Karyukai, the flower and willow of the world, existed in Japan before the middle of the eighteenth century. Part of the Japanese tradition is that they honor skills, traditions, rules of conduct and more. Many models of actors, entertainers and workers reside in this world, but perhaps the most intriguing is the geisha.
The geisha herself is called “a person who lives by art” and her whole intention is to carry on the oldest traditions of Japan in music, art, arranging flowers< /a>, ceremonies, songs, dances, feasts. The trust of his clients is the first example of his passion and perfection in the arts. His profession is to sell dreams and is a “cultural asset of the city”. Numbers of real geisha are disappearing into modern lifestyles, but not always in this way.
About the seventeenth century there were men who were considered pleasure-seekers. These men were everything from serious musicians and dancers to witty, foolish and clever Europeans. Many of the more accomplished, especially those who were proficient in the game of shamisen, began to be known as geisha. These geisha sometimes served as advisors for the daimyo. However, such as cha-tate onna (tea-brewing women), odori-ko (dancing girls), and geiko (an “arts boy”, often armed with drums at this time, began to promote themselves as artists and not just prostitutes; the female profession of geisha was created. Since the year 1800, the term “geisha” has been applied mainly to women, even though they were still in the profession company, and they made their lives by their overall skill and talent.
With the rise of the geisha came the beginnings of karyukai, and hanamachi, or “flower towns,” began to grow in the larger cities, namely Kyoto and Tokyo. These towns are entirely self-sufficient. The local government has no powers, although they oversee the local administration in terms of books, finances, registration, events, and management for the resident geisha. Within the hanamachi are ochaya (teahouses); okiya (geisha houses); high school dance, singing, instruments and other arts; fan Shinti and Buddhist temples; theater for performances; and more.
Once the geisha was the only family in the okiya. Many children were sold into okiya families in the kuchi berashi event, which meant that their biological family could not support them all. its members, and so the parents sacrifice one or two children in order to take sufficient care of the rest. Unfortunately, many girls cast out of their biological families worked as prostitutes or onsen geisha (bathing geisha who took in small children and often sold their bodies). The most successful few were accepted into the okiya and the majority of the geisha world became part of the hanamachi.
The life of these girls in the okiya was not much easier than that of the less fortunate wolf girls. They entered the okiya as a tamago, or “egg”, and as the maid of the family, doing chores such as washing, cooking, cleaning, serving, and helping the maiko and geisha of the house with whatever needs they had. At this time they observed the most traditional world within the hanamachi and this observation was meant to prepare them for the maiki training they would have in their teenage years. However, this difficult world in okiya was still more liberating than the lives of normal Japanese women. The girls sold into tamago slavery would finally have the opportunity to get an education in the arts and become freer; To make his own money, and maybe run his own okiya or ochaya in his later years. He was not obliged to arrange marriages, and he could choose his lovers, although many of his love affairs remained secret and the reputation of this man and the geisha.
Nowadays, life in the okiya is still as traditional, but no less difficult and the girls go through the karyukai selection. However, while in today’s world the choice of hanamachi and okiya is of free will, it becomes the most culturally influenced and thus the retention rate of recruits is low. Although Japan values its ancient traditions, it is largely a modernized state, always leaping to invent or create the best new thing. Any girl raised in this life often sees the world of geisha as romantic, idealistic, and beautiful; it is easily twisted. However, it is precisely because of this that many okiya and arts schools have become a little less rigid in their training. A maiko-in-training can effectively leave at any time, and if the instructor is serious about it, it is possible for her to leave the traditional world and return to the modern one. The number of girls choosing to learn the life of a geisha is now too few to risk pursuing them again.
As a young girl, typically a teenager, the okiya wants to enter the modern era as it enters the shikomi. She wears regular clothes while attending family dances and helps her older “sister” (maiko and geiko – the name of a geisha in Kyoto – living in the same okiya) in getting ready for the evening business. After ten months of serving and studying as a shikomi, a girl can take the exam to enter full maiko status. This exam consists of two dances, and the girl is judged on every aspect of herself, behavior, speech, from time she enters. room and tea to his judges for a time. A geisha’s role not only begins and ends her artistic activities, but every aspect of the way she presents and behaves must be done through the ultimate tradition and respect.
