Kobe ...

One Saturday morning Amy, Bernie, Olli and I hopped on the train and headed for Kobe. I had never been, we didn't have anything else going on that weekend and it sounded like a pretty solid idea. We didn't really have a plan except to go with the flow. That's our typical traveling style and I like it.

We headed to Chinatown first. Lots of big cities all over the world have a Chinatown and Kobe is no exception. "Kobe Chinatown (Nankin-machi) (南京町) is located in Kobe, Japan. There are over 100 restaurants, shops and a Chinese temple (関帝廟), that accentuate the international flavor of the city with authentic Chinese dining and a unique shopping experience" (WP).
We walked through, but didn't stop. I absolutely LOVE Chinese food but I've come to realize that I love Americanized Chinese food. We've had Chinese in Japan a couple times and it is not anywhere close to the Cedar Falls hot spot Bobbi and I used to go to daily, I mean regularly. :)

The map of Chinatown:

The decorated streets, although this picture doesn't do it justice:

And some places to pray:

Next stop was the Naka Pier. All we really wanted to do was hang out at the pier so this is where we spent the majority of our time.

"Kobe was one of the first cities to open for trade with the West following the end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth busiest container port" (WP). Kobe's US sister port is Seattle, WA.

So we watched the ships come in (most of which were cruise ships):

Although there was this pink pirate ship:
Amy and Bernie kept doing this on purpose, knowing that it was making me nervous. My friends are real jerks. :)

And we speculated on the design, function, and all around purpose of Kobe Tower. Yes, of course Kobe has an observation tower that you can go up in to get the standard 'panoramic scenic view' of the area. This is all I could find about Kobe Tower: "Kobe Port Tower (神戸ポートタワー), a hyperboloid structure, is a 108 metre high lattice tower in Kobe, Japan. Kobe Port Tower has an observation deck at a height of 90.28 metres" (WP). That's it.
And then there is this strange structure next to it, but no one seems to know what exactly it is. I can't find any information about it on the internet, in my Lonely Planet, or by asking around. It's a mystery structure.

The Oriental Hotel sits out on the pier and is beautiful. We're thinking it's probably cheap to stay there, right? :) I found the website for the hotel, but they don't list any prices. You have to phone for inquiries ... That's how cheap it is. :)

This next area on the pier was known as Harborland or the Mosiac. Both names are appropriate I guess? It was full of shopping, restaurants, places to get an adult beverage of choice, and a lot of room for sitting outside and taking in all that is Kobe.

And of course there was a ferris wheel.

(& yes, I went on it. I always do.)

Good news: At this shop you can get '1 peace' for 1,000 yen.

Japan is hilarious sometimes.

That was it for Kobe. We ate some food, walked around, hung out on the pier and then took the train back to Bernie's house for a stand up comedy sleepover. Yet another successful weekend.

much love

-tara-

xx

Becoming a Geisha ...

I know I've blogged about geisha and maiko before, but never quite like this ... (& I plan on quoting a lot of Wikipedia so I get it right).

"A geisha's appearance changes throughout her career, from the girlish, heavily made up maiko, to the more sombre appearance of an older established geisha."

Back in March the girls & I decided to go to Kyoto and see what it would be like to become a maiko (the apprentice geisha). It was really quite simple. A phone call to a business that specialized in this sort of thing and an appointment and we were in.

We got the works. The hair, the makeup & the kimono. And afterwards we walked the streets of Kyoto in these dangerous, I mean traditional Japanese geisha shoes. The whole process was amazing & pretty surreal. You might have to do a double take at the pictures. I know I had to do a double take in the mirror a couple times.

Here we are, in all our geisha glory.

From L-R, Sachika, Amy, Amanda, Bernie, Meghan & myself

Japanese style - NO SMILING

But we couldn't be that serious for too long.

Although, as geishas, we were NOT allowed to show our teeth when we smiled.

Anyone who knows me knows that this was a serious challenge.

Three lovely ladies trying not to smile ...

but it was SO hard.

And for my close up ...

