What’s Different, Maiko and Geisha?

Apr 07 | Evan | No Comments |

What is the difference between the two? 

Maiko and geisha are one of the most iconic symbols of Japan. They are mysterious, beautiful, elegant, and perfect photographic subjects for your photo tour of Japan. With 300 years or so of history, we can learn so much about Japan through them. In this article, let’s learn about maiko and geisha so that when you are on your next photo tour of Japan, you have more knowledge of Japan, and furthermore, you are more prepared to photograph them and/or even become one for a day! 

Let’s learn about maiko! 

In short, a maiko is the girl who is training to be a geisha, an apprentice of geisha. Most of the girls start training to be a maiko after graduating from Jr. High School for 5 years or so. Back in the day, the training started as early as 10, but in today’s modern world, the girls who dream to be a geisha start their training as a maiko after graduating from Jr. High School, which is age 15 and then by age 20 or so, they turn into a geisha. 

So what do they do during those 5 years of training? Well, the first year is all training, they don’t even go anywhere near the customers. The girls learn traditional dance, dressing kimono, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, etiquette, and how to treat customers. After 1 year of training, then girls debut as a maiko to be in front of a customer for the first time. In the 2nd year onwards, the girls continue training as well as work as a maiko in front of customers until they make a decision to continue or discontinue working in the industry as a geisha or end the career around the age 20. 

Some fun facts about maiko is that maiko hair is not a wig. It’s all her natural hair and once the hair is made, a maiko wears the hair without washing it for a week! Additionally, a maiko wears a seasonal “kanzashi,” hairpin. If you are trying to differentiate between a maiko and geisha, check out their hairpin to see what kind of hairpins they are wearing. Furthermore, one clear difference between a maiko and a geisha is what they are wearing on their feet. Those ones with very thick platow heels are maiko. Geisha wear geta or zouri, which are much more flat compared to maiko’s footwear. 

Can you guess if she is a maiko or geisha? 

Let’s learn about geisha!

In short, a geisha is the woman who graduates from being a maiko. After 5 years or so of training being a maiko, then you become a geisha. Yes, everyone starts from maiko and then eventually turns into geisha. As well as a word, geisha, you also hear “geiko” and “geiki” which all mean the same. The difference is the area, which part of Japan you are in. Just to make things easy, let’s stick to geisha here. 

Geisha are the traditionally trained hospitality professionals. Not everyone can be one and those who are named as geisha have extensive training as described earlier in the maiko section. Besides its mysterious beauty and elegance, they are the living traditions who are passing down Japanese traditions.They also act as ambassadors to the world when international events take place. There is no age limit to being a geisha, thus some people continue to be a geisha even in their 80s! However, in general, once a woman marries, she graduates from being a geisha. 

If you want to meet a geisha and a maiko, you might be lucky enough to run into them randomly on the streets of Kyoto, but if you really want to spend time with them, then you need to go to ozashiki where geisha and maiko entertain guests. Back in the day, only a handful people with fame, money, connection, and power could spend time with maiko and geisha, but time has passed that there are some services offered today that with an interpreter, you can also enjoy ozashiki with geisha and maiko. I don’t know the cost involved, but if you are looking for one and only experience, perhaps request this in your private photo tour of Japan?

Maiko for a day – Let’s try to be a maiko in Kyoto! 

One of the most popular activities for females visiting Kyoto is to become a maiko or a geisha. There are many companies, which provide full make up, wig, and kimoto service to magically turn you into a maiko or a geisha for a day. You get to do a photoshoot with the full look and/or get out of the streets of Kyoto. No, you don’t need to be Japanese to be one. Anybody can be one if you use any of these services below. Don’t worry, all these companies below have English websites so you will be able to get a feel for what to expect. Additionally, if males also want to try wearing a kimono, some companies also offer services for males too. 

Maiko-Henshin Studio Shiki

Yumekoubou Kyoto Head Studio

Studio Kokoro

Gion AYA Maiko & Geisha Makeover

For those of you who want to know more about the actual experience, below is the YouTube video from Gion AYA Maiko & Geisha Makeover. This is from when American reality big family star, “19 Kids and Counting,” the Duggars girls as well as the mother and the grandmother are all trying this Maiko experience. 

