July 31st, 1885 was one of the most significant days of my life. It was also one of the most surprising.
I received a message from one of the nicest teahouses, one where I entertained at banquets frequently, that they needed geisha to serve at a party that night. It is very unusual for any place to give a geisha such short notice. I have a very full schedule, and some parties require special ordering collars or hairpins. The impertinence made me mad, as I am a makoatl obsessed with order and planning. However, I learned from the messenger that the guest of honor would be the most important I would ever have the pleasure of meeting: Emperor Mutsuhito, the man who would posthumously be known as Meiji Emperor, who was working to reform the entire country.
You cannot imagine my panic. Only a few short hours to prepare for serving the Emperor? It was a nightmare come true! The kimono maker who custom-made my collars kept them all in a room of his store for me. I live in a cave off the coast, and the sea water would greatly damage the sensitive fabrics and dyes. I rushed to his store, and found he was busy with another geisha, a girl named Chiyotsuru. Geisha choose professional names rather than using their real ones, so even though I was friendly with Chiyotsuru and many other geisha, I did not know any of their names. I have always used my real name, Sai, and she greeted me by sobbing my name - it was apparent that she was very near tears.
Chiyotsuru lived in and worked from the only okiya on the island. An okiya is translated to English most commonly as a "geisha house." These places train apprentice geisha (where I received my training, in Kyoto, these apprentice girls are called maiko) through their network of social relations with stores, restaurants, tea houses, schools, and guests. An okiya is almost like a boarding school. They pay for everything, sharing everything from their kimono to the name they have established. When a maiko completes her training and becomes a geisha, they continue working for the okiya to pay off their debts. Sometimes the head of the okiya will take a geisha in for her heir, and that geisha will grow up to run the okiya after the current head passes away or retires. Istukushima is not exactly known for its geisha, so the one okiya was more than enough. Places like Kyoto, where I had undergone my own training, had hundreds of okiya.
Chiyotsuru had only recently become a geisha. There were three more experienced geisha at her okiya, and all four of them had been invited to serve the emperor tonight. The other girls had, of course, had first picks of the okiya's kimono selection. Japanese culture puts great importance on privileging the older or more experienced. Chiyotsuru had been left with very little to pick from, and in her desperation had come to the kimono shop in hopes of renting a kimono.
After explaining this, Chiyotsuru flung herself at me, clinging to my neck and crying in my fur. "Sai!" she wept, "Please! You must help me! I have no kimono to wear for the Emperor!"
I agreed to help her. The shop owner took us to the storehouse in the back. Many of the summer appropriate kimono had already been rented out for the season. "Here is one," the kimono maker said to us, "The motif of boats on waves is very appropriate." Indeed, the white kimono with pastel waves beneath bridges and boats was perfect for late July.
"It is," I admitted, "But it is hardly appropriate for dinner with the emperor."
I went through the storehouse, flipping through the kimono and trying to find something more thoughtful and impressive. Geisha work and live together. In some ways, we are a strange family, since no one else knows the struggles of our lives. We even call each other sisters. However, there is tremendous competition between us. One geisha's success means another's failure. It is different for me, though, because I am a makoatl. The human girls are not really my competition, so I do try to give them genuine help.
"How about this one?" I said, pulling a pale yellow kimono out of a trunk. There was a motif of yellow and green ferns, with spiderwebs woven between them. Spiderwebs are a strange kimono motif, which is probably why this had not been picked out for rent. However, I felt it was very appropriate for this occasion. "You see, the spiders are symbols of industry. It is perfect for Emperor Mutsuhito, who has brought industry to Japan."
Chiyotsuru was so thrilled that she burst into tears again. I smiled, letting her hold me and stroke my fur. It was quite nice being called "a genius" and "wise" and "the best." She went back with me to view my collars and help me in exchange. I had a few patterns in mind, but wanted her opinion on what was the nicest. We ended up picking a purple and blue collar with a motif of cranes flying over clouds. I would wear a wisteria kanzashi with it. We agreed we would be the best looking there.
I received a message from one of the nicest teahouses, one where I entertained at banquets frequently, that they needed geisha to serve at a party that night. It is very unusual for any place to give a geisha such short notice. I have a very full schedule, and some parties require special ordering collars or hairpins. The impertinence made me mad, as I am a makoatl obsessed with order and planning. However, I learned from the messenger that the guest of honor would be the most important I would ever have the pleasure of meeting: Emperor Mutsuhito, the man who would posthumously be known as Meiji Emperor, who was working to reform the entire country.
You cannot imagine my panic. Only a few short hours to prepare for serving the Emperor? It was a nightmare come true! The kimono maker who custom-made my collars kept them all in a room of his store for me. I live in a cave off the coast, and the sea water would greatly damage the sensitive fabrics and dyes. I rushed to his store, and found he was busy with another geisha, a girl named Chiyotsuru. Geisha choose professional names rather than using their real ones, so even though I was friendly with Chiyotsuru and many other geisha, I did not know any of their names. I have always used my real name, Sai, and she greeted me by sobbing my name - it was apparent that she was very near tears.
