Geisha

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Geisha
Geisha in Kyōto 's Gion district

A geisha [ ˈgeːʃa ] ( Japanese 芸 者 , "person of the arts") is a Japanese entertainer who performs traditional Japanese arts .

Word origins and terminology

The term geisha , composed of gei ( 芸 , art or arts ) and sha ( 者 , person ), comes from the Tokyo dialect and was adopted from there in the European languages. The standard Japanese knows the term geigi ( 芸 妓 , artist ), in the Kansai dialect they are referred to as geiko ( 芸 子 , child / girl of art). A geisha in training is called hangyoku ( 半 玉 , half-jewel ) or oshaku ( 雛 妓 ) in Tokyo and maiko ( 舞 妓 , dancing girl ) in Kyōto .

Historical development

Two geishas playing shamisen

The geisha profession has its origins in the taikomochi or hōkan (most comparable to sole entertainers at court) and was initially only practiced by men. The first women who began practicing the profession from around the 17th century were called onna geisha ( 女 芸 者 , "female geisha").

The heyday of the geishas was in the 18th and 19th centuries , during which time their services as entertainers were in demand and affordable; they were also fashion trendsetters. After the Meiji Restoration , her role changed to keepers of the traditional arts.

In most Japanese cities there was so-called Hanamachi ("flower quarter"; hana is also a euphemism for a prostitute ). In these entertainment districts, geishas lived together in okiyas , the houses of a geisha community. Today only a few hanamachi exist, the most famous of them in Kyoto , the center of Japanese geisha culture. The largest and most famous hanamachi is Gion . The number of geishas is steadily declining, and their services are expensive and exclusive.

In December 2007, a western woman made her debut as a geisha in Tokyo under the name Sayuki . Since 2012 there have been two foreigners who work as geisha in Japan and belong to the Japanese geisha associations: Ibu, a geiko of Ukrainian descent living in Anjo, and Fukutaro (Isabella Onou), Romanian national living in the Izu-Nagaoka district in Shizuoka is working.

education

Maiko with Juni- Kanzashi in Gion

The basic training of a maiko, a learning geisha, traditionally began at six years, six months and six days, i.e. on the 2190th or 2191st day of life. Since 1952 it has only been possible from the age of 16 and normally lasts five years. During this time, the future geisha learns the basics of traditional Japanese arts such as calligraphy and playing on several musical instruments, for example shamisen (lute), fue (flute) and tsuzumi (hand drum). A geisha must be good at conversation , be a good singer, dancer, and hostess, and also master the tea ceremony . The high costs for the training are covered by the owners of the okiya and have to be paid back by the geishas. Many geishas continue their profession into old age.

To be successful, a geisha must appear graceful, charming, educated, and witty. She must also have a perfect command of the rules of etiquette and maintain poise at every opportunity.

entertainment

Gion, 2003

Geishas usually appear at celebrations or gatherings, for example in teahouses ( 茶屋 , chaya ) or in traditional Japanese restaurants ( 料 亭 , ryōtei ). The booking is made with a kemban ( 検 番 ), a "geisha agency" that organizes the appointments and manages the schedules for performances and training. The cost of a geisha is based on their working hours, which are traditionally set as the burning time of certain incense sticks , and are called "incense stick fee " ( 線香 代 , lokdai ) or "jewel fee " ( 玉 代 , kyokudai ).

Clothing and accessories

Typical painting of the neck and November kanzashi

When the first women began practicing the geisha profession in the 17th century, courtesans ( Oiran ) feared competition. Because of this, the geishas were forbidden to wear flashy clothes and hair accessories. Traditional work clothes of the geishas are silk kimonos . From November to March these are padded, the rest of the year - regardless of the temperature - made of thin silk. A geisha's kimono and obi can weigh up to 20 kg.