So hopefully you learned something new about maiko and geisha in this article. Maybe we can travel to Japan later in 2021 or the following year on Japan Photo Tour so that you can capture beautiful maiko and geisha then. Of course, if you get inspired and interested in being one for a day, perhaps it’s not a bad idea to turn into one on your tour too. Just a note to remember is that there has been a significant number of complaints from the maiko and geisha of the Kyoto community in the recent years that some travelers have been too aggressive when it comes to approaching maiko and geisha. Besides the obvious facts, it’s not appropriate to touch their hair, kimono, and/or body, if you meet them on the streets of Kyoto or anywhere else, please be respectful and mindful. If you are photographing them, please always ask first so that it’s a pleasant experience for both sides. 

Learn Japanese Today

Apr 01 | Evan | No Comments |

How to say “This” and “That” in Japanese – “kore, sore, are” 

Do you know how to ask “What is this?” and “What is that?” in Japanese? How about “How much is this?” and “How much is that?” Well, these are simple questions, but very useful when you are visiting Japan. Of course, when you are a part of Japan Photo Guide’s photo tour of Japan, these will be useful to know too, right? 

In this article, we are going to touch base on the basics of “this” and “that” in Japanese. For example, when you are touring Japan and want to ask “how much something is” and “what that is” we can use what we learn here today to navigate yourself better in Japan. Needless to say, when you are a part of Japan Photo Guide’s photography tour of Japan, he will be there to assist you. However, it’s always good to know a few useful Japanese phrases and words so that you can enjoy the tour even more and have freedom to communicate with Japanese people on your own. 

Ok, let’s get started!! 

What is this? 

Let’s first learn a few key words. Below are the keywords you want to first remember. (Like the other Japanese lesson article, I provide you with 3 writing styles here so that you can work at your own level of Japanese.) 

What = nani/なに/何　＆　nan/なん/何

This = kore/これ

In Japanese, if you want to ask “What is this?” you will be using below: 

Kore ha nan desu ka (*In Japanese, you write “ha,” but pronunciate “wa.”)

これ は なん です か

これ は 何 です か

What in Japanese is “nani,” but in this question, it is conjugated to “nan.” We are also asking “What is this?” and this = これ. Don’t worry too much about other grammar points, but just remember how to ask “What is this?” here for now. It’s not too hard, right? So let’s move onto the next! 

What is that? – There are two kinds of “that” in Japanese! 

Ok, so here is the little tricky point you need to remember. In Japanese, there are two kinds of that. Yes, sounds strange and/or interesting, right? Don’t worry! Let’s break it down. 

That = sore/それ 

= Pointing out item(s) that is far from the speaker, but close to the listener

That = are/あれ

= Pointing out the item(s) that is far from both the speaker and the listener 

As I summaries above, two kinds of “that” in Japanese have clear differences between when to use depending on where the item is placed. It all depends on the place where the item is located in relation to the speaker and the listener. 

For example, you are on a photo tour of Japan and need to get a new camera battery at a store in Japan and the battery you want is behind the counter by the retail staff away from you, you use “sore.”  However, the camera battery you want is behind the counter, but up high in the shelves away from both of you, you use “are.” Did you get a picture? Well, until you get a hold of sore and are, it can be a little confusing, but just keep practicing and you will eventually get it!

Other usage of “kore”, “sore”, and “are.”

As well as the question “What is this/that?,” we can also use kore, sore, and are in other simple questions. How about when you want to ask at a store you want to buy something? Let’s learn some quick Japanese sentences! 

Kore kudasai/これください

 = Can I have this please? 

Sore kudasai/それください

= Can I have that please? (Close to the listener, away from the speaker/you) 

Are = kudasai/あれください

= Can I have that please ? (Far from both the listener and the speaker) 

Here “kudasai” is “please have …”  (yes, a very important one to remember!) so simply by adding this or that in front of kudasai, it can be “Can I have this please?” or “Can I have that please?” It’s easy, right? Of course, as we discussed above, you want to remember which “that” you have to use depending on the item you are talking about in relation to distance for each case. 

Of course, this is the simplest way of asking this type of question so if you know Japanese, you may know alternative ways to ask, but even if it’s simple, it’s polite and to the point so these are very useful for you to remember! 

Summary

Today we covered a very important concept in Japanese. It can be confusing, but don’t worry! Practice makes perfect, right? At least you are introduced to the idea of “kore,” “sore,” and “are” so now we can do a lot more! Maybe in the next article of learning Japanese, we can introduce how to make possessive in Japanese using “kore,” “sore,” and “are” to form even a little more complex Japanese sentences. 

Hope you learned something new today! If you are eager to learn more Japanese and have a particular phrase or concept you like to learn, contact Japan Photo Guide so that we can prepare you for the dream photography tour of Japan for the next year! 

