Shinjuku Parade

I attended a parade in Shinjuku today.

About 100 geishas from Hakone Yumoto joined in this parade.

Although clad in the same costume, I found I don’t know most of them.

I realized that I am familiar with only those geishas who are eager to take shamisen and dance lessons.  They are all nice people.

I saw my okiya mother in her kimono and her Japanese hairstyle for the first time.

How she was cool and authoritative when she leads the parade!  No wonder she used to be the top geisha in Hakone Yumoto, I thought.

I was proud of her.

Tomorrow, I will have my first job as a geisha, entertaining clients.

Yumiko

Yumiko

Today, I finally registered as a Hakone Yumoto geisha.

My geisha name is Yumiko.　「優美子」

Yumiko means gentle and beautiful girl.

I hope I can be the one.

I had my hair done by an excellent beautician --she had done this for me in only 30 minutes!-- in geisha style for registration.

My first job will be attending parade in Shinjuku on October 9th.

I will be playing shamisen in front of guests next week.

It might be a lot of work, but I am enjoying this so far!