Kyoto's Geisha

Gion Corner is a theater that hosts seven different types of traditional japanese art. It is located in Gion, the land of Geisha's, as well as adult entertainment.

Chando (tea ceremony) Gagaku (court music)
Koto (japanese harp) Bunraku (puppet play)
Kado (flower arrangement) Kyomai (kyoto style dance)
Kyogen (comic plays)

I was not sure how they would get thru all these forms in 40min but it was achieved by doing some of the acts at the same time.
The chando commenced first using two participants from the audience. Half way thru the ceremony, ladies started playing koto & another lady & her assistant performed kado.
Gagaku was good except for one weird recorder that made you think it was broken. A dancer dressed like a warrior also performed.
Kyogen was funny. Three men performed a play about a lord tricking his servants and tying their hands up so they wouldn't drink his sake while he went to town. They managed to still be able to drink it without there hands and got pissed. He came back not happy!
The kyomai was slow but precise. The geisha's dancing looked young and it was mainly hand movements.
Bunraku was a one scene, one puppet play. Three people operated the puppet that would have been about 150cm tall. All wore black including their faces except for the main operator. His facial expressions showed the same as the puppets.

It was good to see the theatre. We would have pictures but being the good people we are and knowing that you cant photograph/film shows, we did not bring the camers. Apparently thou this time you could. Audience members were filming and taking photos with flash! Poo to them.

We also missed on taking photos of the old buildings and streets of Gion. They were cobblestoned, tree lined, dim light, very romantic. We saw a few geisha moving from building to building as well. A taxi went past with three in it and it was a little haunting. Yellow taxi with three white faces of old times. There was also modern geisha's out and about but they wore elegant dinner dresses.

Megan