Fiona Graham
| Fiona Graham | |
|---|---|
| Born | Fiona Caroline Graham Melbourne, Australia |
| Residence | Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Other names | Sayuki |
| Alma mater | Keio University |
| Occupation | Anthropologist, geisha |
| Website | |
| www.sayuki.net | |
Fiona Caroline Graham (born in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian anthropologist who currently works as a geisha[1] in Tokyo. She debuted in Tokyo's Asakusa district under the name Sayuki (紗幸) in 2007.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Academic career
Graham first traveled to Japan for a student exchange programme, when she was 15.[3]
Her first degrees in psychology and teaching were taken at Keio University. She received a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford, and an M.B.A. from the same university.[4]
[edit] Geisha activities
On 19 December 2007, Graham formally debuted as a geisha under the name Sayuki in the Asakusa District of Tokyo, after a year of preparation and training.[5][6] Graham became a geisha as an academic project for a year initially, but received permission to continue after the initial year.[7] She continued as an Asakusa geisha for more than three years. She has been reported to be the first foreigner to work as a geisha in Japanese history.[8][5][3] Her formal debut and membership of a geisha house distinguishes her from American scholar Liza Dalby, who also trained and debuted as a geisha in the 1970s.[9] [10] Sayuki took lessons in tea ceremony previously, and as of 1 August 2011 was taking lessons in shamisen, singing, and her main art of yokobue (Japanese bamboo flute)[8][11], which she chose after playing western flute for many years.[12][dead link]
Graham was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show in February 2010,[13] and also in the fashion magazine Marie Claire in November 2009.[14]
In February 2011, Graham was disaffiliated from the Asakusa Geisha Association.[15][16] The Daily Telegraph cited anonymous insider claims that Sayuki had failed to follow customs and show proper deference to more experienced practitioners, as well as spending too much time on self promotion. The Asakusa Geisha Association did not comment on whether she had been disaffiliated.[17]
In a June 2011 interview in The Australian, Graham stated that the Asakusa Geisha Association had rejected her request to operate independently from December 2010 after the "mother" of her geisha house fell ill. She denied falling out with other geisha. Graham said she would continue to operate as a geisha, and would later possibly join a different geisha district.[18] According to a representative of the Asakusa Geisha Association, the Association only gave special dispensation for Graham to be a geisha "as part of her study" and "did not expect her to want to become an independent Geisha to begin with".[16] According to Graham, the Association would not allow her to have her own geisha house because she was not Japanese. The Association acknowledged that Japanese citizenship was one requirement for working as a geisha.[15]
As of March 2011, Graham works as an independent geisha in Tokyo.[19]
[edit] Wanaka Gym court case and fine
In December 2010, as sole director of Wanaka Gym Ltd., Graham was fined NZ$64,000 and ordered to pay NZ$9,000 in costs to the Queenstown Lakes District Council in New Zealand, after being convicted of 14 charges under the Building Act concerning the use of the Wanaka Gym in Wanaka as a backpacker-style hostel after the building had been declared "dangerous" in June 2008.[20] During the trial, Graham's second lawyer sought to have the defendant's name and occupation details suppressed, claiming it would jeopardise her activities in Japan, but this was denied by the presiding judge.[20][21] Graham had been involved in a legal battle with Queenstown Lakes District Council regarding the Wanaka Gym premises since 2000; in 2006, she was fined NZ$5,000 in the Alexandra District Court after her property was deemed a fire risk for its 14 tenants,[22] and in 2009 she was ordered to pay back NZ$4,150 to five former tenants who had been evicted.[23]
The dispute revolved around whether the house was a backpacker hostel and needed superior fire standards or whether it was a normal house. The dispute was resolved in 2009[verification needed] when a court ruled in favor of Graham, deciding that the house is not a backpacker hostel as the council had claimed throughout, but a single household unit.[24]
[edit] Bibliography
- Inside the Japanese Company by Fiona Graham, Curzon Press, 2003, ISBN 0-415-30670-1
- A Japanese Company In Crisis: Ideology, Strategy, And Narrative (Contemporary Japan) by Fiona Graham, Routledge, 2005, ISBN 0-415-34685-1
- Playing at politics: an ethnography of the Oxford Union by Fiona Graham, Dunedin Academic Press, Edinburgh, 2005, ISBN 978-1903765524
[edit] References
- ^ Ng, Adelaine. "A glimpse into the secret world of geisha". http://blogs.radioaustralia.net.au/english/2011/asia/a-glimpse-into-the-secret-world-of-a-geisha. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ Martin, Alex (3 June 2011). "Geisha cuts into kimono market". The Japan Times Online. Japan: The Japan Times Ltd.. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110303f3.html. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ a b Ryall, Julian (9 January 2008). "Westerner inducted into mysteries of geisha". The Telegraph (Japan: Telegraph Media Group Limited). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1574835/Westerner-inducted-into-mysteries-of-geisha.html. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Ryall, Julian and Norrie, Justin (2008-01-08). "Australian academic is a geisha down to a tea". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/australian-academic-is-a-geisha-down-to-a-tea/2008/01/07/1199554571282.html.
