly loved the costume changes and the fantastical stage design, pictured below.

Tomesode shinzo Hamayu-chan produced a void version of “The Princess Firefly.” Like “Metamorphosis”, this performance featured costumes change and a change in the stage design. By the end of the performance, Hamayu’s simple outdoor setting had morphed into a fantasy garden, complete with a firefly princess.

Part III: Fire and Wind Days

Fire / Wind Days

New and Old Performances

火 Ka or hi is Fire; associated with energetic beings, it is heat, passion, desire, drive and motivation. Yet it is also security, outgoing nature and, as it often relates to in traditional tales, fear and aggressiveness.  In addition to compassion and benevolence, 風 Fū or kaze (wind) deals with growth, expansion and the capacity to enjoy the freedom of movement.

What better way to represent Ka than with a performance based on the passionate and fiery affair between Kiyohime and the priest? We have shared several renditions of Kiyohime, The Maiden Who Became a Dragon, including two kabuki (Ninin Dojoji, Musume Dojoji) and two simpler performances featuring the text of the fairy tale.

For wind, we went in a completely different direction and produced a new show called Fu, the Wind Spirit. Featuring oiran Kaminari, this performance was an East meets West collaboration between the oiran and actors of Shinmachi and a few of our najimi (top patrons).

Set to the music of “East Meets West – Koto Concerto: Genji” performed by the Orchestra of the Swan, and the highly talented koto musician Yumi Kurosawa, Fu was a mixture of traditional Japanese dance and ballet. This performance focused on the tale of the wind spirit’s joy of movement and freedom, her capture and her eventual release.

Part II: Earth and Water Days

Earth / Water Days

The Beginning of the Five Elements Festival

地 or Chi represents the solid and hard things of the world; mentally, it is a desire to have things remain as they are and resist change. For us, chi comes out as deference to the past or the foundation on which something is based.

Translated as sui or mizu, 水 represents those which are flowing, fluid and formless. Water is associated with emotion, defensiveness and deals with change and our ability to be flexible and adapt to it.

We began the festivities quietly, with a simple shrine ceremony focused on the earth element. Those who attended washed their hands at the chouzuya, offered a small prayer at the earth shrine and observed images of Shinmachi’s past in the nearby museum.

Directly after the shrine event, Tsuyu-chan hosted her first chanoyu (traditional Japanese tea ceremony). Her chanoyu was held in the water gardens and featured a water theme throughout. I could not have been a prouder older sister.

The earth / water days ended with a reproduction of my second favorite kabuki performance: Heron Maiden. We completely transformed the temporary festival stage (more pictures of that building to come in future blog posts) into a winter wonderland. It was an amazing performance and I wish I would have taken more pictures!

Part I: Planning the Festival

Thank you, to everyone, who helped make our Five Elements Festival such a fun and memorable experience. Celebrating five years of operations in SL with such wonderful people made the godai matsuri one of my happiest experiences in this virtual world.  Over the next few blog posts, I will try to recapture some of the memories of our festival and share the images with those who were not able to join us.

- Aisya

Part I: Planning the Festival

While I had a few general ideas for how to celebrate the completion of our fifth year in SL, we started formally planning the festival as a group right after the moon viewing festival. 

Over the next two months, we gathered in smaller groups to hash out the details of the different performances, events and the makeup of what we affectionately called “Godai Matsuri Machi” or our Five Elements Festival Town – a fun space of food and games.

Other than working with the carpenters to build the Festival Town, I really enjoyed helping to produce some of the performances, especially the finale show “Elements of Shinmachi.” But more on that show will come in a few weeks. The most fun I had planning outside of performances was the creation of our advertising image.

 

We tried to capture the essence of each of the five elements in our festival ad. From left to right, the ladies featured in the image are: hikikomi kamuro Raven Moon for earth, tomesode shinzo Hamayu for water, Okamisan Aisya (me ^_^) for void, tomesode shinzo Tsuyu for fire and finally oiran Kaminari for wind. We’ll have to do something similar in the future, since it was really fun.

