Tradition caught on film

FIONA GOODALL/Auckland City

OLD SCHOOL: Rie Shabata is bringing ancient Geisha traditions alive through her photography.

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Rie Shabata’s life in New Zealand couldn’t be further away from her childhood in Japan training to become a geisha.

But now the AUT art and design masters student is getting creative with some memoirs of her own.

From the age of two, Miss Shabata was groomed to become a geisha by her grandmother.

Although her days as a geisha are far behind her, Miss Shabata is keeping the spirit alive through her photography.

She says she wants to express a very old, cultural tradition in a modern way.

All the work she does during her masters, she says, is reflective of her time as a geisha.

"It’s still a big part of who I am."

Two of her photos were recently selected from 68 entries for inclusion in the AUT University calendar.

Born in Kyoto, the youngest of all her cousins, Miss Shabata was selected early on to follow in her grandmother’s geisha footsteps, waking every day at 5am and learning traditional dance and customs as well as going to school.

Miss Shabata says it was hard juggling the geisha life with her modern school life.

She had no weekends or free time with her friends, often staying up until midnight doing school work and geisha training.

When she was 15 her grandmother died at the age of 107 and Miss Shabata quit the geisha life.

Looking back she says although it was hard, she is glad she learned the strict rules of a geisha which she can now pass on to others through her photography and teaching.

"It’s important to teach the old school ways".

"Many people now think that geisha means prostitute, but it’s not. It’s much deeper than that."

But before her death, her grandmother had taught her the importance of learning English and teaching Japanese and English about the ways of the geisha.

"I thought, how can I make geisha known to people?"

Her quest led her to New Zealand, where she has been studying graphic design at AUT for the last three years, gaining her bachelors degree last year.

The 26-year-old says she prefers the relaxed way of life in New Zealand.

"Everyone in Japan was always rushing and I wanted to go slow. Here it is more mellow, which is more me."

But she says she still wakes up at 5am.

She hopes to show all her geisha photography when she completes her masters.

"I think my nana would like that."

- © Fairfax NZ News