My blue eyes definitely don't make me a very convincing maiko.Nor does my teeth-showing smile, but I couldn't help it.

The makeup process was unreal. We were literally being painted white and it took forever. I hadn't worn this much makeup since, hmm ... middle school? Before I knew any better?

"The traditional makeup of an apprentice geisha features a thick white base with red lipstick and red and black accents around the eyes and eyebrows. Originally the white base mask was made with lead, but after the discovery that it poisoned the skin and caused terrible skin and back problems for the older geisha towards the end of the Meiji Era, it was replaced with rice powder.
"The application of makeup is hard to perfect and is a time-consuming process. Makeup is applied before dressing to avoid dirtying the kimono. First, a wax or oil substance, called bintsuke-abura, is applied to the skin. Next, white powder is mixed with water into a paste and applied with a bamboo brush starting from the neck, up. The white makeup covers the face, neck, and chest, with two or three unwhitened areas (forming a "W" or "V" shape, usually a traditional "W" shape) left on the nape, to accentuate this traditionally erotic area, and a line of bare skin around the hairline, which creates the illusion of a mask."
"After the foundation layer is applied, a sponge is patted all over the face, throat, chest, the nape and neck to remove excess moisture and to blend the foundation. Next the eyes and eyebrows are drawn in. Traditionally charcoal was used, but today modern cosmetics are used. The eyebrows and edges of the eyes are colored black with a thin charcoal; a maiko also applies red around her eyes. The lips are filled in using a small brush. The color comes in a small stick, which is melted in water. Crystallized sugar is then added to give the lips lustre."
After makeup came the kimono. I was really excited to put on a kimono and experience the whole process. In theory it sounded great. In reality it was painful, took forever & made it extremely difficult to move. I have a new found appreciation for women in kimono.

"Geisha always wear kimono. Apprentice geisha wear highly colorful kimono with extravagant obi (front belt like piece). Always, the obi is brighter than the kimono she is wearing to give a certain exotic balance. Maiko wear the obi tied in a style called "darari" (dangling obi). Older geisha wear more subdued patterns and styles (most notably the obi tied in a simpler knot utilized by married women known as the 'taiko musubi' (太鼓結び) or "drum knot"). The sign of a prosperous okiya is having geisha not wearing a kimono more than once, meaning that those okiyas with higher economic status will have "storehouses" of sorts where kimono are stored and interchanged between geisha."

My kimono was black and my obi was yellow:

Amanda & Meghan's obi:

"Kimono can be as many as 12 or 15 layers for a maiko." There were two or three ladies helping each person with their kimono and they had all sorts of padding and ties and literally wrapped you up. I felt like a lineman when we were finished. They put all of these pieces of padding on your stomach and chest and then tie you up with these ties and then do it again.

Meghan, Sachika, me & Amanda:

"The color, pattern, and style of kimono is also dependent on the season and the event the geisha is attending. In winter, geisha can be seen wearing a three-quarter length haori lined with hand painted silk over their kimono. Lined kimono are worn during colder seasons, and unlined kimono during the summer. A kimono can take from 2–3 years to complete, due to painting and embroidering."

Amy & Bernie:

"A maiko wears red with white printed patterns. The junior maiko's collar is predominantly red with white, silver, or gold embroidery. Two to three years into her apprenticeship, the red collar will be entirely embroidered in white (when viewed from the front) to show her seniority. Around age 20, her collar will turn from red to white."

Amanda & I being very serious about our maiko work:

"Geisha wear a flat-soled sandal, zori, outdoors, and wear only tabi (white split-toed socks) indoors. In inclement weather geisha wear raised wooden clogs, called geta. Maiko wear a special wooden clog known as okobo."

I've never worked so hard to put on a pair of socks.

They were tricky.

And the okobo were extremely difficult to walk in.
Especially when we were talking on the uneven, steep streets of Kyoto.

Amanda & I held hands and lived by the saying 'slow & steady wins the race'.

And finally, after makeup & getting dressed, we had to get some maiko hair.