2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympics

Mar 30 | Evan | No Comments |

Even though it will be held in 2021, the official website says “2020” so…. yeah…

What is the reality of having the Olympics during the pandemic 

With the COVID vaccines gradually becoming more available around the world, we are slowly, but steadily regaining hope in life. With that said, Japan is facing an extremely difficult task of holding an Olympics during the pandemic. Originally planned for the 2020 summer, Tokyo Olympics is now scheduled to be held in the 2021 summer. Despite over 80% of Japanese people opposing the Olympics to be held in the country this year, it is now official that the summer Olympics is going to be held in Tokyo in July and August. Let’s learn how things are going with the Olympics during the pandemic and how unprecedented it has been.

March 25th 2021, the Olympics torch-relay started 

On March 25th 2021, the Tokyo Olympics torch-relay started from Fukushima Prefecture. Usually, the Olympics torch-relays are more like festivals that a lot of spectators fill the streets where the relay runners run with the torch. However, because of the pandemic, everything about this torch-relay is unprecedented. For example, there is barely anybody on the streets to cheer for the relay runners. Except for the officials, nobody else could join the opening ceremony and those who were at the opening ceremony had to sit with social distance. 

In the past several months, many Japanese celebrities who were supposed to be a part of torch-relay canceled their participation due to scheduling conflicts. Many on the surface say that, but the reality is not that simple. Some celebrities who have canceled their participation are more honest and clear about where they stand that they have indicated their disagreement and disappointment about the Olympics to be held during the pandemic as they feel there are other priorities for the country of Japan and Japanese people to deal with during the pandemic. 

With only 16% or so Japanese people favoring the Olympics to be held in the 2021 summer, there were also protests happening on March 25th at the train stations. Usually the festive torch-relay is not as festive nor welcomed by Japanese. It’s hard to imagine where this will go with these kinds of reactions among Japanese. How can Japan hold the Olympics and Paralympics this summer? 

No international spectators for Tokyo Olympics

How many of you were hoping to be in Japan for the Olympics? Were you thinking about joining the photo tour of Japan around the time of the Olympics so that as well as touring Japan, you could enjoy the Olympics at the arenas? 

Well, unfortunately, for this year’s summer Tokyo Olympics, international spectators cannot be watching the events in Tokyo. Yes, it’s so disappointing, but with the notion of “safe Olympics for everyone,” the Japanese Olympics Committee, Tokyo government, Japanese government, IOC and IPC agreed that it is difficult to secure safe and free entrance to the country during the pandemic, thus decided to have no international spectators for this Olympics at the meeting on March 20th, 2021. 

So for the Tokyo Olympics, the only people who will be able to attend in person are the Japanese people as well as some sponsors and the country representatives. The number of people who are allowed to be at the arenas will be decided in the following month in April. This means, all the tickets purchased by international spectators, which equal to 600,000 tickets for the Olympics and 30,000 for the Paralympics will be refunded. Furthermore, most likely there will be a number of restrictions for Japanese spectators too, thus more tickets will be refunded. Yes, this Olympics is becoming more and more expensive than originally anticipated. Regardless of the Olympics happening this year or not, Tokyo is facing a tremendous amount of deficit already. 

No Athletes from Canada

On March 22nd 2021, Canada has decided that they are not sending players to Japan for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. There are no other countries which have followed Canada at this moment, but we have to respect the position Canada took. The reality is, even without such official announcements from other countries, each country is struggling with the pandemic that nobody really knows even at this point if the Olympics is really possible, but also beneficial for them. Over in Europe in France, the starting of the Olympics torch-relay was briefly mentioned at the end of the news, but not getting barely any interest. With so many people being infected by the new variants, nobody is relaxed with the pandemic, thus there is not much interest or energy to be spared for the Olympics at the moment. 

Over 50 official Olympics goods stores have closed

Holding an Olympics during the pandemic creates all sorts of problems that nobody anticipated. Something, which caught a lot of Japanese people’s eyes in the 3rd and 4th week of March is the closing of the official goods stores around the country. 

As of March 26th 2021, 50 official Olympics goods stores have closed around Japan. Even though some stores may reopen leading up to the Olympics in the next few months, Japanese people are not buying enough goods for the official stores to remain open during the pandemic. In reality, just like people around the world, Japanese people are now more than ever questioning the purpose of the Olympics as well as the meaning of holding the Olympics during the pandemic. 

