December: four seasons come to an end

When the first snow covers the last green and sends all plants and flowers into hibernation, in the sky a pale tinted winter moon rises, indicating a coldness deep inside, when it's getting more and more foggy outside and in the homes fires crackle... then goku-getsu has come ("end of the year-month"), also known as shi-hatsu-zuki ("four seasons come to an end-month") and haru-machi-zuki ("waiting for spring-month"), or, as we call it, December.

With the twelfth and last month in the year a busy time begins in Japan: koto-hajime, the start of things to be done at the end of the year. Everybody prepares for New Year, sends out greeting cards and small rice cakes to cherished people, settles last differences and disputes, purifies and decorates the home for New Year. In the Kyoto-Osaka area, Geiko, Maiko and other people of the showbusiness solemnize Hatsuyori on the 13th: carrying along kagami mochi, rice cakes, as gifts they go around to the different teahouses and their masters' houses to bring their New Year's congratulations. Tea people set pine branches and/or daidai oranges into the alcoves, cover the stepping stones, the water basin and the doorsill in the garden with straw lids to protect them of the white crystals and set the mood for yuki no cha, the tea ceremony celebrating the first fallen snow. As the end of the year approaches, they change the kama, kettles, several times. And while they do this for the last time for Joyo-gama, the tea ceremony on New Year's Eve (joya), okotousan is celebrated in Kyoto - literally meaning "such a busy moment, there's so much to do." After visiting the teahouses of the different quarters to express their gratitude and to receive small gifts, all Geiko and Maiko go to the Yasaka shrine to light up a wick of rice straw with the holy Okera flame and take this wick home to ignite the oven, as this brings luck for the coming year.

And so do we at the Blue Lotus celebrate the end of the year! Though there might be no public celebrated Koto-hajime, there are other exciting things coming up: in the following weeks our sim will slowly turn into a landscape of snow sculptures and on Sunday, 27th, at noon we will show you the origin of the first rabbits in our winter play.
Okotousan: such a busy moment, there's so much to do. So let's cherish this special month together. The Blue Lotus warmly invites you!

Momijigari, the Maple Hunt

As the autumn chill sets in and the trees start turning their most glorious colors this month, Blue Lotus invites you to celebrate Momijigari with us on the 21st of November!

"Momijigari" literally translates to "maple hunting," and this is precisely what the practice is about: during the peak turning season, Japanese families take a day to hunt around their area for the most brilliant red maples, and picnic underneath them in reverence of nature's beauty.

In the spirit of this, we'll be bringing all the shades of autumn's beauty to the sim and inviting you on a hunt for these beautiful maples! The event will begin at our brand new entertainment complex on the corner of the sim. There will be prizes given to the best hunters, and afterwards we invite you to join us in our brand new entertainment complex for refreshments and a movie.

We hope to see you there! Ookini!

Saturday, November 21st
11am - 1pm SLT
Begins at the brand new entertainment complex of Blue Lotus

November: month of maple

We are very sorry for our two months long absence in our blog. Though our calendar has always been up-to-date, our posting activity was not.

urayamashi
utsukushuu natte
chiru momiji

How enviable,
turning beautiful then falling
maple leaves

(Shiko)


November is the month of maple: of kaede, turning maple leaves, and momiji, red maple leaves, and is accordingly celebrated with momijigari, the chase and view of autumn trees, in midmonth. The maple in autumn is the equivalent of the cherry blossom in spring and it represents a delicate short-lived beauty which is followed by the first snowflakes of winter.

Another festival in November is shichi-go-san (literally "seven-five-three") which is celebrated on November 15th. It's a festival for children of these ages as they mark important events in a child’s life: when they are three three boys and girls are allowed to let their hair grow for the first time, at the age of five a young boy celebrates wearing his first hakama (a pleated skirt originally worn by men only) and at the age of seven a young girl wearing her first obi. The children visit a shrine with their parents who express their gratitude for their hitherto luck and to ask for their children's future health and safety.

The Blue Lotus celebrates this beautiful autumn month with momijigari on November 21st to which you are warmly invited!

Gion Matsuri, a celebration originally to ward of the ravages off the plague in the 9th century, has now become Japan's premiere festival. At the Blue Lotus we will be celebrating with month long activities and fun- all are welcome to participate and visit. Here is a tentative list of events planned:

Gion Matsuri Opening Ceremonies
July 1st 2009 at 1 pm SLT
A group performance featuring various ranks of Blue Lotus Geisha centered around Gion Kouta

Float building /parade planning for Hanagasa Junko ( Flower parasol parade)
July 10th 5am-7am SLT
July 11th 10am-12noon SLT
July 12th 10am-2pm SLT
July 13th 10 am -2pm SLT
As we will be only having one parade in July we have combined floats with the classic parasol and floral hat into one festive procession. Any SL group interested in participating and representing their group are welcome. Please contact BL maiko Umeha (Hana Hendrassen) for details. Patrons and friends also welcome to participate or just enjoy watching.

Hanagasa Junko ( Flower parasol parade)
July 24th, 2009 at 11am SLT
Parade featuring the floats and costumes of Gion Matsuri parades ..including special presentations of ladies representing various SL Okiya

Hanagasa Odori
July 24th 2009 at 7pm SLT
at the SS Galaxy
Performance of the Hanagasa Odori (Flower parasol dance) to traditional Music by Blue Lotus Geisha.