Chiyotsuru lived in and worked from the only okiya on the island. An okiya is translated to English most commonly as a "geisha house." These places train apprentice geisha (where I received my training, in Kyoto, these apprentice girls are called maiko) through their network of social relations with stores, restaurants, tea houses, schools, and guests. An okiya is almost like a boarding school. They pay for everything, sharing everything from their kimono to the name they have established. When a maiko completes her training and becomes a geisha, they continue working for the okiya to pay off their debts. Sometimes the head of the okiya will take a geisha in for her heir, and that geisha will grow up to run the okiya after the current head passes away or retires. Istukushima is not exactly known for its geisha, so the one okiya was more than enough. Places like Kyoto, where I had undergone my own training, had hundreds of okiya.
Chiyotsuru had only recently become a geisha. There were three more experienced geisha at her okiya, and all four of them had been invited to serve the emperor tonight. The other girls had, of course, had first picks of the okiya's kimono selection. Japanese culture puts great importance on privileging the older or more experienced. Chiyotsuru had been left with very little to pick from, and in her desperation had come to the kimono shop in hopes of renting a kimono.
After explaining this, Chiyotsuru flung herself at me, clinging to my neck and crying in my fur. "Sai!" she wept, "Please! You must help me! I have no kimono to wear for the Emperor!"
I agreed to help her. The shop owner took us to the storehouse in the back. Many of the summer appropriate kimono had already been rented out for the season. "Here is one," the kimono maker said to us, "The motif of boats on waves is very appropriate." Indeed, the white kimono with pastel waves beneath bridges and boats was perfect for late July.
"It is," I admitted, "But it is hardly appropriate for dinner with the emperor."
I went through the storehouse, flipping through the kimono and trying to find something more thoughtful and impressive. Geisha work and live together. In some ways, we are a strange family, since no one else knows the struggles of our lives. We even call each other sisters. However, there is tremendous competition between us. One geisha's success means another's failure. It is different for me, though, because I am a makoatl. The human girls are not really my competition, so I do try to give them genuine help.
"How about this one?" I said, pulling a pale yellow kimono out of a trunk. There was a motif of yellow and green ferns, with spiderwebs woven between them. Spiderwebs are a strange kimono motif, which is probably why this had not been picked out for rent. However, I felt it was very appropriate for this occasion. "You see, the spiders are symbols of industry. It is perfect for Emperor Mutsuhito, who has brought industry to Japan."
Chiyotsuru was so thrilled that she burst into tears again. I smiled, letting her hold me and stroke my fur. It was quite nice being called "a genius" and "wise" and "the best." She went back with me to view my collars and help me in exchange. I had a few patterns in mind, but wanted her opinion on what was the nicest. We ended up picking a purple and blue collar with a motif of cranes flying over clouds. I would wear a wisteria kanzashi with it. We agreed we would be the best looking there.
Geisha never eat at the parties we attend. Our job there is to make the night pleasant for the others, not to stuff our faces with the expensive food. So I followed Chiyotsuru back to her okiya, where I had a large lunch with her and the rest of the geisha in her okiya. One of the girls, Momoko, had a patron who was a politician. A patron is an individual who pays for most of a geisha's expenses and showers her in gifts, and in exchange she must drop any appointments and make his parties and gatherings her priority. A geisha always tries to study her guests before she entertains them, but since we had such short notice, the best we could do was invite Momoko's patron to lunch and have him tell us all that he knew about the emperor and his guests.
After lunch, the okiya became a madhouse with all the geisha and their professional dressers trying to get made up and in kimono, all the servants running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and the owner of the okiya shouting directions at everyone. I politely excused myself saying that I had to get ready, but in reality what do I need to do? Brush my hair and insert my hair pin. Put on my collar. These things take only about ten minutes.
Instead I folded my collar and put it and my hairpin in a little bag, which also contained my dancing fan and a comb, and then I took a walk. I needed to breathe in the fresh sea air. Outwardly, I was as collected at always, but inside my heart was a fluttering mess.
You must understand that, to the Japanese, there is no one in the world more important than the emperor. He is a descendant of the divine, and his word is the law. People line the streets just to see his carriage pass by. His birthday is a holiday. This was, and forever would be, the most significant moment of my life. I was an ambassador of my entire species. I was likely the only makoatl that the emperor would ever meet, and it was imperative that I impress him. It was like I would be putting makoatl in favor of the Gods Themselves.
After lunch, the okiya became a madhouse with all the geisha and their professional dressers trying to get made up and in kimono, all the servants running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and the owner of the okiya shouting directions at everyone. I politely excused myself saying that I had to get ready, but in reality what do I need to do? Brush my hair and insert my hair pin. Put on my collar. These things take only about ten minutes.
