Beni – Crimson The Lips & Cheeks Beni is not used all over the lips by geisha, but rather to create a flower bud effect. Maiko, on the other hand, simply colors their lower lip. The red Beni is also used to sculpt the outside corner of the eye. It is also used to create a subtle pink contour on the cheeks and nose.
A brief history of Geisha Makeup
Geishas created a porcelain look for the purpose of showing their emotions clearly to the auditory. This was especially important in the evening when faces need to be visible and recognizable.
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.
Geisha and kabuki actors used white makeup known as oshiroi that contained zinc and lead, which likely caused many issues such as skin diseases. Uguisu no fun was used to thoroughly remove this makeup and to whiten the skin. Buddhist monks also used the droppings to polish and clean their bald scalps.
However, Peter Macintosh, who teaches geisha culture at Kansai University, adds: “They started wearing white makeup so their faces would reflect in the candle light.”
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.
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 ...
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.
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.
No, as prostitution is illegal in Japan and the geishas are cultural performers who are deeply respected. Geisha never sleep with their clients as it goes against the rules of the organizations they belong to.
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.
While the word “geisha” is widely known, it is actually just one of the terms used to refer to Japan's traditional female entertainers. Though now widely accepted as the standard, “geisha” was originally reserved for entertainers in Tokyo.
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.
Beni – Crimson The Lips & Cheeks
Beni is used on the eyes, lips, and brows. Beni is a crimson powder made from crushed safflower petals. When mixed with water, it produces a deep red color. Beni is not used all over the lips by geisha, but rather to create a flower bud effect.
With their snow white skin, dark eyebrows, ruby red lips, and black hair, the geisha is a timeless and iconic symbol of beauty in Japan. But there's a lot more behind their painted faces. Geishas symbolize grace, elegance, and discipline, and they keep alive classical art in the modern Japanese world.
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.
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.
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'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.
Only later did geishas become involved in sexual liaisons themselves, developing into what today might be called mistresses or concubines.
This was when entertainers were first called geisha, however they were at first all men. Soon female dancers, known in their younger years as odoriko (踊り子) or “dancing girls,” started to call themselves geisha and worked as entertainers rather than prostitutes.
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.
Shinaka, who left school earlier this year, will not be back for at least another week: geisha and maiko sleep on their sides, balancing their heads on a takamakura, a specially shaped hard, high pillow that supports their neck but leaves their hair untouched.
Pumpkin's big moment is when she betrays Sayuri by bringing the Chairman instead of Nobu to "accidentally" see her have sex with the Minister. Sayuri, as Sayuri is prone to do, feels betrayed without ever once thinking about how Pumpkin feels.