Next week, I’ll post about the first few days of the festival which focused on earth and water. 

Five Elements Festival

Just in time for the beginning of our Five Elements Festival (which starts this evening at 5:30pm SLT), here is the schedule of events for the next 8 or so days. I hope you can join us as we celebrate 5 amazing years as an oiran and kabuki group in this virtual world:

Five Elements Festival

Schedule of Events

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Earth / Water Days

November 8, 2013

    5:30pm

    Welcome and Blessings from the Earth

    Contact: Okamisan Aisya

    Location: Aosagi, Yukaku Ryukin Gardens

    6pm

    Water Chanoyu (Tea Ceremony)

    Contact: Tsuyu

    Location: Aosagi, Yukaku Ryukin Gardens

November 9, 2013

    6pm

    Heron Maiden Kabuki

    Contact: Kaminari Mai

    Location: Aosagi, Near the Yukaku Ryukin

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Wind / Fire Days

November 10, 2013

    5pm

    Performance: Fu, The Wind Spirit

    Contact: Kaminari Mai

    Location: Aosagi, on the Festival Main Stage

November 11, 2013

    5pm

    Parlor Entertainment: Inabune

    Contact: Kara Loire

    Location: Aosagi, on the Festival Main Stage

November 12, 2013

    5pm

    Performance: Kiyohime, the Maiden Who Became a Dragon

    Contact: Okamisan Aisya

    Location: Aosagi, on the Festival Main Stage

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Void Days

November 13, 2013

    5pm

    Festival Day: Metamorphosis

    Contact: Obesan Jinchi

    Location: Aosagi, on the Festival Main Stage

November 14, 2013

    6pm

    Performance: Fireflies in Void

    Contact: Hamayu Andel

    Location: Aosagi, on the Festival Main Stage

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Godai Days

November 15, 2013

    5pm

    Festival Day: Fishing Tournament and Games

    Contact: Okamisan Aisya

    Location: Aosagi, in the Festival Town*

November 16, 2013

    5pm

    Godai Performance: Elements of Shinmachi

    Contact: Okamisan Aisya

    Location: Aosagi, on the Festival Main Stage

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*As mentioned above, there is a Festival Town in Aosagi which features games, food and glimpses of our past.

Tsukimi Recap

So, I promised this a while ago but I have yet to have the chance to post this latest blog entry until now. Please forgive me, but I do hope you enjoy this look at our Moon Viewing Festival from September (is October really almost over?!).

Sitting in the garden under the bright Harvest Moon, Tsuyu-chan, Amethyst-chan and several of our guests shared beautiful poems heralding the splendor of the full moon. I wish I was able to capture more images, but I was too busy listening to the poems and the nearby waterfall to remember to keep snapping away.

The following evening, Hamayu-chan hosted formal tea ceremony for Tsukiyomi-sama, the patron kami for Shinmachi. I don’t know why everyone wanted to sit on her right hand side…

 

 

The main event for the festival was the Moon Odori. Held in the dojo of the beautiful Keisei sim, the odori was separated into five sets: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous and the full moon.  

The dance began with an ode to the new moon, shingetsu, the beginning of the month according to the old Japanese calendar. Shingetsu has a connection to the heart, to the mind and to new beginnings. The moon is beginning its journey around the earth and we are given pause to reflect on what the new month will hold.

By the light of the waxing crescent, we are able to see the first glimpses of the oiran in all her beauty.

Under the first quarter and reveling in half of the moon’s light, the youngest members of Shinmachi cameout to play.

With nearly full illumination from the waxing gibbous, the shinzo take the center stage to contemplate the role of shadows in the night.
 

Our performance, and thus our festival, concluded with a celebration of Tsukiyomi and the magnificence of the full moon.

 

Since the performance ended, we have turned our attention to preparing the Godai Matsuri, our Five Elements Festival which will celebrate five wonderful years of Shinmachi’s existence in Second Life. The festivities begin on November 8^th and we hope you will join us for the fun, events and performances.