Geishas wear special wooden sandals, the getas . The hairstyle usually consists of a simple topknot, on special occasions artfully looped, black wigs ( katsura ) are also worn. You can tell from the hairstyle of a maiko with her kanzashi in which section of her training she is. A maiko does not use wigs. On official occasions or commissions, the geisha make up her face with the white paste Oshiroi . The white is supposed to reflect the light and emphasize the face of the geisha in the candlelight. A component of traditional make-up is a pattern on the neck (two lines in everyday life, three lines on special occasions), which gives the make-up an erotic look, as the face make-up acts like a mask and only a little skin exposed to direct eyes. Before a maiko has been active for a full year, she is only allowed to paint her lower lip red. After a year of work, she is allowed to paint both lips red. The older the geisha gets, the more discreetly she puts on make-up, as she is mainly supposed to attract attention with her art, not her beauty.

Image and reality of the geishas and their relationship to eroticism

Geishas in the Edo period

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

During the Edo period was prostitution legal. Prostitutes, yujo , and courtesans, called oiran , worked in licensed districts. In the 17th century, men sometimes had oiran, called geisha , perform at their celebrations for a fee. There was a clear distinction between prostitutes and geishas in the districts. Geishas were forbidden to appear erotic in order not to be in competition with the prostitutes. Before World War II , most geishas had a danna , a sponsor who paid for part of their living expenses. Some geishas also had romantic relationships with their danna , but these were entirely voluntary. A geisha could end the relationship with her danna at any time and, if she wanted, look for a new danna . Most of the relationships between danna and geisha, however, were platonic. For the danna , sponsoring a geisha was a kind of status symbol and for the geisha it was a great support for their career.

Geishas today

Geishas at the 134th Miyako-Odori

Geishas are keepers of the traditional arts. Erotic does not play a role in the entertainment of the guests. It's about invigorating the mind, having an intellectual conversation and marveling at the dancing and musical skills of the geishas and maiko. Anyone who is allowed to come to a tea house, for which one needs a guarantor, is offered a sophisticated evening: joy, entertainment and ingenuity. The American portrayal of the wartime and the film industry keeps a picture of geishas as prostitutes. But even some Japanese often fail to understand that this picture of the geishas does not correspond to reality.

Many geishas run a website or blog about their everyday life and are successful businesswomen who, in addition to their work as geisha, often become entrepreneurs. After they have paid their debts to their okiya, they become self-employed and are then no longer dependent on an okiya.

See also

  • Hetaera (similarly respected female way of life in ancient Greece)

literature

Non-fiction

  • Michael Stein: Japan's courtesans: A cultural history of the Japanese masters of entertainment and eroticism from twelve centuries . Academium, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-89129-314-3 .
  • Liza Dalby, Dirk van Gunsteren (translator): Geisha . Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg, 2004, ISBN 3-499-26491-9 .
  • Mineko Iwasaki , Elke vom Scheidt (translator): The true story of the geisha . Ullstein, Munich 2004, ISBN 978-3-548-26186-7 .
  • Ursula Richter: The life of the geisha, the reality behind the white mask . Bastei Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach, 2007, ISBN 978-3-404-60586-6 ; before as: The Geisha's Smile. Secrets of the Japanese art of living. Ehrenwirt, Bergisch Glattbach 2005, ISBN 978-3-431-03629-9 .

Novels

Feature films and documentaries

Web links

Commons : Geisha  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edan Corkill : Sayuki: Aussie geisha speaks out . The Japan Times , June 29, 2008, archived from the original on September 16, 2018 ; accessed on October 30, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
  2. ↑ Chunichi Shimbun, 1st of October 2011, 3rd opening
  3. ^ Rob Gilhooly: Romanian woman thrives as geisha (en) , The Japan Times. July 23, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2014. 
  4. ↑ arte: Geisha trainee
  5. ↑ The cultural background of the geisha. Retrieved June 30, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Geisha. TV documentary (45 min.), Broadcast on March 12, 2010 on Arte.