Instead I folded my collar and put it and my hairpin in a little bag, which also contained my dancing fan and a comb, and then I took a walk. I needed to breathe in the fresh sea air. Outwardly, I was as collected at always, but inside my heart was a fluttering mess.
You must understand that, to the Japanese, there is no one in the world more important than the emperor. He is a descendant of the divine, and his word is the law. People line the streets just to see his carriage pass by. His birthday is a holiday. This was, and forever would be, the most significant moment of my life. I was an ambassador of my entire species. I was likely the only makoatl that the emperor would ever meet, and it was imperative that I impress him. It was like I would be putting makoatl in favor of the Gods Themselves.
It amazed me how such a great man could be so easily overwhelmed among the others in his party. At the head of the table he sat quietly, a very stern look on his face. The others were boisterous characters in the midst of an argument, not a serious one, as the all still wore smiles. Not him, though. He was still looking so very stern.
Geisha enter the room based on their seniority and experience. I was the first in. I hated it. I opened the sliding door, stepped onto the tatami, and slid the door closed. In my mouth I carried a tray of hot sake. I bowed low at Emperor Mutsuhito. The argument was suspended, and I could feel all eyes on me in the silence. Not a single drop of sake spilled onto the tray as I straightened back up and entered the room so that the other girls could come in behind me in a similar manner.
The guest of honor is always served first. There was no getting around it. Keeping my eyes low, I made my way to his side and set the tray down on the table. "Would Tenno Heika like some sake?" I asked. Tenno Heika is an honorific reserved for the emperor.
"Please." His tone was as polite and refined as I imagined an emperor's to be.
I filled a glass with sake and set it down before him on the table. I wasn't certain of what to do next. At a normal event, I would have chatted with the guest before moving onto the next. But I wasn't sure if I was supposed to speak to the emperor at all! After a pause of awkward silence, struggling internally, I decided to speak.
"Tenno Heika, I owe you my thanks." I looked up at him for the first time and noticed he was looking down at me through furrowed brows. Was he angry? Was I being impertinent? "You have opened the borders of Japan to foreigners, allowing me to come to this most magnificent country. I never imagined, when I first encountered the shores of your country, that I would be welcomed on her soil."
"What are you?" he asked me, and I realized I had been so stupid! I should have explained my species first.
"I am a makoatl. My ancestors are the sharks and the dragons."
The emperor's face broke into a smile, and I had to stop myself from letting my eyes widen and jaw drop. "I, as well as all of Japan's emperors, are descendants from the great dragon Ryujin. This island, you know, was the home of Ryujin's daughter. It is very appropriate that I have met you here, my cousin."
A guest does not touch a geisha. Even outside of formal situations, the Japanese culture does not smile upon physical contact in public. But that didn't seem to matter to me when the emperor's hand was suddenly on my back, giving me a friendly touch.
Geisha enter the room based on their seniority and experience. I was the first in. I hated it. I opened the sliding door, stepped onto the tatami, and slid the door closed. In my mouth I carried a tray of hot sake. I bowed low at Emperor Mutsuhito. The argument was suspended, and I could feel all eyes on me in the silence. Not a single drop of sake spilled onto the tray as I straightened back up and entered the room so that the other girls could come in behind me in a similar manner.
The guest of honor is always served first. There was no getting around it. Keeping my eyes low, I made my way to his side and set the tray down on the table. "Would Tenno Heika like some sake?" I asked. Tenno Heika is an honorific reserved for the emperor.
"Please." His tone was as polite and refined as I imagined an emperor's to be.
I filled a glass with sake and set it down before him on the table. I wasn't certain of what to do next. At a normal event, I would have chatted with the guest before moving onto the next. But I wasn't sure if I was supposed to speak to the emperor at all! After a pause of awkward silence, struggling internally, I decided to speak.
"Tenno Heika, I owe you my thanks." I looked up at him for the first time and noticed he was looking down at me through furrowed brows. Was he angry? Was I being impertinent? "You have opened the borders of Japan to foreigners, allowing me to come to this most magnificent country. I never imagined, when I first encountered the shores of your country, that I would be welcomed on her soil."
"What are you?" he asked me, and I realized I had been so stupid! I should have explained my species first.
"I am a makoatl. My ancestors are the sharks and the dragons."
The emperor's face broke into a smile, and I had to stop myself from letting my eyes widen and jaw drop. "I, as well as all of Japan's emperors, are descendants from the great dragon Ryujin. This island, you know, was the home of Ryujin's daughter. It is very appropriate that I have met you here, my cousin."
A guest does not touch a geisha. Even outside of formal situations, the Japanese culture does not smile upon physical contact in public. But that didn't seem to matter to me when the emperor's hand was suddenly on my back, giving me a friendly touch.