An Apprentice-Geisha Photoshoot Quite Unlike Any Other

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 2500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Alluring

and a bit mysterious









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Laughing

because I said something funny
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions



1050×1680  ·  1200×1920  ·  1600×2560








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Serious

probably because I said something nonsensical, as I'm apt to do









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Contemplative

(not really; I'd actually instructed her to look at my shoes)








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 4500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

( I just can't get enough of that red umbrella )










Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Drawing a Crowd Wherever She Goes

in this case it was a walk through the Gion entertainment district of Kyoto








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Quite Tall

especially with those shoes








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

(though still not quite as tall as me)

photo by Zak Braverman









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 3600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Posing Here...
Vertical Desktop-Background Versions



1050×1680  ·  1200×1920  ·  1600×2560











Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/400 sec, f/2, ISO 6400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Posing There...








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 2000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Posing With Tourists








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Posing With Shy Japanese Schoolkids










Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 5600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Posing for Zak








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 2000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Peace

And that last picture provides the first real clue that this girl is not
the maiko
(apprentice geisha) that she otherwise appears to be, because I don't think that a real
maiko would flash the peace sign for a passer's-by photo like
this.

February 3rd is the cultural holiday setsubun,
known for bean throwing, the
warding off of evil spirits, and some Shinto
rites that involve intense bonfires.

There's also an old tradition, fallen out of popularity in recent decades and now
mostly unknown to the younger generations, of transforming your appearance
for the day into something you're not... if you do this, so the tradition
goes, you'll be free of evil spirits for the next year.

And that brings us to today's photos. Ikuko, the 20-year-old girl in
these photos, is a normal collage student who transformed into a
maiko for the Setsubun holiday.

For most girls wanting to do something like this (for the Setsubun
holiday, or just for fun), Kyoto has plenty of places where one can pay
some small fee to play dress-up as a maiko and go for an
attention-grabbing photo-op stroll. I see it all the time, and these “fake
maiko” are easy to spot (such as seen here) by their
mannerisms and the cheap quality of their clothes and accessories, in the
same way you can easily tell that the kid showing up at your doorstep on
Halloween is not really Spider Man.

Ikuko, for her transformation, did something very different.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Not so Fake

I showed these photos to an older lady who really knew the subject, and
even when she saw the “Peace” photo she wasn't quite sure that Ikuko wasn't
a real maiko, because everything else about her seemed spot-on
correct.... because it was. The clothes and accessories are all real, as
was the preparation: she had spent three and a half hours being prepared by
a bevy of professionals that normally exclusively serve the real
maiko and geiko (Kyoto geisha) population. People to do the
hair (which, like a real maiko, is Ikuko's real hair), her makeup,
and even a specialist to help her get into the kimono. Not many women,
maiko and geiko included, can actually dress themselves in
these kimono.

Having natural grace and class, as Ikuko does, helps to complete the package.

This kind of experience is just not something one can normally have, but
Ikuko comes from an artist's family with connections in the wider cultural community
(her dad is the potter mentioned here), so I suppose that's how this unique opportunity came
about. Her family is friends with Zak's, and I met Ikuko a few years ago when she came to his house
to babysit Zak's kids.

Zak was asked to take photos for Ikuko's “transformation”, and Zak was kind enough to invite me along as well.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1800 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Strolling in Old Kyoto








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 2000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Family Fun

with Zak, her folks, and a brother










Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Typical Scene

she's in the background to the left

The narrow streets made for a picturesque setting at times, and for mild
crowded chaos at others. Japanese and foreign tourists alike would crowd in
for photos of Ikuko, and with Ikuko.

I chose to include the picture above because I like the daring bold of
the couple in the foreground, who had just had their photo taken with
Ikuko. The fuzzy guy in the near foreground is a mailman who had just
ridden his scooter through the scrum around Ikuko with a certain
indifference that I'm sure comes from the frequency with which he
encounters this kind of scene during the course of his day in Gion.

Ikuko was much more accommodating to stopping for others than a
real maiko would be, so someone familiar with Kyoto would pretty
quickly realize that she wasn't a maiko. Real maiko, when
encountered out on the street like this, can not generally be accommodating to
passers by because they are either working (and it would be rude to divert
concentration from their customer for your photo), or they're busy on their
way somewhere.

The evening after I took these photos, on the way back from dinner at Uroko with Damien, I came across two maiko, a geiko, and their customers piling into
taxis near the Shijo Ohashi bridge. A crowed had gathered, but the
maiko and geiko completely ignored everyone but their
customers to the point that a maiko was almost plowed over because
without looking she stepped right into the path of the flow of foot traffic on the sidewalk. The person who almost crashed into her happened to be the person right in front of me,
and I'm glad there wasn't an “event” because I might have then tripped over both of them,
and even if not, I didn't have my camera with me so what's the point? .

Anyway, I don't really care for the whole “geisha” thing and generally
make a specific point not to pay attention when I come across them like
this, but I really enjoyed the photoshoot with Ikuko. Perhaps it's because
it was a normal Japanese girl dipping, just for a moment, into part of her
cultural history in a culturally-authentic way.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/800 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Also, it helps that Ikuko was accommodating for photos and was just
generally a nice person, and of course it helps a lot that, unlike the
majority of maiko and geiko that I come across, she is
actually attractive. I hope to do a “normal” photoshoot with her
when the weather warms up, perhaps at the Haradanien Garden.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 200mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 2000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Like Culture, Like Kimono

layers deep