The Tokyo Olympics is around the corner. As of March 26th 2021, the Olympics will be held in 118 days regardless of how the majority of Japanese people think about it. As highlighted above, these issues the Tokyo Olympics face are not minor. Having delayed a year already, there have been a lot of obstacles that everyone involved have to face. In addition, these obstacles also cost a fortune. With a year delay, Tokyo, which is holding the Olympics, is spending significantly more money than originally budgeted. 

Usually a happy excited sporting event of the Olympics is a huge debate among Japanese today in this pandemic because many believe the Olympics is not the priority during COVID. Many believe the taxpayers’ money should be spent for all Japanese who are struggling, not for the Olympics. We wonder why, who is benefiting from having this Olympics this year. What is the purpose? 

Do you talk about the Olympics with your family and friends? Who is excited about the Olympics in Tokyo this year? Let us know what you think!

Time for Sakura in Japan!

Mar 17 | Evan | No Comments |

 Sakura Flowering Rush about to take place in Japan 2021 March

One of the most popular times of the year for international travelers to visit Japan is spring when sakura, cherry blossoms are blooming. If you have visited Japan during this time, you know the beautiful pink sakura flowers spotted all over the country. For Japanese, sakura is extremely important and symbolic. There are many songs about sakura, and this time of the year, sakura truly holds a special place in Japanese people’s hearts. In this article, let’s dig in deeper about sakura, what it means to Japanese people, but also find out when we are expecting sakura to fully bloom in 2021. Of course, with the travel restrictions, we international travelers cannot visit Japan, but let’s learn about it so that maybe next year in 2022, we get to take a part in a photography tour of Japan to view the beautiful flowers and photograph them. 

The significance of sakura to Japanese people 

For Japanese, March is the month when you graduate or end the school/work year while April is the month of new beginning, to start a new grade, school, or work, thus sakura is extremely symbolic to Japanese to signify these special times of the year. For many Japanese, sakura is the flowers that are blooming at graduation and/or entrance ceremony so they often hold special feelings and memories to Japanese such as departure, end of school, end of relationship, as well as new beginning and new relationship. Yes, it’s a very complex feeling, thus sakura holds a special place in Japanese people’s hearts.

If you ever searched on YouTube for songs titled sakura, you find plenty (You might need to search using katakana, hiragana, and kanji to look for all!).  Let me introduce one from Naotaro Moriyama, which is a very popular graduation song with a title sakura. If you can read the comments in Japanese, take some time to read the comments. Many Japanese people are leaving comments with personal stories associated with this song. Besides from the incredibly talented singer’s voice, the lyrics really speak to Japanese people.  If you are curious about the lyrics, you can easily find the lyrics online, which can be translated instantly in Google search. 

In addition to Naotaro Moriyama’ sakura, let me introduce another sakura by Ketsumeishi. While Naotaro Moriyama’s sakura has a feeling of students graduating from schools and departing from one another, this Ketsumeishi sakura version is for more grownups who are now working and are starting a new chapter in life. 

Besides these two, there are many more songs titled sakura and songs that sing about this time of the year depicting sakura blooming and/or falling down. If you are curious, search more on your own and share with us which sakura song you like. 

Japan is expecting the Sakura Flowering Rush in the 3rd week of March in 2021! 

Ok, let’s get back to this year’s sakura forecast. According to the (use google translate) Japan Weather Association’s Ms. Yoshida, the 2nd week of March has had little ups and downs with temperature, but it has been on a high end so it is expected that sakura is going to start blooming in the 3rd week of March. 

According to Ms. Yoshida, sakura has already flowered in Hiroshima on the 11th of March 2021 and Fukuoka on the 12th of March 2021, which are both the earliest since this recording has been made. This year’s flowering is roughly 10 days earlier than usual and Kyushu Region to Kanto Region is expected to see a flowering rush in the 3rd week of March. 

As of March 13th 2021, Tokyo is expected to flower on the 16th, Nagoya on the 17th, and Osaka on the 19th. The full bloom is expected a week to 10 days since the flowering starts. Unfortunately, sakura viewing, “ohanami” to get together under a sakura tree is prohibited this year again, but Japanese people will be enjoying beautiful sakura very soon. 

Unfortunately, except for Japanese people living in Japan, we cannot enjoy sakura blooming this year in Japan, but I am pretty sure many people will post these beautiful flowers very soon on social media so let’s keep an eye out for it. Also, there are some sakura in the US too so hopefully if you live near sakura in the US, you get to enjoy the beautiful spring flowers soon. Maybe when you see them next time, you might be thinking about what it means to Japanese by remembering perhaps your new favorite sakura song, which Introduced today or you discovered by surfing YouTube.

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