Geiss,+Ciara

__The Journey of Geisha from Pre to Post-World War II __

Geisha means artist. Few know what being a geisha entails; many know a geisha solely on her appearance. She is known as the elegantly dressed woman with the dark black bun that sits on top of her powdered white face. Her culture has been around for over 400 years. She has entertained samurai, business men, and soldiers, without selling herself the way many believe she has.

**The History and Life of a Geisha:** Geisha made their first appearance in the early 1600’s in pleasure districts, or enclosed areas of town where the government tolerated prostitution. Geisha entertained samurai in a way similar to a court jester entertaining a king. Surprisingly these first geisha were male, not female!

In this same pleasure district, one prostitute’s list of clients was decreasing. In attempt to gain back her services, she began to dress as a geisha. Soon female geisha outnumbered male geisha and they stole all the prostitutes business. In 1779, a geisha’s business was considered as a profession; therefore registry of office called a kenban was set up to control it. This prevented geisha from entering the act of prostitution. The government controlled the geisha strictly and a chaperon had to accompany the geisha to and from banquets to prevent sexual encounters with clients.

Geisha served as accomplices to the samurai to over throw the military dictators, or shoguns, rule. They secretly allowed samurai to use the tea houses for private meetings. With the support of the geisha, these samurai over threw the ruling shogun. In 1868 when Meji took over, the geisha were associated to the most powerful group in the country.

**1900’s**: Around 25,000 geishas existed. When Japan conquered Russia over the control of Korea, a banquet was thrown to negotiate these matters with Russian general Kuropatkin. An experienced geisha named Okoi was brought in to entertain him. During her performance he demanded that she give him her obi, or sash that wrapped around her waist to secure her kimono. She blatantly refused; this impressed Prime Minister Taro katsura, which compelled him to make her his mistress. This opened the gate to geisha having access to high powers of government. This began the act of geisha marrying into wealth and power.

**1920’s:** Geisha were in competition with Café girls as the westernized ways were a craze in Japan. During this Jazz Era, these café girls wore western clothes and provided company at a much cheaper price than a geisha. This craze quickly died out in 1926 when emperor Hiro Hito took control and nationalism sweep Japan. Western ways of life were shunned. This benefited the geisha greatly as they represented Japanese tradition. The number of geisha once again increased to 80,000.

**1930’s:** The demand for geisha increased. Families from the country would sell off girls as early as age 7. They were bought by mothers in okiyas, or homes where apprentice geisha and geisha resided. In the 1930’s many of these young girls entered the life of a geisha not by choice. There are two distinct classes of geisha that are prevalent in Kyoto:
 * Maiko: an apprentice geisha
 * Geiko: a fully qualified geisha.

__ Maiko __ Maiko began training as young as nine, but when labor laws were enforced in the 1950’s training began around 15 years of age. A maiko has a distinctly different look than a geisha. Her attire consists of a kimono, which is a handmade intricately detailed gown, and obi, a long sash that ties around the waist area of the kimono. The obi is tied in the back and hangs almost to the maiko’s ankles. A maiko paints her face with white powder and lines her lips in red to create a seductive pout. A maiko wears a loose collar on the back of her kimono, which hangs low to expose the nape of her neck. Three strips of skin are not concealed with white makeup to expose this area of her neck. This area is considered an erogenous zone, and is comparable to what cleavage or leg is to Westerners. She wears high wooden platform sandals, a brightly colored kimono, and a high obi to give her chest a child-like appearance.

Each week the geisha goes to a hairdresser. Hair pieces are woven in to create thicker hair; it is a very painful process. A geisha’s hair style is called “the split peach.” To preserve her hair style, she rests her head upon a wooden block while she sleeps. Rice may even be spread around the wooden block to train a geisha to keep her head upon the wooden block, for if she falls the rice will stick to her hair and she will have to get it re-done.

Maiko are to attend private parties and shadow their older sisters, or mentors, to gain experience. This observation is known as minarai, and translates to “learning by watching.” All maiko have an older sister to teach them the century old traditions and secrets. During minarai, a maiko is supposed to master dance, song, conversation, and a distinct dialect (which is softer sounding than tradition Japanese).

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Under contract to their okiya, the mother or grandmother supports the maiko financially and provides them with room, board, and attire such as kimonos and obi throughout the maiko’s apprenticeship. It costs around 500,000 dollars to train a geisha. Apprentice geishas go through 5 years of training. Only when the maiko or geiko fully repays her debt to her mother/grandmother in the okiya can she move out and live on her own.

__ Geiko __

A geiko is a fully qualified geisha. She may wear a katsura, or wig, and the split peach hair-do she wore as a maiko is now worn as a bun. A geiko wears a shorter obi and doesn’t wear white make-up as often and never after the age of 30. When a maiko becomes a geiko, the transition is referred to as “turning the collar.” The red collar the maiko once paired with her kimono is substituted for a white one, which signifies her transformation to a geiko.

