Becoming a Geisha: Movie Reflection

The film “Becoming a Geisha” allowed me to gain insight into the lives of the Geisha girls. This film gave information that I was completely unaware of before, and I am truly fascinated by the culture. The life commitment, attention to detail, and overall culture and tradition of the Geisha is extremely interesting.

            Firstly, it is amazing that the Geisha trainees are required to leave their families and are forbidden to have any contact with them. This is described and shown as being difficult for the girls, and often, because of this strict rule, girls will drop out of the training program and return home. In one scene, Yukina is showing the viewers various pictures of her friends and family. We can see that it is very hard for her to be separated from her family, and after two months in training, she has become lonely.

            The life commitment of becoming a Maika is also extremely important and interesting. It is described that they must drop out of school, and that every day is a part of training. Although this may be seem as though they are giving up everything in their lives, it is explained that after they have become a Geisha, they will receive many privileges such as access to the best restaurants and a chance to meet very important people.

            Throughout this film, the attention to detail that the Maika’s must learn during their training is fascinating. The way in which they hold a trey, the way they walk, the way they play the drums, is all taught and assessed according to the smallest movement. In one scene, we see Yukina must practice walking into a room with a trey multiple times as her instructor believed that the first time she did it, she walked too fast and did not hold the trey in the precise proper manner. Additionally, when Yukina goes to pick out her Geisha name, her name is chosen according to the amount of strokes it takes to write that name. They chose 15 strokes for her because they believed it would appeal to customers. It is amazing that such small details cause have such a great influence.

            Another important aspect of this film that I noticed is that Yukina’s mother did show concern about her pursuing this career. Her mother feared she would act more as an escort for men, and be forced to participate in sexual favors. Yukina’s teacher reassured her mother that Yukina would not be forced to participate in anything she did not feel comfortable with or want to do. She explained that Yukina had the right to say no to customers. However, we later learn in part 2, that Yukina’s “older sister” was forced to drink with clients. Her “older sister” was described as recovering from a late night with clients in which they forced her to drink an abundance of wine. She explained that she did not enjoy wine at all, and did not get drunk easily, but this simply meant that the clients would make her drink more. Although she did not seem to mind, and said this in a humorous manner, I am slightly confused by a Geisha’s role now. Is this occupation mainly about entertaining men? And how much control do women have in deciding what they will and will not do without offending the clients?

            Lastly, it seems that the Geisha girls are almost viewed as celebrities in their community and in the larger Japanese community. While I was viewing the film, I saw many people on the street staring at the Geisha girls in interest. Also, listening to Yukina and her “older sister” discuss parties, watching their weight, and being called beautiful regularly reminded me of this kind of celebrity values and culture in the United States.