Geisha: Japan's Living Treasures
Geisha Defined
The Japanese word geisha translates & means artist or Person of Talent. Contrary to popular belief & misconceptions based upon ignorance a geisha is/was not a prostitute. Geishas served as a means to attitude adjustment in a society that was highly bound by caste & other socio-cultural parameters.
Budoka, the warrior caste, made up entirely by the samurai, were next to the imperial family in power, honor & privilege. A samurai could kill a peasant just as a means of testing his sword's sharpness with impunity. Caste meant everything! Geishas were trained in the arts. They were taught to sing, to dance, to draw & paint, to play musical instruments, serve tea & to converse politely with men. Their makeup, their clothing & their carriage was supposed to denote perfection.
Why were geishas necessary in this highly stratified society? One must look back into the history of Japanese culture to answer this question. Imperial Japan, with almost no exceptions, was a society of fragile delicacy combined with an ethereal beauty. Samurai women were secluded in separate quarters. Women were not allowed to see male visitors except from behind a protective screen. If a woman was feeling flirtatious she could perhaps trail a carefully layered kimono sleeve into a man's view to tease him. Women spent their time, drawing, composing poetry, mixing incense, making music & if married being there for their husbands as sexual partners at his desire. Unmarried samurai women were allowed to have love affairs until they were wed at which time they were required to be completely faithful.
Samurai men were expected as well as allowed to have affairs. Samurai societal tradition made him put his family, his parents & himself before his wife. A samurai's wife secured for him a social position as well as providing him with heirs. At no time was she available nor was she permitted to keep company with him and his samurai companions.
Enter the geisha into this rigid society. A geisha was a professional hostess. Geishas provided flirtatious conversation, making music by playing the samisen combined with song & dance. Geishas were always unmarried. If a geisha did marry she then retired. Other geishas retired to teach music or dance and some cases if she was very famous to open a school for future geishas. This specialized class of entertainer did those things that were designed to make men comfortable, entertained, keep their spirits light & keep the conversation flowing.
Geisha History
The origin of the pleasure quarters is attributed to Saburoemon, who asked for & was granted, a license to build a brothel by his samurai warlord. He located this place of pleasure close to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. He called it the "Yanagimachi or Willow Town", hence the origin of the "willow world" of the geishas. High class courtesans were used to entice the samurai gentlemen of Kyoto. Objections were made due to its location being too near the imperial palace Thus making it be relocated to the now infamous Shimabara. Japan's laws of prostitution of the time kept these activities to within walled, isolated pleasure quarters. These were islands of debauchery where a man might be entertained for the evening at a cost. This also meant that the culture of the quarters was very insular & often was highly stagnant.
Shimabara's courtesans, while otherworldly and very sophisticated ladies, were also "available for the night" at outrageous prices for those who could afford them. Shimabara's ladies were ranked in several orders. The highest were the Tayu, then the Koshi & Sancha. At the pinnacle of this social hierarchy were the Hashi. The Tayu were said to be extremely extravagant. Tayu would often hold fashion parades by flaunting their sumptuous & elegant clothing in front of the other courtesans & thus in doing so would specify a natural hierarchy in the pleasure quarter.
As is true in so many aspects of Japanese culture these courtesans activities became highly ritualized with strict etiquette rulings that included who could associate with the ladies of the pleasure quarters as well as the ruling that a geisha would consort with a man sexually. This made way for a new market niche, entertainers outside the pleasure quarters could legally entertain a man in a less intimate manner freely & without the rules that govern the ways of the Tayu.
All over Japan these pleasure houses were opened, usually near a Shinto shrine. They were often part of a tea house or "o-chaya" and the geishas were part of the entertainment for those who could afford their company. Laws governing geisha activity controlled both the services they were allowed to offer as well as the way they dressed. It was in this way that it became law that they would not serve as a threat to the courtesans/prostitutes as they were neither able to engage in prostitution nor wear the highly decorative clothing of the Tayu. From this set of laws comes simplistic kimono & more simple hairstyles of the geishas that is understated elegance rather than extravagance.
Historically geishas can be traced back to certain well-paid entertainers found in brothels. This caste of entertainers quickly grew to become a separate & very highly elite profession in its own right. Geisha schools were formed. Families would indenture their young girls to the school for period of 5-8 years where in exchange for room, board, food & training, the girl would provide her services to her new "family." Since it was typical for poor peasant farmers to sell their daughters into prostitution & give their sons away to monasteries. It was the life of a geisha, with all its romance & elegance, that was sought after by many young women. It was an acceptable manner for a peasant girl to rise above her birth and even marry a samurai or a wealthy merchant. Geisha were not prostitutes. Although the right to take their virginity or "mizuage" was sold, they were not forced to have sex with any customers, including the men who bought their virginity.