A geiko has a less extravagant appearance than a maiko. She is better known for her expertise on the shamisen, a three stringed guitar-like Japanese instrument, along with her ability to sing. A geiko is required to serve as the life of a party and engage the guests in drinking games. A geisha is a professional companion; she must excel in dance, music, and literature. To be clever with words is a huge asset. Conversation must include a vast amount of topics and the pampering of male ego is very important too. A geisha sacrifices love for art. She does not marry and is cut off from family bonds. She practices a code of silence, as there is never any talk of what happens in the geisha district.

Once a geisha ‘s debts are paid off to the mother of the okiya, the geisha’s earnings, along with tips can go directly to them. A geisha generally lives off her lucrative party tips, but alone this income can’t support the geisha’s wardrobe. A kimono and obi are made of the finest silk. These detailed garments generally cost thousands of dollars each. It is not uncommon for geisha to go through a dozen each year. A top geisha is expected to have at least two dozen kimonos. Kimono's colors dictate time of year and occasions. A black kimono is worn at the beginning of the year, a pink in the summer, an orange during the fall, and a green kimono is to be worn during the winter. Accessories such as belts to secure the kimono and matching hand bags run from 200 to 500 dollars each.

For assistance, a geisha may seek a danna, which is a male care-taker similar to a husband. Danna are usually wealthy older married men. A maiko’s virginity is usually auctioned in an event called a mizuage, which translates to “raising the waters.” In a mizuage, the highest bidder takes the maiko’s viriginity and becomes her danna. The geisha in turn is known as his mistress. A maiko’s mizuage serves as a rite of passage and usually occurs between the ages of 15 to 17. This act became popular in the 1930’s. Having a danna often locked many geisha into lifelong commitments with men they did not want to be with.

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Life of a Geisha After WWII: In 1941 Japan went to war with America. During this time many geisha houses had to shut down and geisha were forced to work in factories. Their beautiful kimonos had to be turned into work attire, such as overalls.

Shortly after the Americans took over Japan, General Mac Arthur authorized the opening of the geisha district again, where traditional geisha once again entertained. Real geisha had the chance to perform once again. For American soldiers who had just arrived in Japan, so called “geisha” houses, where women from all walks of life could work, were opened. Soldiers could pay twenty yen to pick the woman of their choice to have sexual relations with. Fifty thousand women falsely portrayed themselves as geisha. Traditional geisha were status symbols of wealthy men from 1945 up until 1959 when government-licensed prostitution in Japan was prohibited. After this time geisha no longer participated in mizage, as a geisha was now able to decide their own intimate life. While prostitution was outlawed, its commonness increased.

After World War II, many deprived and desperate young women who had little to no knowledge of the geisha lifestyle, passed themselves off as geisha to the American soldiers stationed in Japan. A prostitute geisha’s kimono stood out as she tied obi in the front. The obi is tied in the front because the geisha frequently took her kimono off and put it back on and couldn’t rely on someone to tie it up several times a night. Any Japanese woman could pin her hair up, dress in a kimono, and call herself a geisha. This caused confusion as to the role of a traditional geisha, causing much speculation in both the Western and Japanese world that the geisha was nothing more than a prostitute.

While this tarnished the reputation of real geisha, many took advantage of it. One group of geisha called hot springs geisha did just that. These traditional geisha accepted money for sex. These hot springs geisha performed for hundreds people at resorts several times a week. They were considered the lowest on the totem pole of geisha.

Today, in Tokyo there are around 100 geisha and bookings for parties are severely falling. These geisha go by the name Shinbashi geisha. The younger population of men prefers hostess houses now, as they are unfamiliar with the traditional geisha culture.

Dana system still exists, but is not enforced. Geisha can’t marry their dana, but can have his children. If their offspring are girls, they assist with the family geisha business. They hope for females, as they feel males will have no place within their geisha district. The tradition of the geisha has been prevalent in the Japanese culture for over 400 years. They are an iconic part of Japans culture that hopefully will remain so for many generations to come!

Gallagher, John. //Geisha: A Unique World of Tradition, Elegance, and Art//. New York: PRC Publishing Ltd, 2003. Print. Golden, Arthur. //Memoirs of a Geisha.// New York: Random House Inc., 1997. Print //Kyoto Maiko and Geisha Girls.// Hello-Nippon.net. Youtube: http://youtu.be/93NuA2DQCzw //The Secret Life of Geisha.// Writ. Clive Maltby. Dir. Anthony Geffen. A&E, 1999. DVD. //The Tea House Scene: Memoirs of a Geisha.// Youtube: http://youtu.be/JH8tihClZMg
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