With a few hesitant steps and the swoosh of kimono against a tatami-mat floor, it isn't long before Awagiku finds her rhythm, moving with what comes close to perfection by the end of another exhausting practice session.
Global PostBut Awagiku can be forgiven the occasional loss of timing. She is one of three young women who are just months into their careers as aspiring geisha.
There is a lot riding on their success: if they make the grade they will not only have fulfilled a personal ambition to enter the "flower and willow world" of Japan's traditional entertainers. They are also part of an ambitious project launched by the town of Shimoda to use public money to prevent the local geisha tradition from disappearing.
Shimoda, a hot spring resort on Japan's Pacific coast, was home to about 200 geisha in the 1950s. Now just five are left in the town which, like other seaside towns along this picturesque stretch of coast, has fallen victim to the era of cheap foreign travel and declining interest in geisha life among young Japanese women. (salon.com)
With a few hesitant steps and the swoosh of kimono against a tatami-mat floor, it isn't long before Awagiku finds her rhythm, moving with what comes close to perfection by the end of another exhausting practice session.
Global PostBut Awagiku can be forgiven the occasional loss of timing. She is one of three young women who are just months into their careers as aspiring geisha.
There is a lot riding on their success: if they make the grade they will not only have fulfilled a personal ambition to enter the "flower and willow world" of Japan's traditional entertainers. They are also part of an ambitious project launched by the town of Shimoda to use public money to prevent the local geisha tradition from disappearing.
Shimoda, a hot spring resort on Japan's Pacific coast, was home to about 200 geisha in the 1950s. Now just five are left in the town which, like other seaside towns along this picturesque stretch of coast, has fallen victim to the era of cheap foreign travel and declining interest in geisha life among young Japanese women. (salon.com)