20th Anniversary Dream Trip Contest

Great Travel Moment

On a visit to Fukuoka on the island of Kuyushu, I turned a corner and bumped into a beauty competition. I found myself amidst a crowd of tiny geishas and their parents. Young girls from four to maybe eight years old were made up in traditional kimono, elaborate wigs and white face paint. I watched, fascinated, as parents adjusted obis, applied mascara, poked and prodded until they had assured themselves that everything was just so. The girls, meanwhile, looked at turns sophisticated, bored, scared, excited, happy, or just waiting for it all to be over so they could go and play with their friends.