Next week, I will post our finalized schedule of events for the festival (I promise!).

 

Week in the Life of an SL Okamisan

So hard to believe it’s time for our Tsukimi, our Moon Viewing Festival. Last week’s post has our full schedule and why this event is so special to us. This week, I wanted to do something a little different and give you a glimpse into how an SL Okamisan spends her time in SL. Time got away from me last week and I was unable to pull this post together the way I would have liked. So, enjoy and please forgive the dates…

Saturday, August 31st 
Attended Tsuyu-chan’s First Performance

Tsuyu-chan has grown so much since she first joined Shinmachi. Here she is narrating her first performance with our group called “The Fisher Lad.” The show featured the beautiful dance of two of our hikikomi kamuro: Amethyst-chan (Tsuyu-chan’s younger sister) and Raven Moon-chan. It was a wonderful performance and she far exceeded my expectations. That’s probably why she’s now a tomesode shinzo!




Sunday, September 1st
Welcomed in a new student

The first of the month is always a time for new beginnings. This Sunday I was happy to welcome in a new SakuraSayuri-chan, as an attendant for Shinmachi. She is super sweet and eager to learn, and I know she’ll be an excellent addition to the group. Roughly a week later, I was happy to welcome in another equally sweet attendant named Diana-chan.

Monday, September 2nd 
Decorated a new residential building

There have been a few changes to the open field next to the Yukaku Ryukin. We hired a few carpenters and now there are new buildings for rent. I scooped up the largest building as soon as I could and decorated it as a stand-alone residence for the older courtesans. Be sure to keep reading to learn about who protects the house in our absence!


Tuesday, September 3rd 
Writing an open letter for our patrons

This day I took some time to prepare a weekly letter describing our activities to “post” on “site” near the Yukaku Ryukin for all of our patrons to read. One was written by hikikomi kamuro Amethyst-chan and concerned the way she spent her day during Bon Odori. The other was a draft for our release concerning Tsukimi.

Wednesday, September 4th
Lessons 

After Tsuyu-chan’s performance on Sunday, we spent this week’s lesson time reconnecting. After praising
Tsuyu-chan for the great work she did, I offered her and Amethyst-chan a few tips for future shows along with some suggestions for speaking with patrons. Special guest Nick-san stopped by to listen in on the lesson; he always has the most fascinating questions which really generate more discussion during lessons.



Thursday, September 5th
Relaxing!

My life can’t be all work now, can it? I took time today to enjoy the two new gardens near the Yukaku Ryukin.




Friday, September 6th 
First rehearsal for the Moon Odori

I am eagerly awaiting all of the events for the moon festival, but I am most excited for the moon odori. There are so many new things we are doing for this performance: new dance styles, new ‘stage’ set up, new music and new formations. I can’t wait to see how it all goes [here’s hoping SL is kind to us on performance day].


Saturday, September 7th
Brought home a guard for our residence

I nearly forgot to mention the protector of our residence at Aosagi. Isn’t he adorable? His name is Hiashi, obviously named for the fire on his fur and the phoenix on his chest.

Tsukimi: Moon Viewing Festival

Tsuki-ni-Hoshi, moon star, is the crest of Shinmachi. Beyond a few of its other meanings, we chose this crest because of its direct connection to our patron kami, Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto. We, as courtesans, look to his guidance and protection as we ply our trade during those hours the moon god has dominance in the sky.

Thus, tsukimi is a very important time for us and we have been remiss in our duties in not having a festival to honor Tsukiyomi-sama. Tsukimi, or moon viewing, is the Japanese Festival honoring the Autumn moon. From Wikipedia, "Tsukimi refers to the Japanese tradition of holding parties to view the harvest moon. The custom is thought to have originated with Japanese aristocrats during the Heian period, who would gather to recite poetry under the full moon of the eighth month of the lunisolar calendar, known as the "Mid-Autumn Moon." Since ancient times, Japanese people have described the eighth lunisolar month (corresponding to September on the contemporary Gregorian calendar) as the best time for looking at the moon, since the relative positions of the earth, sun, and moon cause the moon to appear especially bright."

