Geisha
Geisha (芸者, Geisha?) or Geiko (芸妓, Geiko?) are traditional, female Japanese entertainers, whose skills include performing various Japanese arts, such as classical music and dance. Contrary to popular belief, geisha are not prostitutes.
The word geisha consists of two kanji, 芸 (gei) meaning "art" and 者 (sha) meaning "person" or "doer". The most direct translation of geisha into English would be "artist" or "performing artist".
Another term used in Japan is geiko, a word from the Kyoto dialect. Full-fledged geisha in Kyoto are called geiko. This term is also commonly used in the region to distinguish geisha practiced in traditional arts from prostitutes who have co-opted the name and attire of geisha. Prostitutes wear the bow of their sash, or obi, in front of their kimono, but geisha wear their obi at the back. True geisha usually had the luxury of a professional aide to help them in the difficult process of dressing; their clothing is made up of several layers of kimono and undergarments, and an obi is more than a simple band of cloth. Dressing could take over an hour, even with professional help. Prostitutes, however, had to take off their obi several times a day, so theirs were far less complex, and tied at the front for ease of removal and replacement.
Apprentice geisha are called maiko. This word is made of the kanji 舞 (mai) meaning "dance" and " (ko) meaning "child". It is the maiko, with her white make-up and elaborate kimono and hairstyle, that has become the stereotype of a "geisha" to westerners, rather than the true geisha. A woman entering the geisha community does not have to start out as a maiko, having the opportunity to begin her career as a full geisha. In fact, a woman above 21 is considered too old to be a maiko and becomes a full geisha upon her initiation into the geisha community. However, those who do go through the maiko stage enjoy more prestige later in their professional lives.
Tokyo geisha generally do not follow the ritualized Kyoto maiko apprentice process. The training period can be six months to a year - notably shorter than a Kyoto maiko - before she debuts as a full geisha. The trainee is referred to as a han'gyoku (半玉) or "half-jewel", or by the more generic term o-shaku (御酌), lit. "one who pours (alcohol)". On average, Tokyo geisha tend to be older than their Kyoto counterparts, many holding formal degrees from university.
Stages of training
Traditionally, they began their training at a very young age. Although some girls were sold to geisha houses ("okiya") as children, this was not common practice in reputable districts. Daughters of geisha were often brought up as geisha themselves, usually as the successor ("atotori" meaning heir) or daughter-role ("musume-bun") to the okiya.
The first stage of training was called shikomi. When girls first arrived at the okiya, they would be put to work as maids, or do everything they are told. The work was difficult with the intent to "make" and "break" the new girls. The most junior shikomi of the house would have to wait late into the night for the senior geisha to return from engagements, sometimes as late as two or three in the morning. During this stage of training, the shikomi would go to classes at the hanamachi's geisha school. In modern times, this stage still exists, mostly to accustom the girls to the traditional dialect, traditions and dress of the "karyūkai."
Once the recruit became proficient with the geisha arts, and passed a final, difficult dance exam, she would be promoted to the second stage of training: minarai. Minarai are relieved from their housekeeping duties. The minarai stage focuses on training in the field. Although minarai attend ozashiki (banquets in which guests are attended by geisha), they do not participate at an advanced level. Their kimono, more elaborate than even a maiko's, are intended to do the talking for them. Minarai can be hired for parties, but are usually uninvited (yet welcomed) guests at parties that their onee-san ("onee-san" meaning "older sister", and is the Minarai's senior) attends. They charge 1/3 hanadai. Minarai generally work closely with a particular tea house (called "minarai-jaya") learning from the "okaa-san" (proprietor of the house). These techniques are not taught in school, as skills such as conversation and gaming can only be absorbed through practice. This stage lasts only about a month or so.
After a short period of time, the third (and most famous) stage of training began, called maiko. Maiko are apprentice geisha, and this stage can last for years. Maiko learn from their senior geisha mentor and follow them around to all their engagements. The onee-san/imouto-san (junior) relationship is extremely important. Since the onee-san teaches her maiko everything about working in the hanamachi, her teaching is vital. She will teach her proper ways of serving tea, playing shamisen, and dancing, the casual talk of conversation, which is also important for a maiko to learn for future invitations to more teahouses and gatherings. The onee-san will even help pick the maiko's new professional name with kanji or symbols related to her own name. One would suggest that geisha are prone to "flirt", but it is only their nature to seem demure and innocent. Regional variations exist, as the han'gyoku of Tokyo are known for being sassy and the Kyoto maiko are known for being demure.
After a period as short as six months (in Tokyo) or as long as five years (in Kyoto), the maiko is promoted to a full-fledged geisha, and charges full price for her time. Geisha remain as such until they retire.
Terms
A number of terms are used to describe the profession and community that geisha both live and work in. Though each has its own distinct meaning and translation, some are used interchangeably to describe the geisha community on the whole, such as hanamachi and karyūkai.
- Karyūkai (花柳界, lit., the "flower and willow world"). Before the decline and eventual disappearance of oiran, this term referred to the entertainment districts (the "world") of both geisha and courtesans, with oiran acting as the "flowers", ostensibly for their beautiful and showy appearance, and geisha being the more subtle "willows".