When a girl passes the exam to become a maiko, she undergoes a short period of training known as minarai. Minarai literally means “to look and know” and that’s exactly what young maiko does during this period that lasts from two weeks to a month. Since she only lived in the okiya, the girl expands her realm of learning throughout hanamachi. For the first time, he wears regalia and maiki fabric and begins to learn how to carry himself with grace in a heavy and sometimes awkward costume. Height and weight is a requirement for a girl choosing to become a geisha. Because of the high shoes he wears the maikos must not be taller than about 160 centimeters (or about five feet three inches); and because of the weight of his kimono and hair ornaments—sometimes over ten kilograms or twenty-two pounds—he must weigh no less than forty-three kilograms (ninety-five pounds) to be considered strong enough. body habit (Sakata). As the minarai itself also begins to attend parties, or ozashiki, usually in one ochaya known as minarai-jaya, to meet the staff and begin to observe the ways in which the conversation flows, games are played and shows are given.
After this short period of observation comes an even shorter period. A maiko’s formal debut is called misedashi, literally meaning “opening of business,” and this lasts a mere three days. At this time he has his first action in ochaya and spends almost the whole time introducing himself to the owners of these teahouses and restaurants. However, to that conclusion, all maikos themselves are officially part of karyukai.
Achieving maiko status is really only the beginning of a girl’s more thorough, extensive training. Not only does she continue her lessons in singing and dancing, but she begins to learn the more exacting manners themselves. arranging ceremonies and flowers. The tea ceremony is called sado, which means “The Way of Tea”, and is a rich and detailed philosophical practice. the tradition from the utensils and bowls used, to the number and kind of bows, the movements of the hands, and the words of the voices. Like sado, ikebana is considered a deeply spiritual and philosophical experience. Popularly known in the West as flower arranging, ikebana often uses the principle of “less is more” and believes that beauty is about symmetry versus asymmetry. Each of these arts is an outstanding achievement of geisha who pride themselves on being masters of ritual and tradition, although these are only two examples in the repertoire of geisha arts.
One of the greatest talents of a geisha is her talent and skill in dancing. Only a privileged few with money or relatives will ever see her perform in ozashiki, but the public has a chance to see her outside of hanamachi when she performs at local festivals. In Kyoto several times a year the geisha are officially performed: Kyo Odori, Kitano Odori, and Cerasus Tantis in April; Kamogawa Odori in May; Dance of the Six Districts in June; Gion Festival and Kami Shichiken Beer Gardens in July; The feast of the ages in October; and Gion smelled of November. Of these only a few of the many hanamachi share; The Odori and Chorri dance festivals are held annually by each of the five hanamachi districts. The Choros of the Six Districts is so named because there used to be a sixth hanamachi in Kyoto, called Shimbara, but in recent times it is no longer active. For the Miyagawa-cho district, at the Gion Festival ten local maiko are chosen to perform in the parade, but in Kyo Odori almost all the geisha and maiko send out hanamachi to perform in the dances that last two weeks. The roles of Kyo Odori are chosen from the end of January and the narratives continue in increasing intensity until the point of the festival. At this time, maiko and geisha still attend the evening ozashiki with clients, only to perform in full regalia early in the morning on the day of the festival. Tokyo also has fewer opportunities to see geisha in public with the exception of the Asakusa district, which participates in seven public activities throughout the year. These activities are popularized by the Asakusa geisha at the otanoshimi kai, or “Entertainment Society with the Asakusa Geisha.”