I hope you can join us for at least one (maybe all) of the festival events we have scheduled for the end of next week. And, if you have a chance, you should visit the Matsubaya Oiran Ageya and Yukaku on the 13th at 7pm slt - the stunning courtesans there will also be holding there second O-Tsukimi Matsuri.

Shinmachi Tsukimi Schedule

September 18, 2013
Time: 5pm slt
Event: Poetry Reading
Location: Yukaku Ryukin at Aosagi

September 19, 2013
Time: 5pm slt
Event: Tea Ceremony for Tsukiyomi, Patron Kami of Shinmachi
Location: Near the Yukaku Ryukin building at Aosagi

September 20, 2013
Time: 6pm slt
Event: Moon Odori
Location: Dojo at Keisei

Amethyst-chan's Day on Bon Odori, part 3

Today we conclude Amethyst-chan’s Day on Bon Odori series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have!

Traveling back home, I stumbled across others as they were talking: there was another show in town.  They mentioned it was Okamisan and another shinzo from the Yukaku Ryukin.  My ears perked up in excitement as I rushed to where they were performing as I wanted to see my Okamisan perform again.  Quickly gathering my kimono, I strayed towards the place they would perform.

Here is where it got complicated; the directions were tricky since it was dark at this time. Barely could see my hand in front of me. As I proceeded closer to the sea, I could hear loud seagulls and saw more lanterns in the far distance. Gathering my kimono, I came to Sengoku Ochaya and after quietly entering in I saw a small library of scrolls; Others headed upstairs to the upper level of the building.  Following slowly behind, I climbed the stairs and I kept going up. 

There I saw Okamisan kneeling as she greeted each visitor.  I did my best not to distract her since I knew her attention was on the guests.  Either way I smiled and respectfully bowed to her. Sneaking behind the many guests as each was sitting down at the tables near the wide stage and spotting a free cushion next to an elegant geisha I sat down.

The guests were sitting comfortably on their cushions and the lanterns’ glow flickered brightly into the night as Okamisan began preparing for the performance. The shinzo was dressed in splendid kimono with her long sleeves flowing and Okamisan began to speak as she as was playing her shamisen.  Okamisan started with explaining what the meaning of Bon was an occassion for greeting and holding memorial services of those that departed ancestors.  On Bon the souls are released from Yomi, the land of the dead.  Our beloved descendants are able to come back to visit as they eat.  It made me wonder what the ancestors ate. Only shaking the thought off my eyes returned back to the stage. 

The lovely shinzo was dancing as Okamisan went on to tell a story related to the meaning of Obon.  It was one of a distraught mother as she didn't want her daughter to live a life that she had in her past; the tale had a joyful ending though.  As it was coming to an end Okamisan gave a thankful bow to everyone for listening to the tale. I applauded for the music, the dance and storytelling and everyone was cheering for Okamisan and the shinzo. 

She and the shinzo turned to put things away.  Waiting until all had left she came over to me smiling.  Bowing in respect to her and she turned to the geisha that was sitting next to me, who smiled bowing respectfully to Okamisan.  A bit embarrassed that I did not know, but Okamisan introduced to me her as the most senior furisode shinzo, Rinya-san.  Wincing my eyes closed, I bowed to Rinya-san and smiling Rinya-san bowed back to me.  This was the third person I met from the Yukaku Ryukin.  

So thus this concludes my long adventurous day throughout Bon Odori.

Thinking of all the friends I made this week, some are really interested in and share the same fondness I have for the Japanese culture. I do have respect for many cultures even though my heritage is not of theirs.  Still, SL has provided me this chance to be who I want to be.  I enjoy doing so many wonderful things in SL and never once have I ever regretted it.

~Ame chan.