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- play the piano instead of the shamisen? In the end, the geisha decided to remain distinctively different from the caf� girls and continued as accomplished companions for gentlemen who could appreciate their artistic talents. Ichimaru�s years as a Tokyo geisha from 1926 to 1933 falls into this interesting timeline.
Ichimaru had a single-minded attitude and was determined to make herself standout among other geisha. She began taking shamisen and singing lessons (kiyomoto style) from the famous female shamisen artist-teacher and authority, Enchiga Kiyomoto. Having such an outstanding teacher allowed Ichimaru to make great progress and become a very skilled shamisen artist, especially with the music of the old Edo period to which she devoted herself. Ichimaru was very ambitious and wished to further enhance her skills by training under Grand Head Master Enjudaiyu Kiyomoto V�s son, Eijudaiyu. Unfortunately this move caused friction between Ichimaru and her former teacher, Enchiga Kiyomoto, who criticized Ichimaru as being impudent. Undaunted Ichimaru continued to perfect her skills. She came to enjoy a reputation as the geisha who possessed a �nightingale-like� singing voice combined with elegant good looks and consummate skills with the shamisen.
Rising Star
Ichimaru often appeared at the first-class inn-restaurant in Asakusa known as the Kinsen (Golden Pavilion). Her singing talent was in great demand not only in the teahouses and restaurants of the Asakusa geisha district, to which she belonged, but also to other first-class restaurants of the other geisha districts such as Yanagibashi, Akasaka and Shinbashi. It is said that many geisha were jealous of her quick rise to fame and criticized her, accusing her of being haughty. Not discouraged by all the criticism, Ichimaru continued to sing and diversify her repertoire.
In the late 1920s and early 30s new technology was occurring in the performing arts. Radio broadcasting and recording companies began replacing stage, teahouse and street performances. Several recording companies were set up and began competing with each other for talent. They searched the geisha districts and began scouting for talented geisha. The Victor Recording company, which was established in 1927, discovered two amazingly talented geisha: Katsutaro and Ichimaru, who were both signed to exclusive contracts in 1931. Ichimaru�s debut performance for recording was carefully choreographed. That year, a railway company in Shizuoka Prefecture had built an amusement park and for its promotion, the company commissioned a famous poet, Kitahara Hakushu, to write a song called Chakiri Bushi (Tea-pieking Song) and its melody was composed by Machida Kasei. This unique, contemporary folk song was chosen for Ichimaru�s debut.
Katsutaro and Ichimaru instantly became rivals under the same record label. They had contrasting singing styles. Katsutaro had a cheerful but high pitch voice, while Ichimaru had a low, crisp and coquettish voice. The intense rivalry between the two was very productive and resulted in a major flowering of popular traditional songs in Japan. Ichimaru was a bit perplexed when Katsutaro came up with a hit song entitled Daughter of the Island (Shima no Musume). However, Ichimaru�s popularity continued to rise and eventually her hits outstripped those of Katsutaro, who would die in 1973 at the age of sixty-nine.
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