- Hanamachi (花街, lit. "flower town") – the district where a geisha works, is affiliated, and potentially lives. Geisha generally do not work outside of their hanamachi, though customers may call them for special occasions in other districts, or on excursions – however far away – to places outside the karyūkai. Engagements not held in licensed restaurants, teahouses or a geisha's own hanamachi are known as todē, "distant outings".
- Kagai (花街, lit., "flower towns") - An alternative term for the districts in which geisha live and work; interchangeable with karyūkai.
- Gokagai (五花街, lit., "five flower towns") - The five geisha districts of Kyoto; Gion Kobu and Gion Higashi, Ponto-chō, Miyagawa-chō and Kamishichiken. Kyoto previously had six hanamachi, with Shimabara, formerly a red light and geisha district, still being considered an active hanamachi as of 1970. In the present day, Shimabara is active only as a host for tayū re-enactors.
- Mizu shōbai (水商売, lit., "water business"). A euphemistic term used to describe the entertainment and red-light districts in Japan, including the worlds of kabuki actors and geisha.
- Though geisha may not live within their hanamachi in day-to-day life, all geisha must be affiliated with an okiya (置屋) – a geisha lodging house. Okiya are usually run by women, many of whom are ex-geisha themselves.[5] Though geisha may entertain guests within their okiya and at restaurants or inns, they will usually work at an ochaya (お茶屋, lit., "teahouse"). Geisha will usually take engagements for part or the whole of an evening referred to as ozashiki (お座敷) – a term that combines the name for a banqueting room, zashiki (茶屋), and the honorific prefix "o-" (お), changing the meaning to a term exclusively referring to the engagements a geisha takes.
Geisha and prostitution
There remains some confusion, even within Japan, about the nature of the geisha profession. Geisha are frequently depicted as expensive prostitutes in Western popular culture. Geisha are entertainers, their purpose being to entertain their customer, be it by reciting verse, playing musical instruments, or engaging in light conversation. Geisha engagements may include flirting with men and playful innuendos; however, clients know that nothing more can be expected. In a social style that is uniquely Japanese, men are amused by the illusion of that which is never to be. Geisha do not engage in paid sex with clients.
Geisha have sometimes been confused with the high-class courtesans of the Edo period known as oiran, who they actually evolved from. Like geisha, oiran wore elaborate hairstyles and white makeup, but oiran tied their obi in the front not, as is commonly thought, for easy removal but, according to anthropologist Liza Dalby, because that was the practice of married women at the time.
During the Edo period, prostitution was legal. Prostitutes such as the oiran worked within walled-in districts licensed by the government. In the seventeenth century, the oiran sometimes employed men called "geisha" to perform at their parties. Therefore, the first geisha were men. In the late eighteenth century, dancing women called "odoriko" and newly popular female "geisha" began entertaining men at banquets in unlicensed districts. Some were apprehended for illegal prostitution and sent to the licensed quarters, where there was a strict distinction between geisha and prostitutes, and the former were forbidden to sell sex. In contrast, "machi geisha", who worked outside the licensed districts, often engaged in illegal prostitution.
In 1872, shortly after the Meiji Restoration, the new government passed a law liberating "prostitutes (sh"gi) and geisha (geigi)." The wording of this statute was the subject of controversy. Some officials thought that prostitutes and geisha worked at different ends of the same profession – selling sex – and that all prostitutes should henceforth be called "geisha". In the end, the government decided to maintain a line between the two groups, arguing that "geisha" were more refined and should not be soiled by association with prostitutes.
Also, geisha working in onsen towns such as Atami are dubbed onsen geisha. Onsen geisha have been given a bad reputation due to the prevalence of prostitutes in such towns who market themselves as 'geisha', as well as sordid rumors of dance routines like 'Shallow River' (which involves the 'dancers' lifting the skirts of their kimono higher and higher). In contrast to these 'one-night geisha', the true onsen geisha are in fact competent dancers and musicians. However, the autobiography of Sayo Masuda, an onsen geisha who worked in Nagano Prefecture in the 1930s, reveals that in the past such women were often under intense pressure to sell sex.
"Geisha girls"
"Geisha girls" (pronounced gee-sha), also known as "panpan girls," were Japanese women who worked as prostitutes during the period of the Allied Occupation of Japan. They almost exclusively serviced American GIs stationed in the country. The term is a mispronunciation of the word geisha. The mispronunciation persists among some westerners.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that these women dressed in kimono and imitated the look of geisha. Americans unfamiliar with the culture of Japan did not know the difference between these costumed prostitutes and actual geisha. Shortly after their arrival in 1945, occupying American GIs are said to have congregated on the Ginza and shouted in unison "We want geesha girls!"
Eventually, the term "geisha girl" became a general word for any female Japanese prostitute or worker in the mizu shobai, and included bar hostesses and streetwalkers.
Geisha girls are speculated by researchers to be largely responsible for the continuing misconception in the West that geisha are prostitutes.
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