Tanabata Legend
July 26th 2009 at 11 am SLT
Tanabata Legend play featuring voice narrative at the Blue Lotus Stage.

July - the month of Gion Matsuri

July is the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the summer. It is the month of fireworks, the hottest days and the Tanabata festival. And the month of Gion Matsuri, one of the three largest festivals in Japan.

Gion Matsuri takes place in Kyoto, the ancient capital city of Japan. Throughout July, there are street fairs with music, games and Japanese festival food. The crowning event is Yamaboko Junko, the procession of 32 giant decorated floats through the streets of Kyoto on July 17th. In the preceding evenings of the previous three days these floats are illuminated by lanterns and in the evening of July 16th thousands of people dressed in Yukata take to the pedestrianized streets of downtown Kyoto to view them amid the constant festival music of flutes, drums and bells.

This celebration initially originated as part of a purification ceremony in response to a plague when a priest of the Yasaka shrine led a procession through Kyoto in an attempt to appease the Shinto gods. The plague ended soon, but this was repeated wherever an outbreak would occur. In the year 970 it was decreed an annual event and has since seldom been broken.


The Blue Lotus Okiya welcomed the new month with the Gion Matsuri opening performance on July 1st at 1pm SLT: in the beautiful scenery of the Cherry Path Gardens Umeha, Hatsuyo and the three Shikomi Bryony, mushroom and amarna danced to the melody and lyrics of Gion Kouta, a traditional and very popular folksong in Japan, played by me (Ichisumi) on the shamisen. We were dressed in the same Kimono of Flower&Willow and wore the same Gion Matsuri kanzashi of Hana Katsuraya. In spite of some SL problems all went well.

In the course of Gion Matsuri we will hold more performances and Ozashiki, please watch our blog calendar and teahouse group for keeping up-to-date.

June is here in all her finery!

June heralds the start of the new season. Time to dust off your lacquered shoes, change your tama and unfold your yukata collection. Small hints of change that let us know summer is here and fireworks are in the near future.

As always this also is the time for our new shikomi to join us. You must be wondering why shikomi is given such an importance at the Blue Lotus when in real life they are helpers and new faces of geisha trainees. In our virtual hanamachi there are needs to adapt and create new traditions. To better convey the aesthetic in this medium.

Our first rank is Okiya Hopeful. A four to six week period that allows an applicant to get to know the Blue Lotus and people there to see if the geisha path here is for them. They are also sent on a pilgrimage to visit other okiya and geisha establishments. The goal of this is to get these applicants to see the varied options and interpretations of geisha in SL and choose one that works for them.

Then an applicant is invited into our geisha group once she has completed the hopeful stage. She becomes a shikomi. For us this is a celebration of a new seed planted in our world we make a little more fuss than normal.

I would like to present the shikomi of this season. Hopefully many of them make it to minarai. Best wishes ladies and happy journey.

You can meet these ladies at our weekly Lotus Blossoms events on Monday's at 10 am SLT and Tuesdays 7 pm SLT at our Ochaya. These are introductory events to help the ladies acclimate to being a SL performer and to meet our honored patrons and friends.

Bryony - Aya - Sushie - Stefy - Klaire - Lorea - Mushroom - Etsuko - Antonia - Sigona - Laianna - Bellefille - Kyla - Princess - Kari - Elora - Fujiko

Things to do at the Blue Lotus Okiya: Ozashiki Asobi

Konnichiwa patrons and followers of the Blue Lotus Okiya!

As you all know, there are plenty of ways to kick back and have an enjoyable time at Blue Lotus. You can take a stroll around the markets, enjoy the blossoms in the cherry path gardens, or spend a relaxing few hours just sitting under the trees and fishing. But while you are here there is one thing you shouldn't miss doing, arguably the reason why the sim is here in the first place: taking part in an ozashiki asobi with the geisha of Blue Lotus!

The words "ozashiki asobi" (御座敷 遊び) roughly translate to "tatami room party," which explains the idea simply enough- guests and geisha assemble in an ochaya (teahouse), where the geisha entertain the guests with convivial conversation, music, dancing and often sake or tea. In RL, just getting into an ozashiki can be difficult and expensive. Guests can't just walk into an ochaya and book a maiko or geiko- they must already be a trusted customer of the ochaya, or invited by someone who is... then the fee itself for hiring the geisha can be the equivalent of thousands of dollars! However many consider it worth the effort to get a glimpse of the exclusive and mysterious world of the geisha, and to witness the skill of these ladies who have honed their artform to a level of detailed perfection.

Here at Blue Lotus we do things a bit differently. You don't have to be formally invited into our ochaya, or even to have been before, to experience the entertainment we offer- we often hold public ozashiki asobi where anyone is welcome to participate and have a good time. Additionally, you don't have to pay a fee to enjoy your time with us (although tips are always humbly appreciated). If you would like the guarantee of uninterrupted time with one of our maiko or geiko, we will give you our undivided attention for a time-based fee, which is marked by the burning of sticks of incense for each interval.

We always enjoy having a good ozashiki asobi, whether with longtime patrons or guests who are new to the entire experience, so please come by the ochaya at any time and we will be more than happy to welcome you into the experience of an ozashiki with the geisha of Blue Lotus. Ookini arigatou-san doshita, we look forward to seeing you in-world!

Maiko Umeha