72 kimono would fits them perfectly without any additional adjustment. We can
see from the following quotation: When a housewife dresses in kimono, she uses all sorts of padding to
keep the robe from bunching unattractively at the waist, with the result that she ends up looking perfectly cylindrical, like a wood
column in a temple hall. But a geisha wears kimono so frequently she hardly needs any padding, and bunching never seems to be a
problem. Golden, 1997:64
Kimono could be also the way to make differences between apprentice geisha and also full-fledged geisha. We can see from the following
quotation: Young girls dress much more ornately than the older women, you
see, which mean brighter colors and showier fabric, but longer obi A mature woman, will wear tied in back in a manner we call the
―Drum Knot‖, because it makes a tidy little box shape: this doesn‘t require very much fabric
… Golden, 1997, 165 When an apprentice geisha walks down the street in front of you,
you notice not her kimono but rather her brilliantly colored, dangling obi
—with just a margin of kimono showing at the shoulders and on the sides. Golden: 1997: 165
The differences could be seen from the obi that they wear. The
apprentice geisha obi ‘s much longer than full-fledged geisha, and it was also
more eye-catching when we looked at it.
4.4.6.3. Cosmetic
Whenever they were gone, geisha always weared white make-up like a mask on their face. It was said that this white make-up caused all sorts of
curious illusion. The cosmetic or make-up that geisha usually had such as
73 brushes, pigment stick, pale yellow cream made from nightingale droppings,
wax, rouge, and perfume. We can see from the following quotation: …She used this to paint her face and neck, but left her eyes bare, as
well as the area around her lips and nose. If you ‘ve ever seen a child
cut holes in paper to make a mask, this was how Hatsumomo looked, until she dampened some smaller brushes and used them to fill in the
cutous... Golden: 1997, 62 Auntie and I followed Hatsumomo back into her room, where she
knelt at her dressing table and took out a tiny lacquer box containing rouge for her lips. She used a small brush to paint it on. Golden:
1997,65 On her first day of studied about geisha, Sayuri had been ordered by
Mother to watch Hatsumomo use the make-up. The purpose was so Sayuri learned the basic on how to use make-up and she was aware on how the
importance of cosmetic for geisha.
4.4.6.4. Fan
Fan for geisha was a sacred object. They always brought this whenever they went outside for entertained their patrons or when they went
simply walking around. The fan place was on geisha obi, so when geisha need it, they were able to stuck it out easily. We can see from the following
quotation: Geisha in Gion always use a folding fan as a prop when dancing, and
Mameha is particular was masterful in her movements. Golden: 1997, 171
A fan may seem a simple gift for the man who
‘d saved me from life in the factories. But to a geisha, the fans we use in dance are like
sacred object …I‘d never before heard of a geisha parting with such a
thing. Golden: 1997, 353
74 One of reason why it was sacred was because it was been used for
dancing. That was why a geisha never leave her fan. For geisha, dancing was not only for the culture or to entertain the patrons only, but it was also held
some ceremonial aspect too.
4.4.7 Norms 4.4.7.1 Tradition
