Fiona Graham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fiona Graham
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Graham as Sayuki playing the yokobue Japanese flute in January 2013
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Fiona Caroline Graham
Melbourne, Australia
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| Nationality | Australian |
| Other names | Sayuki |
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| Occupation | Anthropologist, geisha |
Fiona Caroline Graham is an Australian anthropologist. She also works as a geisha in Japan. She became a geisha in 2007 in Asakusa, a part of Tokyo. Her geisha name is Sayuki. As of 2021, she works in the Fukagawa area of Tokyo.
Contents
Early Life and Studies
Fiona Graham was born in Melbourne, Australia. When she was 15, she traveled to Japan. She went there for a student exchange program. During this time, she lived with a Japanese family and went to high school.
University Education
Graham studied psychology and teaching at Keio University in Japan. Later, she went to the University of Oxford in England. There, she earned two advanced degrees in social anthropology. Her studies focused on how Japanese companies work.
Books About Japanese Companies
Graham has written three books about anthropology. Two of her books are about a large Japanese insurance company. She called this company "C-Life" in her books.
Inside the Japanese Company (2003) and A Japanese Company in Crisis (2005) explain what it was like to work there. Graham joined the company after college. She then studied it as a researcher. She even made a documentary film about it.
These books show how employees felt about their company. They also describe how people acted when the company faced hard times. Reviewers found her books insightful and helpful.
Book About Politics
Graham also wrote Playing at Politics: An Ethnography of the Oxford Union (2005). This book is based on a documentary she made in 2001. The documentary was for Japanese television.
The book looks at students who wanted to be president of the Oxford Union. This is a famous debating society. Graham showed how ambitious these students were. She also shared funny comments from people watching them. Reviewers called this book a "witty examination" of British politics.
Becoming a Geisha
Fiona Graham first started learning about geisha for a documentary. She planned to make a film for the National Geographic Channel. After her training, she was allowed to keep working as a geisha. She officially became a geisha in December 2007. Her geisha name is "Sayuki."
Geisha Training and Skills
Graham trained for a year in the Asakusa geisha district of Tokyo. Her training included many traditional arts. She learned Japanese dance and the tea ceremony. She also learned to play the shamisen, a Japanese string instrument.
Graham is very good at playing the yokobue. This is a Japanese side-blown flute. As of 2013, her documentary about geisha was still not finished.
Working as an Independent Geisha
After four years, Graham wanted to take over her geisha mother's okiya. An okiya is a geisha house. Her geisha mother was retiring because she was sick. However, Graham's request was not approved because she is a foreigner.
In 2011, Graham decided to work independently. She left the Asakusa Geisha Association. She still worked as a geisha in the area. She also opened a kimono shop in Asakusa that same year.
By 2013, Graham was running her own okiya in Yanaka, Tokyo. She had four young women training with her. As of 2021, she has permanent residency in Japan. She runs an okiya in the Fukagawa district of Tokyo. She has three apprentices there. She lets tourists watch the young geisha during their lessons.
International Performances
Graham has traveled around the world to show geisha arts. She visited the United Kingdom in 2013 for the Hyper Japan festival. She also performed in Dubai in 2013 and Brazil in 2015.
When the pandemic happened, Graham started offering online geisha events. This allowed people to enjoy geisha performances from home.
Books by Fiona Graham
- Inside the Japanese Company. London: Routledge, 2003. .
- A Japanese Company in Crisis: Ideology, Strategy and Narrative. RoutledgeCurzon Contemporary Japan series, 1. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. ISBN: 0-415-34685-1.
- Playing at Politics: An Ethnography of the Oxford Union. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, 2005. ISBN: 9781281232168, ISBN: 9781906716851, paperback ISBN: 978-1-903765-52-4.
Images for kids
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Graham as Sayuki playing the yokobue Japanese flute in January 2013
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Sayuki (left) and one of her trainees in January 2013
See also
In Spanish: Fiona Graham para niños
