We had to do our second part of our history dissertation this past month . . . I chose the incredable world of the giesha . . . enjoy
INTRODUCTION
The classic appearance of the Geisha dates back thousands of year, before the Western world invaded the tradition and classic charm of the Untouched World of Gion in Kyoto, Japan. There is the mistake most people make regarding Geishas – they are not high end courtesans or prostitutes. It was quoted in Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, “Geisha are not courtesans, and we are not wives. We sell our skills, not our bodies. We create another secret world, a place only of beauty. The very word 'geisha' means artist, and to be a geisha is to be judged as a moving work of art.” They are well trained, talented and educated performing entertainers. They are skilled in the arts, such as classical music and dance. The word Geisha literally means “art” being gei and sha “doer” or “person”. The women refer to themselves as geiko, women of art, but for the purpose of this dissertation I shall remain calling them geisha, or the likes.
Most people do not relate the Geisha as a form of drastic body modification, although this is incorrect. This modification is a lifestyle choice, like extreme tight lacing corsetry or body building is. Women are brought up to live this life style from a young, as young as the age of five, and almost always live with this choice for the rest of their lives. For some, they were born into it with their mothers having been a geisha herself, though it was not uncommon for women, in the past and in modern times, to choose this path. During the Second World War, many women, having only ever lived as Geisha battled in the real world outside the walls of Gion, and ended up leaving Kyoto or became prostitutes, as they knew little else.
In 1813, Gion was the first hanamachi, community, in Kyoto. It is split into two districts – Gion-Higashi and Gion-Kobu. This city was built to accommodate weary travellers who had travelled far and wide to come to see the magnificence of the Yasaka Shrine, a statue shrine of Imperial patronage. The houses that are built right up against the street sides are in the form of town houses, and are called machiya. They are an old style of house, with many rooms, a big kitchen and often had a zen courtyard in the centre. When the geisha’s started needing places to stay, the guest houses took them in, and soon they took over the buildings, making them private, with only a few houses left open to the public.
The lifestyle of a Geisha is hard. Only women may be invited to join the community and it was very uncommon to find a man who lived in an assigned Geisha area. History tells us that at the beginning of this ancient tradition, men owned the women and paid for them to entertain them in any which way the pleased. This is how the common misconception that the women were prostitutes came to be. As the years went on, “Mother” Geisha’s were able to own their own houses, like hostels, to house their workers and the need for men to own the women decreased. It became popular to have a man who looked after you, called a danna. Sexual relationships outside of marriage were allowed, though the meetings were arranged by a third-party, and had to abide by certain guidelines.
TYPES OF MODIFICATION PRACTISED
The make-up aesthetic that is seems as the ‘traditional’ Japanese look, is in fact that of the apprentices’. A thick white pasty mask of rice powder, that is worn almost every waking moment, hides the natural beauty of the girl, until she reaches maturity, when the make-up simplifies. This application of the makeup is quite an elaborate procedure and is very time consuming. A waxy, oil substance called bintsuke-abra, is applied all over the face, chest and neck. Until recently, the solid white paste was made with lead and zinc, but the women soon realised, after years of using, that the lead severely damaged their skin and the zinc aged them drastically. Since that discovery in the late thirties, it has become popular for the ladies to use a fine rice powder. The white rice powder was is mixed with warm water, sometimes hot water depending on the thickness required. This is painted on the face in an upwards fashion, covering the face, neck and chest. At the nape of the neck, which is the dip where the back meets the spine, a W or V is left without paint. This can be done by hand, but s stencil is often used. Traditionally, this is said to be the most erogenous spot for men on a woman’s body. Practically though, it was to create the illusion that the lady was wearing a mask. The lipstick amount changed with regard to the level of which the geisha was at. The maiko would start by wearing a simple dot of red on their lower lip, and this progress to a full lip covering of red.
The hair of a geisha is one of the wonders of the modern modification world. As with the make-up, that hair style is a lengthily process, and must be done at a salon or by a professional stylish. Warm water is used while the stylish scraped the scalp free of all dryness as dandruff is very unattractive in a geisha, as it is in the modern world. The think, black hair is then combed out, free of all knots and bunches. Camellia oil is used to keep the hair shiny, full of natural looking sheen, and it is used as a lubricant or conditioner. A bar of wax is then melted into a hot liquid form and combed through the wet hair, until the hair is crisp. The hair is divided into two sections – a forelock and the rest that will be scraped into the bun, using two or more waves. The forelock is brushed forward, into a fine wave, then when dry is combed back, away from the face. The rest is combed into a large knotted bun, known as a Split Peach or a Pincushion. Hair Decorations are a popular item of adornment in Gion and are exchanged as gifts between sister, friends and often given by dannas.
