Geisha History: An Untold Story

So if you are reading this, you are as interested in this subject as I am. I bought the books and watched the movie Memoirs of a Geisha like a million times. But after I read a book that actually tells a little of the history, I was hooked. I realized that Memoirs of a Geisha was only an abridged version of what really went on.

The word Geisha is split into two parts, "gei" meaning art and "sha" meaning person or doer. Essentially the Geisha is a performer. They are versed in dance, music and conversation. They work in various areas mostly in the tea houses entertaining all sorts of customers. Because of this they are also referred to as "o-shako" which means one who pours alcohol. There are hundreds of terms to refer to these skilled artist.

It is a misconception that the geisha starts out as a maiko or an apprentice geisha. They can enter this life as a full geisha. There is a year's worth of training prior to debuting as a geisha or maiko. A young woman at the age of 21 is considered too old be a maiko and becomes a full geisha upon initiation into the geisha community. However, if a geisha goes through the maiko training, they are considered more prestigious than one that has skipped this training. Mostly the training begins at ages 3 to 5 years of age. In Kyoto, Japan is the only place where a girl must be at least 18 years of age to start out as a maiko in modern times.

ORIGINS OF THIS TRADE

The origins of this trade are old. In the 600's, families that had girls that were a young age were used to make money for the family. Girls sold sexual services, while others with a better education made a living by entertaining at high-class social gatherings. There girls were usually part of a family that had been displaced during the struggles of that time.

After the imperial court moved the capital to what is now Kyoto in 794 the conditions were right for Japanese Geisha culture to began to emerge, as it became the home of the self centered elite. Skilled female performers, such as dancers were successful.

Sexual pleasures were delights in Traditional Japan. Men were not bound to their marriages by their wives. A woman of that time was supposed to be a good homemaker and stay home and raise the children, love was an after thought. For love and sex men often visited courtesans.

This was such a common practice that in the 16th century, walled in pleasure quarters were built. Within these walls prostitution was legal. Outside these walls, it was condemned and illegal. The women that worked within these walled quarters would be licensed and put into certain classifications. The highest class of these ladies were called "Oiran" half actress and half prostitute, they are the predecessors of the Geisha.

These pleasure quarters grew into glamorous areas. They no longer just offered sex. The skills of these ladies advanced into dancing, singing and even poetry and calligraphy. Gradually these women became specialized and there arose a new class. In the turn of the eighteenth century, the geisha emerged. And believe it or not, the first geisha were men!

In the 1680's these geisha were often paid by the samurai to come to their homes and entertain them. They only wanted to see the most skilled and highest class performers. Sadly most of these had turned to prostitution in the early eighteen hundred.

The first woman to called herself a geisha was a prostitute in the 1750's.She was a skilled performer named Kikuya who was an immediate success, making female geisha extremely popular in 1750's. As they became more widespread throughout the 1760s and 1770s, many began working solely as entertainers, no longer offering sex, often along side their male counterparts.

Inside the pleasure quarters, the geisha were essentially prisoners and forbidden to sell sex in order to protect the higher ranking geisha. By the eighteen hundreds, a geisha was considered to be a female job. Eventually the fame of the highest ranking more showy geisha had fallen out of favor to the more modern geisha. Their fashion was even copied throughout society.

There were many different classes and ranks of geisha. Some geisha would have sex with their male customers, whereas others geisha would entertain strictly with their talents relating to art and performing.Prostitution was legal until the 1900s, so it was practiced in many quarters throughout Japan.

With the coming of World War II, the geisha trade fell off mostly because the women were sent to factories and other jobs to work during it. Some were evacuated out of the quarters never to be heard from again. It was about a year before the tea houses were aloud to open up again. By then, the world the old geisha knew was gone. Common prostitutes who were now referring to themselves as geisha thus making the real geisha lose prestige. But as the real geisha began to return to these quarters, they decided to reject the life they were forced into and revert back to what they were before the war. They also had increased rights.

No longer were they forced into or coerced into sex. Before the war, a maiko's virginity was sold. It was considered their most precious attribute. However, after 1959, this practice was outlawed. But in the 1990's it was reported to be a normal practice and in 2001 it was being done in "limited" practice.

COSTUME OF THE GEISHA

The costumes that they wore were layer after layer of fabric and bamboo. The geisha's appearance changes throughout her career. Maikos wear the red under kimono and thick white makeup, while older geisha would wear much more sophisticated and less flashy style. The older geisha has the experience and charm, so she does not require additional adornments.

The makeup that they wore took hours of tiring preparation. The white base that they wore was, at one point, made from lead. It was switched to the safer rice powder. They painted their lips red, often using a smaller shape than their natural lips. They also painted on black winged eyeliner and eyebrows. They would also add red to their cheeks and eyelids.

The way they styled their hair often depended of the type of event they were planning and most of time they wore ornate wigs. Even their own natural hair needed constant attention. They would visit a type of salon to have regular care taken of their hair. But even the wigs needed as much attention. The would dress the wigs or their natural hair with combs, pins and hair sticks.

The dress that they wore was called a kimono. This was usually made of silk that had different ornate designs on it. They had a kimono that they wear around the house and the kimono they wore to their events. They were usually layered to flatten the chest and giving a slimmer appearance. She would also wear a distinctive pair of white socks called tabi socks and a pair of shoes called zori sandals. These often had some height to them and walking was difficult until you became accustomed to walking in them.

GEISHA TODAY

Today their are still geisha that wander the streets of Japan. They practice an art that is as old as time. They have influenced the fashion world with their ornate costumes and hair styles.There are countless people that pass through day after day, year after year wanting to know all about the geisha. Those secrets will be lost to time and are closely guarded. They are very tight lipped about their world and like the movie says, " without it's mysteries, it cannot survive."

The mystery of it is what keeps us all on the continual hunt to take a peek into that world. Their are websites that sell authentic geisha makeup, while others sell ornate kimono. Whatever the fascination is, I know it will keep me buying tabi socks and occasionally dawning geisha like makeup out to events.