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Geisha ... a little history ...
12/7/2008 8:34 am |
Geisha The word "gei" in Japanese means art. The Geisha (or geiko) is first and formost, an artist. She is not a prostitue and does not sleep with clients as a part of her job. A geisha may choose to have an affair/be involved, but if she does, it could be with any man, just as it is anywhere else in the world. If a man in Japan wants sex, there are many bar "hostesses" (they often dress like geisha) who would be more than happy to oblige them for a price... Mizuage is no longer practiced (not for a loooooong time.) At the time that it was, it was not considered prostitution, but more of a sexual rite of passage for the young woman (also, the geisha mother used it as a way to re-coup some of the enormous debt incurred with boarding/clothing the young woman in extravagant kimono for many years.) After the mizuage, the geisha was not tied to that man in any way. Not all geisha were "lucky" enough to have a dana. A dana was a man (usually of considerable means,) who was willing to support financially a geisha that he wanted to have a serious relationship with. This might involve setting her up in a house, paying for her dance and music lessons, clothing her in kimono, etc. She would be his mistress, but still work as a geisha, attending banquets/entertaining guests. There were advantages and drawbacks to this. Many times the geisha mother would make the final decision about the dana, which meant that many geisha were trapped in long-term relationships with men they did not love. Things have considerably changed in the way the geisha mothers treat their "girls." With the demand for geisha dwindeling, and also the lack of young women wanting to enter this profession, geisha mothers treat their girls very well. They want them to stay, not scare them away. Geisha mothers do not "own" these girls any longer. "Article written by Nubka" ----------------------------------------------------------------- A little history.... Geisha come out of the "floating world" the era of the pleasure quarters, giving rise to today's "flower and willow world" the world of the Geisha. The origin of the pleasure quarters is attributed to Saburoemon who asked for, and was granted, license to build a brothel by his ruling warlord. This was placed not far from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and was called the Yanagimachi or Willow Town. High class courtesans were used to tempt the gentlemen of Kyoto, however objections were made due to its vicinity to the palace and so it was moved to the now infamous Shimabara. The laws of prostitution at the time kept such activities to walled in isolated pleasure quarters, islands of debauchery where a man might be entertained for the evening at a cost, this meant the culture of the quarters was very insular, if not stagnant. The courtesans of Shimabara while otherworldly and very sophisticated were none the less "available for the night" at ludicrous prices for those who could afford them. There were several ranks of Shimabara ladies: the highest were the Tayu, followed by the Koshi and Sancha and at the top of the social hierarchy were the Hashi. The Tayu were said to be extremely extravagant and would often hold impromptu fashion parades by flaunting their sumptous clothing in front of the other courtesans, and in doing so specify a natural hierarchy in the pleasure quarter. Like so many aspects of Japanese culture the courtesans became highly ritualised with strict etiquette ruling who could associate with the ladies of the pleasure quarters. This made way for a new market niche, entertainers outside the pleasure quarters could legally entertain a man in a less intimate manner freely and without the rules that government the ways of the Tayu. Unlicensed pleasure quarters sprang up all over Japan, the appeal of the free thinking unruly women grew rapidly. Many of these areas were near to Shinto shrines and offered tea and entertainment to pilgrims, lending the name Ochaya (or tea house) to the establishments at which these girls entertained, though liquor was quick to overtake tea on the menu. The Odoroki or dancing girls were very popular in these areas for entertainment, though as some of the girls grew older it became innappropriate to take this name and so called themselves Geisha after the male Geisha of the pleasure quarters who would entertain men at their banquets before they would retire for the night with the courtesans. These male Geisha, or Taikomochi, may have been the first but they were soon superseded by the popularity of the female Geisha. The ruling lords at the time saw the trends changing and began to ensure that teahouses were licensed much as the pleasure quarters had been. The laws governing Geisha controlled both the services they were allowed to offer and also the way they dressed, in this way it would hope that they would not serve as a threat to the courtesans being neither able to engage in prostitution nor wear the highly decorative clothing of the Tayu. This gives rise to the simplistic kimono and [relatively] simple hairstyles of the Geisha: the point is understated elegance rather than extravagance. Licensed Geisha districts grew first in Gion and then spreading to other Hanamachi throughout Japan. The Tayu soon seemed to lose their popularity and today there are no full time Tayu in existence, though a handful of women keep up the tradition by playing out the role in daylight hours for exhibitions. From then on the Geisha were to be the epitomy of high fashion, usually the forerunners of new trends and "Iki" habits. In turn they too became ritualised and as the Geisha dwindle in number they have become as unreachable to the average man as the Tayu were in the pleasure quarter era. As Western culture has taken hold of Japan the Geisha are no longer the denizens of high fashion but the holders of a traditional culture. One of the other major changes to the lives of the Geisha came about after World War II. The new laws governing prostitution and entertaining girls meant that girls could no longer be sold into the Geisha life by their families, nor could a Maiko's virginity be bought and sold any longer, removing the long standing Mizuage rite of passage. Today the Geisha life is a very different one, girls become Geisha by their own free will, and often only stay long enough to get married, much as any other profession in Japan. The Geisha population is slowly dying out and many of the Hanamachi have disappeared in recent times. There are talks of regulating the Geisha world, however whether this will ever occur is uncertain. The stigma of advertising for girls to join the profession has meant that the numbers do not grow, and there is a social understanding that while it may be very elegant to visit a Geisha it is not likely that one would wish their own daughter to become one. Perhaps the Geisha will become another packaged tourist attraction but more likely, as the Tayu became the Geisha, the Geisha will evolve into something more fitting to contemporary Japan. "Article written by Amaya Booker, from Brisbane, Australia" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Love, Billie |
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 12/7/2008 1:49 pm |
Thank you for sharing; very interesting and informative!
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