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mispronounced as often as are the women it
identifies, misunderstood. Pronounced "gay-sha,"
the word translates as "art person" or "person of
the arts" and that is simply what geisha are,
practitioners of arts that reach back in time
more than three centuries.
undergone rigorous training in music, dance,
calligraphy, the tea ceremony, as well as
conversational and social graces. Geisha
are skilled story tellers and, singers, as well
as proficient accompanists on their
three-stringed shamisen.
Tokugawa era, in the 17th century, when Japan
was at peace, isolated from the outside world
and when samurai and merchant had time
and wealth enough to indulge themselves
in the pleasures of the "floating world."
of the exotic, of fantasy in the very word, "geisha"
and the sound of it can still conjure up images
of a time long past; a time when when the
sounds of laughter and shamisen drifted
from the tea houses into the night air as
samurai strutted down the streets of Edo.
celebrations banging their drums, singing songs
and telling funny stories were men; gradually
however, women began appearing to
challenge the male entertainers and by
mid 17th century, female geisha had
attained a dominance which
soon became their monopoly.
women brought to the geisha scene served to
inspire countless musicians, poets and artists
who sought to capture the spirit and images
of the geisha's "willow world."
Japan has experienced in the last one hundred or
even fifty years, tradition remains a strong, persistent
ingredient within the base of all that is new.
So it is with the geisha who, like the
swordsmith
or kabuki actor or woodblock
artist or even the sushi
chef, must undergo
a long and trying apprenticeship
before she can officially attain the status of "geisha."
In early times, girls began this apprenticeship while
still pre teens; however,today the age
for
entering geisha training is fifteen.
Unique hair styles, hair ornaments and stark white facial makeup gives the maiko the dream-like quality of a porcelain doll. Perhaps because they still lack the skills of their elder sisters, the maikos' appearance must rely more on outward showiness but, by the time they reach their early twenties, diligent and successful maiko are ready to put aside their doll like accouterments and take up the subtler shades of kimono and more sophisticated demeanor of "geisha."
were the trend setters of high fashion and good
taste but with the changes that have taken place
since then, that role has disappeared.
In the late
1970's, the number of registered geisha
fell to around 1,500 and today, there are
probably
fewer than a thousand women
practicing the
profession and lifestyle
of geisha.
and Pontocho districts geisha perform and
entertain their guests who usually have a long
relationship with the ochaya, as new customers
are rarely admitted without proper introduction.
As
in times long past, when geisha
helped
to soothe the worries and cares of
samurai and
merchant, the sounds of shamisen and song that fill
today's ochaya are a haunting reminder of tradition's
persistence.
Inside the teahouse of Gion or Pontocho,
it is now perhaps the tired businessman or
harried
politician who half fancies himself
as the bold
samurai of yore whose cares
are eased and ego
lifted by the lovely,
gentle geisha who fills his
sake cup and
sings only to him!
of geisha was provided by a recent article
that appeared in the travel section of
my Sunday newspaper.
The half
page story related the success of more
than forty shops in Kyoto catering to Western tourists
and Japanese women as well who pay $100 to $350
to be made up and attired
as maiko or geisha. For
a slight additional
fee, these "90 minute geisha" may
obtain photographs of themselves and stroll
around a
nearby temple ground reveling
in the spectacle of
camera hounds jostling to take their pictures. More
than 70,000 patrons each year avail themselves
of the
services of these "geisha studios"
contributing a not insubstantial boon
to the Kyoto economy.
each year, and fewer teenagers find such a
ritualized and rigorous life attractive, it would be
far too presumptuous, in light of their proven staying
power, to predict the geisha's disappearance
in the near future.
Geisha are a link with the past
and Japanese are reluctant to abandon such
ties.
If the number of paying customers at the
busy
"geisha studios" is any indication, geisha are still
respected, imitated and even admired
for their
commitment to a way of life that is
admittedly
out of tune with today's Japan.
It may well be that geisha provide a comfortable
reminder
for the human need to remember the way things used to be. Women
who pay a handsome sum to stroll the streets
of Kyoto in
the guise of geisha certainly
offer testimony to the
fascination and mystique that these women
who "practice the arts" still
possess.
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