The first geisha were actually male, appearing around the year 1730. It was only about 20 years later that female geisha began to appear in the forms of odoriko (踊り子, meaning dancers) and shamisen players, and they quickly took over the profession, dominating it by 1780.
Some geisha would sleep with their customers, whereas others would not, leading to distinctions such as kuruwa geisha – a geisha who slept with customers as well as entertaining them through performing arts – yujō ("prostitute") and jorō ("whore") geisha, whose only entertainment for male customers was sex, and machi ...
Their decline sped up with World War II, and the taikomochi continue to decline today. Although there are still small communities of geisha in Kyoto and Tokyo, there are only eight taikomochi in Japan. Four taikomochi are in Tokyo, one is in Kyoto.
Today there are only about 1,000 geisha in Japan. They can be found in several major cities including Tokyo, and Kanazawa but most of them work in Kyoto. They are often attending gatherings at tea houses and ryoutei —a kind of luxurious Japanese restaurant.
In Japan, geisha are very highly respected because they spend years training to learn the traditional instruments and dances of Japan. Although some western media portray geisha as prostitutes, that's just a myth.
The first geisha were actually male, appearing around the year 1730. It was only about 20 years later that female geisha began to appear in the forms of odoriko (踊り子, meaning dancers) and shamisen players, and they quickly took over the profession, dominating it by 1780.
Historically, geisha are entertainers who perform various arts like classical music, dancing and games. But in fact the original geisha were men. They were male advisors and entertainers to their daimyo (feudal lords), dating back to the 1200s. They were also tea connoisseurs, artists and gifted storytellers.
It's a very little known fact, but Japan's original geisha were actually men known as taikomochi. It's hard to believe given the level of femininity ascribed to geisha culture; however, the history of the male geisha dates all the way back to the 13th century.
American anthropologist Liza Dalby is famous for being the first Western woman to have ever trained as a geisha.
Geiko are allowed to have children and Maiko aren't necessarily “forbidden” (you can't ever forbid people from getting pregnant in genereal) from having children, but it's very very rare today. Maiko are 15 to 21, sometimes 22, and the vast majority of them doesn't want to have children yet anyways.
To inflame a doctor's lust for Sayuri (for the impending bidding war for her virginity), Mameha intentionally cuts Sayuri's leg high on her thigh (off camera). Mameha tells the doctor the cut came from a scissors accident; he stares longingly at her leg before stitching it up.
In ancient times, there was no electricity in Japan, and most facilities were only lit by candlelight. Since candlelight was not bright enough, Geishas painted their faces white to enhance their skin tones and to contour their faces, making their faces more visible and recognizable.
Memoirs of a Geisha,” labeled as “a movie about Japanese played by Chinese, written by whites,” was first delayed, then forced to be censored for a sex scene, delayed once again, and now banned.
Who was the youngest geisha? Born as Masako Tanaka, she left home at the age of four to begin studying traditional Japanese dance at the Iwasaki okiya (geisha house) in the Gion district of Kyoto. She was legally adopted by the okiya's owner, Madame Oima, and began using their family name of Iwasaki.
Geisha cannot get married. The rule of this profession is “being married to the art, not a man”. If they want to get married, they have to quit the job. Once they quit, it's usually impossible to come back, however they can debut from the beginning in a different city, under a different name and rules.
Oiran (花魁) is a collective term for the highest-ranking courtesans in Japanese history, who were considered to be above common prostitutes (known as yūjo (遊女, lit. 'woman of pleasure')) for their more refined entertainment skills and training in the traditional arts.
The main differences between maiko and geisha (geiko) are age, appearance, and skills. Maiko is usually younger than 20, wears a more colorful kimono with a red collar, and lacks conversation skills. Maiko means “dancing child” which refers to apprentice geisha who are still training.
The geisha system was traditionally a form of indentured labour, although some girls, attracted by the glamour of the life, volunteered. Usually, a girl at an early age was given by her parents for a sum of money to a geisha house, which taught, trained, fed, and clothed her for a period of years.
But Geisha Can Get Married
Geisha aren't allowed to have a boyfriend. But in the course of work, of entertaining patrons with Japan's highest forms of cultural entertainment, a patron may become fond of a particular geisha.
Fiona Graham is the first Caucasian woman to be accepted into the ancient Japanese geisha tradition. Now known only as Sayuki, she tells Anna Seaman about her new life.
It has always been a common practice for okaasan of ochaya or okiya to pass their buisness down to their biological daughters, so Geiko (and Geisha everywhere in Japan in general) having children has always been common.
In the opening sequences of the film, Mulan is depicted with white powdered makeup typical of a Japanese geisha and she is also wearing a Kimono, a style of clothing not typical in China but instead in Japan. Despite the sacredness of ancestral rites, the movie uses the Fa family's ancestors as an object of ridicule.
Geisha has been a predominantly female occupation since around 1800, and rose in popularity until World War II, when most women had to work in factories and other places in Japan. Around the same time, the term geisha lost some status due to prostitutes marketing themselves as “geisha girls” to American military men.
Only later did geishas become involved in sexual liaisons themselves, developing into what today might be called mistresses or concubines.