Golden Light and Good Luck at Hassaku
“How, in such a dark place, gold draws so much light to itself is a mystery to me.”
When I photographed events with geisha and maiko in Gion Kobu like Hassaku (August 1) and Shigyoshiki (January 7), I was always hoping to capture a surprise, something I didn’t or couldn’t expect.
I was particularly hopeful when a geiko or maiko I knew would enter a narrow alley, especially a covered one. Unfortunately, there are more of these alleys in Miyagawa-cho than Gion Kobu, which is why I preferred photographing New Year’s greetings in Miyagawa-cho.
In these covered alleys, magic sometimes happens. A single shaft of sunlight might slip through a crack in the roof, spotlighting a white face or colorful kanzashi.
Even better, as the geiko or maiko moves deeper into the dark alley, the soft light caresses the gold of her obi, and it shimmers more strikingly than usual.
At these times, I am always reminded of a passage from In Praise of Shadows by Junichirō Tanizaki:
“And surely you have seen, in the darkness of the innermost rooms of these huge buildings, to which sunlight never penetrates, how the gold leaf of a sliding door or screen will pick up a distant glimmer from the garden, then suddenly send forth an ethereal glow, a faint golden light cast into the enveloping darkness, like the glow upon the horizon at sunset. In no other setting is gold quite so exquisitely beautiful.”
Mamehana’s obi is not glowing so gloriously in the photograph I have posted here because Mamehana has just stepped into the alley. If I had pressed the shutter a second sooner, the white and gold of her obi would have been hideously overexposed.
Take a look at the left sleeve of maiko Mamesome’s kimono, in the bottom right corner of the frame. Mamesome was one step behind Mamehana, and the sunlight on her black sleeve is so bright her kimono looks dark gray, not black. I made this image about 30 minutes before high noon, when the sun is near its’ highest, hottest, and brightest.
If I had waited a second longer to press the shutter, Mamesome would have moved between Mamehana and me, completely obscuring the obi. I did not know Mamesome, so I tried to avoid photographing her as best I could.
That’s another reason why photographing Hassaku was so difficult. Maiko and geiko rarely walk alone around their district, so if you are trying to photograph only a specific geiko or maiko as I usually was, it’s not so easy. I couldn’t ask Mamesome to wait just a moment so I could make another photograph!
As most readers will know, there was no Hassaku in Gion Kobu or any of the other geisha districts this year because of COVID-19. I have not been to Gion Kobu since the end of March, but I call my friends every few weeks, or they call me. Everyone I know is still safe and healthy, and all are staying inside as much as possible, as am I.
I hope you are able to do the same! Please stay safe, wherever you are!
Photographing crowded events like Hassaku is always challenging, but sometimes a little magic (and light) happens.