- ^ a b "Melbourne woman becomes a geisha". 9 News. Ninemsn Pty Ltd. 8 January 2008. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/342992/melbourne-woman-becomes-a-geisha. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
- ^ Corkill, Edan (29 June 2008). "Aussie geisha speaks out". The Japan Times. The Japan Times Ltd.. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080629x3.html. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
- ^ Nakano, Keisuke (12 May 2008), "Meet Sayuki, first foreign geisha", The Nikkei Weekly
- ^ a b McNeill, David (24 January 2008). "Turning Japanese: the first foreign geisha". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/turning-japanese-the-first-foreign-geisha-773167.html. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
- ^ Hyslop, Leah (4 October 2010). "Liza Dalby, the blue-eyed geisha". The Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/8008802/Liza-Dalby-the-blue-eyed-geisha.html. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ Corkill, Edan. "Aussie geisha speaks out". The Japan Times. The Japan Times. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080629x3.html. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ^ Ng, Adelaine. "A glimpse into the secret world of geisha". http://blogs.radioaustralia.net.au/english/2011/asia/a-glimpse-into-the-secret-world-of-a-geisha. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ "Getting to be a Geisha". The Mainichi Daily News. Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110908p2a00m0na002000c.html. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ "Lisa Ling goes inside the world of a modern geisha and a real-life nunnery". Oprah.com. Harpo Productions, Inc.. 9 February 2010. http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/Lisa-Ling-Goes-Inside-the-World-of-a-Modern-Geisha. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^ Haworth, Abigail (9 November 2009). "Meet Japan's First Western Geisha". Marie Claire. Hearst Communication, Inc.. http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/japans-western-geisha. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^ a b "外国人芸者の独立ダメ…業界組合「想定外」と困惑 [Foreign geisha denied independence - Association uneasy at unexpected turn of events]" (in Japanese). Sponichi Annex. Japan: Sports Nippon Newspapers. 6 June 2011. http://www.sponichi.co.jp/society/news/2011/06/06/kiji/K20110606000971140.html. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^ a b Novick, Anna (7 June 2011). "Foreign Geisha's Future Uncertain". The Wall Street Journal: Japan Realtime (Dow Jones & Company, Inc.). http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/06/07/foreign-geishas-future-uncertain. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- ^ Ryall, Julian (4 June 2011). "First ever Western geisha leaves the 'sisterhood'". The Telegraph (Japan: Telegraph Media Group Limited). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8556540/First-ever-Western-geisha-leaves-the-sisterhood.html. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Wallace, Rick (6 June 2011). "Aussie Geisha Fiona Graham rejects reports she's split with Asakusa Geisha Association". The Australian (Australia: News Limited). http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/no-place-for-you-aussie-geisha-told/story-e6frg6nf-1226069744853. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ Ng, Adelaine. "A glimpse into the secret world of geisha". http://blogs.radioaustralia.net.au/english/2011/asia/a-glimpse-into-the-secret-world-of-a-geisha. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ a b Beech, James (18 December 2010). "Gym owner fined $64,000". Otago Daily Times Online. New Zealand: Allied Press Limited. http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/wanaka/141340/gym-owner-fined-64000. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ "Building company fined $64K". The Southland Times. New Zealand: Fairfax New Zealand Limited. 18 December 2010. http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4472511/Building-company-fined-64K. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ "Owner to take council to court over evictions". The Southland Times. New Zealand: Fairfax New Zealand Limited. 13 August 2008. http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/archives/queenstown/577215/Owner-to-take-council-to-court-over-evictions. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ Haggart, Matthew (5 February 2009). "Gym landlord ordered to pay $4150". Otago Daily Times Online. New Zealand: Allied Press Limited. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/42101/gym-landlord-ordered-pay-4150. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ "Court deems Wanaka Gym not a backpackers hostel.". New Zealand: District Court at Queenstown. 11 March 2010. http://theoldgymwanaka.net/other.htm. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