This bun is known as a pincushion for its’ obvious resemblance from the back. The other name, the split peach, derives from the style looking like two halves of a peach, stuck together. It was held together by wrapping a piece of fabric around the lock of hair. Under the bun, a piece of the fabric would be showing, this colour changed with the level of geisha you were at. it was said that this hairstyle was sexually enticing, and was provocative for men, as it was said to have resembled the female genitalia.
Kimonos are a scared emblem of the womans’ calling and the embodiment of her beauty. (Gender and Technology Spring 2009 - The Technology of Geisha; Anne Dalke and Laura Blankenship) . These kimonos were made out of the finest materials, imported from all over Asia, and were the symbols of financial status, family background and personality. Okiya’s owned hundreds of kimono, and would store them in warehouses and often in storerooms on their property. The body was almost fully covered from head to toe, and was weighed down by as much as 18 kilograms, over and above their own body weight.
Another common misconception regarding geisha is that they bind their feet. This is false as foot binding is an ancient Chinese tradition. The women of Kyoto do not bind their feet. The geisha simply wear six inch high, lacquered sandals called zori, which are worn with split-toe socks. These are shaped, and angled so as to be narrower at the toe.
MOTIVATIONS BEHIND THE MODIFICATION
This lifestyle was almost always not the women’s choice, as they were too young to decide for themselves. Many families couldn’t afford to care for their children and the little girls, often as young as five years old would be sold. The parents were told that the children will have a better life, but this was often not the case, such as if the child could not be taught the talents she needed to continue. These women were sold into a life of servitude (Arthur Golden: Memoires of a Geisha:1997) This would cause them to be shikomi, chore doer, forever. However, there were women who chose this as a profession because they were drawn to the tradition and the respect the geisha had.
RITES , RITUALS AND COMING OF AGE
A girl is contracted to an okiya, which is the housing system she will live in until she has repaid her debt to the okiya and can afford to live on her own. The okiya would change the girls name from her birth name to one that related her to the house, with her surname becoming that of the houses’ name.
Training to become a geisha is a hard process, with several steps. The first stage is the chore doer, shikomi. They attend classes and practises, and help the maiko get dressed. This stage is important as it reinforces discipline and commitment . The next stage, after passing tests and being donned acceptable, is to become a minarai, which is the last step to learning the workings of society. After that, the woman becomes a maiko. She learns everything she needs to know by visiting teahouses with her sisters and other geisha. After as little as a year, if her okiya agrees with her sister and danna, she will become a fully fledged geisha. The Turning of the Collar ceremony signifies the transformation from a maiko apprentice to an adult geiko. The upper collar changes from white to red, signifying maturity.
One of the most important rituals in a geishas’ life is the wedding ceremony between a maiko imoutosan, a younger sister, and an older sister, a sansun who is a full geisha. The ceremony is simple, like a wedding. The sansun drink a cup of sake in three sips, and then the imoutsan does the same. This is repeated three times, each with increasingly bigger cups. This ritual ties the girls together in a unbreakable bond.
The mizuage of a women is a sacred ritual, between the maiko and her danna. This ancient ritual is the lead up to a women losing her virginity. There is a common miss conception that the virginity of an apprentice maiko or fully fledged geisha is auctioned off to the highest bidder. This is not true, as the man with the highest offering price will become her patron and will be supple his geisha everything she needs in her career to come. This is not a talked about event, as it is private. Only the house and the two involved know about the happenings.
HEALTH AND HYGIENE
Japanese Geisha facials have become very popular in the Western World. The faeces of a Bush Warbier-Uguisu No Fun Nightingale is warmed and spread over the face. This is an ancient technique that is said to make the face softer and brighter.
Diet played a major part of geishas lifestyle. What women ate was closely monitored by the house ‘Mother’. The ladies ate small portions of fish, gohan rice, citrus fruits, soy beans and no cholesterol as far as possible. They drank green tea as it is high in anti-oxidants.
The Split Peach hairstyle would stay in for days at a time, if it was correctly looked after. This often caused the hair to have a bad smell, because they were not washing the hair at all from style to style. The hair had to be perfumed in the morning to keep the smell at bay.
CONCLUSION
According to a census done in the last few years, the numbers of geisha has dwindled down from over 25 000 in the 1900’s and 80 000 in the late 1930’s to less than 10 000 in 2000. It is rare to find a true geisha now a days.
These women that live the life of the geisha fight through a sheltered world, to make a name from themselves. The modifications that the maiko and geiko make to themselves, are to seem beautiful to men, and put on a costume to entertain. They become somebody else behind this mask, and are able to become the ideal female companion to Japanese men. To local and international men that find this form of adornment incredible arousing, and women all over the world aspire to reflect the beauty the geisha do.
As body modifications come, this one seems easy and simple. It may be reversible, aesthetically, but the life these women have endured is not.
{peace and love}
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