Geisha dance is unlike most western styles. His movements were closely controlled and often slow; she is a deliberate narrator, conveying the words of the poem through her actions. Every little action or event in history will describe its own physical movement. An example of a geisha poem: “Anxiously waiting for you, / unable to sleep, but falling into a doze– / Those are the words of love / Floating to my pillow, / Or this dream too… / My eyes. open and here my sleeve is filled. Even the words themselves are artful, hinting at dreams and feelings, but they never declare their intention as clearly as Western language often does.
The geisha’s hair ornaments and kimono are another extension of her dance, but they also mark the changes of the seasons. The patterns on the kimono change every month, but sometimes more often for special occasions. In spring and autumn, kimonos are made of heavier silk and are lined to provide extra warmth, since geisha do not use modern coats. In winter when it is much colder the kimono are double lined and have a colored layer at the bottom. However, perhaps the most visual change in geisha clothing is the miter or kanzashi. Every month the kanzashi are different and, like the patterns on the kimono, some kanzashi are worn only during certain holidays and celebrations. Some examples of popular kanzashi would be the horns in February (this is the first flowering event of the year), cherry blossoms and butterfly kanzashi in April, picked specially designed for the Gion Festival in July (everyone is designated a new year), and white flowers to resemble Japanese rice cakes. December New Year. Komomo, a modern day geisha, gives an example in her book of exactly how accurate geisha dress is. Price had taken a photograph of her feet as she stepped outside the door of her okiya, and from this photograph, which she looked at a few years later, she said, “I can only tell from my feet and the bottom of my kimono what time it is. It is the day, the time of year (three days below) , and where I go. What is called a “juban” is formed in the shibori style, which they only wear after the Shigyoshiki ceremony.
A geisha’s makeup is as important as her kimono and kanzashi. The most famous part is the douran, or white makeup used to cover the entire face and neck. Douran used to contain lead, and it seems that many of the old women died prematurely. This practice has long been outlawed, although some geisha still use drops of philomela to clean the skin on the douran, just as women did in the past. However, women today apply oil paste to the skin before dourana to help protect the skin and create better skin for applying makeup.
From the neck to the nape of the neck is the eri ashi, or nail of two tridents of bare skin, which is regarded as one of the amorous aspects of maiko and geiko. (Another common erotic practice shows a little under the kimono-or naga-juban – sleeves or feet.) The eri ashi is said to represent the female genitalia, although on some special occasions, such as a maiko’s misedashi there are three strips of naked skin.
Geiko and maiko both also paint their mouths a strong red, although they are visually different. Geiko covers the entire lip by applying it, while maiko only covers a small part of the upper and lower lip to give them a doll-like appearance. During the first year, the maiko will only apply paint, which is made of glass sugar, to the bottom of her lip. Finally, both the geiko and the maiko paint the eyelids in black as moth-like wings, the eyes red lines extending to the corner, and a thin black line added directly around the eye. It is the geiko’s own job to complete, although for the first few months or a year the maiko will help him learn how to do it properly. The ultimate goal is to have the same face all the time.
Everything a geisha does, from her manner to her skills to the way she composes and arranges herself, becomes like a fantasy, a dream. A geisha client described them by saying: “A geisha’s power, strength and beauty come from history and tradition. She understands how to be Japanese. She will teach you and guide you and look after you. She is the homeland of the soul.” Perhaps her words are the best way to describe those independent women. Children’s passion for traditional arts are Children of tradition, but in the face of technology the numbers are decreasing. and modern conveniences. Karyukai is failing, not only because fewer people choose to pursue this lifestyle, but also because fewer people support those who do. And yet even of those clients who continue to frequent ochaya geisha, even fewer fully understand the traditions and customs once approved by all. The geisha, an image of days gone by, may soon become a snapshot in history itself.
Books
“Geisa life, voices, art” by Jodi Cobb.
“Vaemon’s Pleasure Quarter: The Secret History of a Geisha” by Lesley Downer.
“Geisha unique world tradition, elegance and art” by John Gallagher.
“The Journey of a Geisha: My Life as a Kyoto Apprentice” by Komomo.
Hallway
Shane Sakata, “So You Want to Become a Geisha?” Nihon Sat.
