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Geisha (ナ竹ナステ?

Li Fang Wei

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14 Nov 2005
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Geisha, means person of the arts or artist, are traditional Japanese artist-entertainers. In Japan they use the word Geiko to refer such those persons.

In the 18th and 19th centuries Geisha could be seen everywhere and it still exists until today but a lot dwindling.

Geisha of Japan is just like speakers in English but Geisha also carried connotations of prostitution, some young Japanese women faced finance shortage so they sold themselves to American troops for money.

Little China Doll
 
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Little China Doll said:
... but Geisha also carried connotations of prostitution, some young Japanese women faced finance shortage so they sold themselves to American troops for money.

Even much earlier, in 17th and 18th century there were Japanese prostitutes serving Dutch sailors and merchands. They called themselves 'Geishas' although they were not. From this comes the rude Dutch word for having intercourse "kezen" and even certain small dogs from Japan are called "kees-hond" or 'Geisha dog' because they accompanied those prostitutes.
 
Geisha, Some Information

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This came from a review of the movie "Memoirs Of A Geisha". That by the 1930's real Geisha culture was over.


EASTS AND BEAUTIES
ツ"King Kongツ" and ツ"Memoirs of a Geisha.ツ"
by DAVID DENBY
Issue of 2005-12-19
..........
The movie lacks a sense of proportion: the filmmakers are so eager to pump up their subject that they don't let us know that by the nineteen-thirties geisha were in serious decline, and that their dress and their manners, derived from an aristocratic era when elegance might have served an organic function, had become little more than decorative adornment for industrialists and bankers making deals in teahouses—in other words, that many modern Japanese may have regarded them not as unspeakably mysterious and powerful but as an increasingly rarefied and even amusing anachronism.
 
Assuming Geisha houses still exist in nihon do women just go to the houses and ask if they can join too?
 
From what i have gathered, its usually the parents who contact and chat with the geisha house owner/s and geisha to get to know whats generally involved in being a geisha after their daughter has decided she would like to be a geisha.
To become a fully fledged geisha takes a long time at the best, and is very difficult- you are looking at 5yrs of just 3-4hrs sleep a night and rigorous training regime on average. Geisha who take apprentices on are also very choosey with good reason to as well as its a big commitment, if they don't think you are talented enough or you are too old or you are lacking somthing else, they will not take you on.

Memoirs of a geisha though, is just a story, a fairy tale, and not the story of a real geisha- although Arthur Golden did do alot of research, there were still quite a few flaws with his facts/opinions in the book- many people commented on how the book was just a cinderella story in a japanese costume written by a western man, mind you though, i read the book myself and found it a very enjoyable read, but there are still much better books out there for insights and research into the geisha way of life, of the flower and willow world.

In respects though to the 1930's, pretty much everything was in decline because of the war, people were running out of money and although rich and popular geisha did as well as they always did, the poorer ones with lesser reputations died out- then again you could say its always been like that.
The large majority of things as far as culture, tradition and ways of life in japan went into decline during and after WW2, and very few have successfully managed to get back on their feet since- then again there is more and more concern and interest over japan's "throw away" culture, and it appears that many people are re-discovering their countrys culture and individuality now after many years of western influence.
Immortal Geisha is a great website for learning and researching geisha;

http://www.immortalgeisha.com/

The geisha history can be traced back as far as 1100AD as well.
 
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