Smelling Kyoto Autumn...
This is easily my favorite season in Kyoto...when the weather is cool and all the scenes are adorned with maple leaves in shades of red, orange, yellow and brown...
Good foliage places abound in Kyoto. There are always a few maple trees and other colorful trees strewn across almost every temple, shrine, and garden.
In Kyoto, the leaves begin to change in mid November. Early December is often when the fall foliage peaks, and the trees' colors remain visible until mid-December. As a result, Kyoto's foliage season typically lasts from November 15 to December 15, peaking around December 7.
If you miss the peak in the city center, remember that you can travel a little bit within or close to Kyoto to get good colors. Trees in the Kitayama Mountains are already displaying their fall foliage if you get there too early. You can even travel south to Uji or even Nara if you arrive too late to witness trees at peak.
It's not surprising that a vacation to Japan is packed with souvenirs, or "omiyage," as they are an integral element of Japanese culture. But after having been to Japan for 37 times, the common mass market stuff seldom interest me anymore. So, over the years, I have learnt to make my own souvenir pictures, based on the people I meet during my travels.
This is Tomitae, a geisha I have known for about 10 years now. Each time when I am in Kyoto, I meet up with each and every of my geisha friends and we take a walk around town together, usually in the gardens and parks and take a few souvenir photos. Tomitae is one of Kyoto's most sought after geishas. This time Tomitae surprised me by saying she now speaks English, because many of her customers are foreigners....
A Japanese Autumn Scene is my portrait for Tomitae this year. I have always wished for a geisha portrait with a geisha holding an umbrella, walking down a flight of steps with a trail of autumn leaves behind her...With blessings from the ancestral Goddess, our dream came true this year.
Geisha, are female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles, such as dance, music and singing, as well as being proficient conversationalists and hosts. Their distinct appearance is characterised by long, trailing kimono, traditional hairstyles and oshiroi make-up. Geisha entertain at parties known as ozashiki, often for the entertainment of wealthy clientele, as well as performing on stage and at festivals.
The first female geisha appeared in 1751, with geisha before that time being male performers who entertained guests. Only later did the profession become mainly characterised by female workers.
The arts that geisha perform are considered highly developed and, in some cases, unique throughout Japan to the world of geisha. For example, the Gion district of Kyoto is the only district wherein the kyo-mai style of Japanese traditional dance is taught. This style of dance is taught solely to the geisha within the district by the Inoue school, with the school's former head, Inoue Yachiyo, having been classified as a "Living National Treasure" by the Government of Japan, the highest artistic award attainable in the country, in 1955.
The hanamachi in Kyoto are known for their adherence to tradition and high prestige, with the image of a Kyoto maiko typifying that of geisha culture within wider Japanese and international society.
In Kyoto, the different hanamachi – known as the gokagai (lit. 'five' hanamachi) – are seen as unofficially ranked. Gion Kobu, Ponto-chō and Kamishichiken are seen as the most prestigious, with Gion Kobu at the top; below these three are Gion Higashi and Miyagawa-chō. The more prestigious hanamachi are frequented by powerful businessmen and politicians.
In the 1970s, the geisha districts in Kyoto were known as the rōkkagai (lit. 'six' hanamachi), as the district of Shimabara was still officially active as a geisha district, as well as hosting tayū reenactors; however, no geisha are active in Shimabara in the 21st century, despite modern tayū continuing to work there.
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