Socially a geisha's position flourished when peace & prosperity came to Japan after the wars that finally ended with the establishment of the shogunate. As the Momoyama period began in the 1600's, this peaceful period brought with it a pursuit of the gentler pleasures & arts. It was the Genroku era of the late 1600's that actually saw art dedicated to the form of woman. This was far cry from those days where a woman form was something to be idealized but never actually looked upon. Several famous artists belong to this period. These artists are Kitagawa Utamaro, Torii Kiyonaga & Suzuki Horunobu . Woodblock prints abounded of the Yoshiwara, the infamous gay quarters of Edo. During this period the merchant class began to flourish & the new wealth ensured that by the 1800's there were over 80,000 geisha employed in Japan.
Becoming A Geisha
A young apprentice girl would start as a "maiko." or dance child. During this long & often arduous training period she would have to learn a myriad of unique skills. She would be instructed in the proper manner to whiten her face, the art of dressing elegantly, how to serve drinks, how to play the samisen, how to sing, learn a repertoire of songs & any number of other "womanly skills." Many geishas learned also about the business world so that they could converse with their clients about things that were important to them.
Now in modern times there are not very many young girls who want to endure the long & very difficult training necessary to become a geisha. The actual number of geishas is declining in Japan. There are some 100+ licensed & active geishas in Japan today. Girls wishing to become a geisha are usually introduced to an o-chaya by a person who has a connection to the teahouse. The head woman called an "okami," interviews the girl with her parents, where she explains how the training is accomplished & what the training consists of as well as the duties of an apprentice geisha. If the okami accepts the girl as an apprentice to her o-chaya, the girl begins her training immediately & comes to live in the o-chaya. An apprentice candidate must be a graduate of a middle school in order to even begin to qualify to be a geisha. A candidate must exhibit some talent in music, be graceful, have a quick mind & be pleasing to look upon. When a candidate becomes a geisha apprentice she will not be allowed to quit for 6 years. In addition to helping with the chores & errands of the o-chaya, the apprentice learns customs, social skills & begins music along with dance lessons.
After about 6 months, she will be called a "maiko" as these15-20 year old girls are known. A maiko accompanies a geisha to all of her appointments to get to know the customers. Maiko girls wear a colorful kimono with long sleeves and high wooden shoes. When a maiko turns 20 years old, she then decides if she will quit or become a geisha. If she gets married, she has to quit the job. If a maiko decides to become a geisha, the ceremony called "erigae" meaning literally "changing of collars" is held in her honor.
In today's world geisha are a slice of history that means something to the Japanese about their culture. In the rest of the world these highly talented, beautiful ladies are viewed as oppressed, tawdry & often as prostitutes. Nothing could be further from the truth! Geishas are true living treasures that depict & live a historical part of the culture of Japan.
Sources:
Japanese Geisha
By Shizuko Mishima, Tokyo 1992
Geisha: Behind The Painted Smile
Exhibit of the Peabody Essex Museum by Andrew Maske, 2004
Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile Adding Context to Myth
By Nirmala Nataraj, 2005
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Comments: 17
I knew a lot about geisha, but now I know more thanks to you.
The photo is very beautiful, or I should better say the lady in the photo.
marinela
i wonder if you'd seen the little weird formatting - putting question marks at the ends of some sentences.
i am glad you wrote this to help dispel the misconceptions. i lived in japan, and so knew better. but so many people don't!
wonderful Grandmother of Japanese heritage. You are starting a deep groove here. Is there a link to Imperial Nikon here?
Every society seems to have a version of this behavior. Talk about a "head shaker".
I truly enjoyed this article, from beginning to end. Your research was very well done, and you presented it in an easy to read and entertaining manner. Another winner from the Doc!
As an aside, my grandmother met a geisha when she lived in Japan as part of the occupying forces after WWII. They became friends and corresponded for many years. I have a small brass koro, or incense burner which she gave my grandmother on a bookshelf in my home. Family lore has it, that this koro came from the geisha's quarters, and was passed on from occupant to occupant. The fact that it survived through the war is quite remarkable, as the Japanese rounded up "extra metals" regularly to be melted down for weapons production.
Thank you for such a remarkable read!