"The hairstyles of geisha have varied through history. In the past, it has been common for women to wear their hair down in some periods, but up in others. During the 17th century, women began putting all their hair up again, and it is during this time that the traditional shimada hairstyle, a type of traditional chignon worn by most established geisha, developed. These hairstyles are decorated with elaborate haircombs and hairpins (kanzashi). In the seventeenth century, hair-combs were large and conspicuous, generally more ornate for higher-class women. Following the Meiji Restoration and into the modern era, smaller and less conspicuous hair-combs became more popular."

Lucky for us, most modern geisha and maiko wear wigs. So that's what we have on and they only took about ten minutes to put in place. The only complaint was that they were SO heavy. My neck hasn't been quite the same ever since ...

Me, Amy & our sweet hair:

Partners in Crime:

Some modern geisha and maiko still have their original hair done regularly into the proper style. If you've seen Memoirs of a Geisha you might remember this scene ...

"Geisha were trained to sleep with their necks on small supports (takamakura), instead of pillows, so they could keep their hairstyle perfect. To reinforce this habit, their mentors would pour rice around the base of the support. If the geisha's head rolled off the support while she slept, rice would stick to the pomade in her hair. The geisha would thus have to repeat the tiresome process of having her hair elaborately styled. Without this happening, a geisha will have her hair styled every week or so."

So we walked around Kyoto dressed as traditional maiko for about an hour and Amanda and I couldn't get over how instantly popular we were. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we posed for pictures with at least 100 people. We were stopped by a high school group of girls who all wanted to take individual pictures with us. It was the strangest feeling. It's also kind of strange knowing that that many people out there have my picture. Hmm ...

After the first ten minutes or so I was able to snap into my maiko character and didn't smile for the rest of the our time. I felt like I looked so blank at times and just plain angry at other times. Definitely not my style, but it was interesting.
They did take our pictures in the studio and I feel like I look so crazy that I can't like them, but here they are in all their craziness:

Don't worry, I'm not going to quit my day job. :)

much love

-tara-

xx

Kyoto Tower ...

I swear every big city in Japan has some sort of observation tower and, despite my fear of abnormally tall structures, somehow I always end up going. Kyoto was no exception.

All lit up & looking pretty:

I was convinced we could take one of those 'look, I'm holding the tower' type pictures, but clearly not from where we were standing.

Amanda proving that I had no idea what I was talking about:

The tower stands 131 meters tall & the observation deck is 100 meters above the ground. Definitely not the tallest tower we've been in, but still.

The adorable Kyoto Tower mascot:

And the view from the top ... (I feel like I write that a lot in my blog):

Smile & peace. I'm so Japanese.Kyoto Station, from Kyoto Tower:

There's a huge Buddha out there somewhere:

Amanda, Lindsey, Casey & yours truly
& heading back down, thankfully.

Music to my ears:

This is how happy I was to get my feet back on the ground:

There wasn't a whole lot of information on Kyoto Tower. It's on top of a hotel & there's shopping & an onsen on the lower level & that's about it. No big story, nothing real significant or outrageous & that makes for an easy blog. :)

Finally, but sadly, our weekend in Kyoto came to a close & we had to head home. We headed back to Kyoto Station & made one last trip to heaven, aka the top of the station.

The Daniel sisters on their way up the gigantic escalator:

Lindsey & I, enjoying the free ride up. Who seriously takes the 3,000 stairs?

Here are the rules for the top of Kyoto station:

No smoking

No dogs

No birds? (I wonder if ferret would be ok?)

I can't figure out the fourth one. ??

No playing catch

No rollerblading or skateboarding

No littering

No graffiti

No open flames?

Lindsey, Amanda & I ... tired & ready to head home:

But not before I finally got my sweet picture. Thanks Case! haha

Heading home is always bittersweet. A little sad the adventure is over, yet happy to be heading home. It's still a little strange to me that Okayama is now home, but it feels right and that's a good feeling.

Our shink that is going to take us back to Okayama:
I love the shinkansen. Who doesn't really?

much love

-tara-

xx