#shoume

Article 7 of 7 (possibly more)

DISCLAIMER: I am not fluent in Japanese. The article in the link above was translated by Google Translate, so I do not guarantee the accuracy nor coherence of the following text.

Aoi-tayuu story (7) Thoughts entrusted to kamuro ~ Nurture the bearers of Hanamachi culture

Hello. Aoi Shimabara. 

In the last column, I talked about running about ourselves. We've been in this world since we were born, and it was easy to enter. Honestly, how can I become tayuu in the first place?

In the case of maiko, the shikomi period can be about one year. Since the training period to become a geigi is maiko, I will work hard in about 5 years until I become a geigi, and I will learn about ozashiki as well as lessons. I was once asked, "If maiko is one year, is tayuu a couple of years?" If you haven't done anything, you shouldn't have to train for 10 years. 

When you say that, it is said, "If you do that, tayuu will not increase!" I am glad that you are worried. However, even though tayuu can be explained as the highest rank of geigi, when he gets the same seat as geigi-maiko, he asks, "What is tayuu like this?", It's over. Even if it takes time, I will make "tayuu" properly. That is the most handed-over part to inheritance.

Nowadays, with the development of SNS, it has become easier to make contact, so I would like to receive a message. Basically anyone can do SNS. It is also a handle name etc. I think yeah. However, just the message "I want to be" is enough to tell me your name. Have you ever mentioned your name during a part-time job interview or job hunting? ?? I'm really happy that you are interested and want to be. But I can't reply to people who can do basic things. 

When I didn't have Twitter etc. yet, I wrote on the homepage that "I will not accept it by e-mail etc." So how do you tell it? If you read it carefully and thoroughly, you will find the answer to how to contact. Only two people understood it and contacted me. I'm not going to make it that strict now, but in the first place, it's a problem before that. 

I want to be maiko, I want to be tayuu. You can also understand the feeling of longing for a gorgeous world. This means getting a job. I carry the culture on my back. The rules differ depending on the hanamachi, and you will live together with someone who has no blood connection. You will learn rigorously about lessons and human relationships. As long as I have this job, I will continue to learn. Unless you are prepared to endure it, I think you can continue. I'm really happy that I want to be. However, I cannot accept this as well just by "I want to be". 

If you can convey your half-hearted feelings and your true feelings, you will accept it with the feeling of "I want to make a good tayu!" It is because I am prepared to carry the life of shoume who wants to become a bearer of culture. It's easy to think about it once again and make a decision.

I think it would be great if we could grow up carefully, centered on the kamuro who are doing their best now. However, it cannot be forced. To be honest, I hope that the experience I have cultivated as kamuro will be of some help to me when I go out into society. I would like to ask you to preserve the Hanamachi culture. And next year, I will continue to read "Aoi-tayuu Monogatari".

PS. The other day, I appeared on the poster of "Autumn Fire Prevention Campaign" by the Kyoto City Fire Department and put it on various places in Kyoto city. 

November 2019: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, and her two shoume, Akari-shoume & Kaede-shoume, during the Japanese filming of the "Prisoners of Ghostland" movie. Aoi-tayuu stresses on her Twitter that she and the girls do not represent "tayuu" in the movie; they are simply lending the tayuu aesthetic to the film.

          So, to the best of my understanding, a “shoujo” (written 少女) is a middle step between “kamuro” and “tayuu” that use to be common in the Shimabara before WW2 and earlier. It’s apparently pronounced “shoume” (しょうめ), so I need to go back and fix my previous posts.

          In Aoi-tayuu’s article (link: https://hakken-japan.com/columns/kyoto_shimabara5/), she explains that the original path to becoming a tayuu in the Shimabara pre-WW2 looked something like this:

      禿, Kamuro --> 少女, Shoume --> 天神, Tenjin --> 太夫, Tayuu

As she explains, the “shoujo/ shoume” stage was when the proprietor of an ageya would decide if a kamuro had what it took to become a tayuu or not. If she was deemed capable, this stage would be when the young girl started taking specialized classes in earnest and trained to become a proper tayuu. If she was deemed incapable, the proprietor would have her train to become a geisha. I don’t know if that meant turning the former kamuro over to a willing geisha okiya, or if she was trained within the Shimabara to take on an entertainment-only role.

          Aoi-tayuu is interested in bringing back these middle ranks for many reasons. Firstly, she wants to restore as many traditions as possible within the Shimabara. These middle ranks of shoume and tenjin were possible when the Shimabara was still a busy and well-funded entertainment district, so she wants to give modern people a glimpse of this former glory. This is true of other traditions being revived by her ageya, the Suehiroya (末廣屋), such as the Tayuu Hassaku every August 1 and the Tayuu Mochitsukai every December.

          Secondly, it’s probably due to her own experience with training to be a Tayuu at her former ageya, the Wachigaiya (輪違屋). At the Wachigaiya, the path to becoming a tayuu currently looks like this:

     禿, Kamuro --> 振袖太夫 / 見習い太夫, Furisode-Tayuu/ Minarai-Tayuu --> 太夫, Tayuu

Aoi-tayuu discussed how she was a kamuro from ages 2-12, a furisode-tayuu from ages 12-27, and a tayuu from age 27 to the present. As she tells the story, her promotion to furisode-tayuu seemed rather haphazard with no special recognition or ceremony from the Wachigaiya. It’s my belief that she may have felt like her dedication to the traditional arts and culture as a kamuro wasn’t being appreciated or acknowledged by her ageya. This may be why, now that she has several dedicated young girls working at the Suehiroya, she would want to bring back the shoume rank as a way to recognize their dedication to traditional arts and culture. 

          I also wonder if the optics didn’t have something to do with it. After all, most yukaku made sure to let you know which women were “available” by having them wear their obi musubi (knots) in front. So, kamuro, shoume, maiko, and geisha are clearly “unavailable” because they wear their obi musubi in the back. However, Aoi-tayuu was 12 when she was promoted to furisode-tayuu and would’ve worn her obi musubi in front, accordingly. Even though modern-day tayuu don’t offer sexual services, the idea of a 12-year-old signaling her sexual availability must leave a bad taste in the mouth of modern-day sensibilities. The shoume rank could help alleviate this situation by providing a way to acknowledge & signal the girl’s growth without any sexual implications. 

November 2019: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, and her two shoume, Akari-shoume & Kaede-shoume, during the Japanese filming of the "Prisoners of Ghostland" movie. Aoi-tayuu stresses on her Twitter that she and the girls do not represent "tayuu" in the movie; they are simply lending the tayuu aesthetic to the film.

July 2020:  Aoi-tayuu, her shoume, and her kamuro, of Suehiro ageya, bowing to their customers at a summer ozashiki.

January 2020: 14 year old shoume Akari-chan (朱里) dancing Ume no Hanagasa (梅の花笠, “Plum Blossoms Flower Hat”) at the First Suehiro Rehearsal Party (第一回末廣屋おさらい会).

January 2020: 9 year old shoume Yuina-chan (唯愛) dancing Kyou Noshiki (京の四季, “The Four Seasons of Kyoto”) at the First Suehiro Rehearsal Party (第一回末廣屋おさらい会).