This is a paper I wrote for my Kyoto Through the Ages class. SIX FULL PAGES. Enjoy.

In the United States and other Western countries, the geisha of Japan are often confused with prostitutes and courtesans and the like, ever since U.S. soldiers came back from occupied Japan after World War II with reports of “geisha girls”. Though there is a connection between them and courtesans, geisha are in fact artists, performers, and professional (platonic) companions. In their heyday, they represented all that was chic and likeable in a woman a man wasn’t planning on marrying. Since their values didn’t change with Japan’s, their characteristics that were once seen as trendy are now considered traditional. Geisha now represent the traditional arts and culture of Japan, and can symbolize the nation’s views from both modern and from the past.

The origin of the career of the geisha stems from Japan’s traditional view of the role of the wife. The wife was never originally seen as a love interest; marriage was based on how much the two families involved would prosper and benefit from it. A wife’s job was to conceive and give birth to the husband’s legitimate children, raise said children well and without the husband’s help, and manage the household. (This role may also be seen currently in the way a husband hands over his paycheck to his wife as she manages the family finances.) Romance was not intended, thought it may form in or after wedlock. The man was expected, sometimes even encouraged, to have affairs outside of marriage. In the seventeenth century, the government herded all prostitution into districts known as “pleasure quarters”. Here a man could vent and exercise his “earthly” side; all of this was classified as “bad”, but was well-needed and considered the norm. Any man that did not “play” in the pleasure quarters and stayed at home with his wife was considered a goody-goody killjoy and a spoilsport (Downer 59-60).

Prostitutes and courtesans were spawned to fulfill these earthly needs of the average Japanese man. But the highest-ranking courtesans, the tayuu, followed so many strict rules of etiquette that the average men turned to cheaper, livelier prostitutes at taverns and inns. Eventually young women picked up the name of the male musicians that accompanied tayuu, geisha, and danced and played instruments for their customers. The geisha were eventually prohibited from selling sex so to not steal customers from the tayuu, but during an economic crisis were men had less money to spend, they preferred the understated geisha over the courtesans (Downer 93). While the tayuu provided men what their wives could not, passion and decent conversation, the geisha provided what the courtesans could not: lively conversation and more accessible entertainment, and for a cheaper price. That was the role of the geisha in the beginning of the career.

Pre-World War II, geisha were often the epitome of chic. This was known as iki and was signified by their fashion, such as their kimono simple and casual in comparison to the tayuu, and the not wearing of socks, plus their witty and easy manner (Downer 95). They were the forerunners of fashion and where often the first to wear the latest trends (“Ayama”. History of the Geisha world. ). However, after World War II, Japan went into a campaign of Westernization, of changing itself to match with the rest of the powerful nations of the world. But the geisha did not change. Like how the tayuu were seen earlier, geisha appeared to be caught in a time warp, appearing the way they always had and keeping the old traditions. So now instead of being the symbol of all that is hip and fashionable, they are seen as old-fashioned and their role is that of the keeper of the traditional arts and ways of Japan.

Not only are geisha the keepers of traditional arts, but also because of it they are seen as the pinnacle of elegance and class, qualities not usually looked for in a bar waitress. Lesley Downer points out that even while young men prefer a trendier scene, they will gradually turn to geisha as they grow older and gain more money and status. Again, geisha provide them with what they cannot find elsewhere: professional grace and mastery of classical music and dance that requires the refined ear and taste (Downer 407).

Not only do geisha reflect the cultural roles of historic Japan, but the way they have been influenced, usually negatively, by current changes show the values of modern Japan.

Because geisha cling to the habits of the Japanese from another century, the people of modern times see them as distant, as unreal and unapproachable. The only ones who seek them out are wealthy men of an older age. This is ironic, as geisha used to be the forerunners of the demi-monde, or the subculture world. They were hip and trendy, and accessible to the low-grade merchant, especially in comparison to the courtesans. But now the geisha has taken the courtesans’ role, while bar-girls replace the geisha in their accessibility and light-heartedness.

Japan is traditionally a patriarchal society, with the respectable women staying at home to take care of the children. Like in Europe during the same time, the only women living well off their own careers, without being controlled by men, were the courtesans. But the courtesans of Japan were “caged birds”, forced to stay at their brothels, while the geisha went wherever they wanted and slept with whomever they liked (Downer 91). This is considerably empowering for a woman of those times, but nowadays, women are not restricted by society’s rules similar to those of the past. They are free to do the same things as the geisha, with more respectability and with more ease. As Downer says, there are “more choices for women” (Downer 407). The hard work of geisha training is unappealing for most, so the career of the geisha has lost its appeal for many young women and girls. It also still has a somewhat-stigmatizing associate with prostitution, which does not make the career very attractive to the parents of a young daughter.

Similarly, children of both sexes are required to go to school at least until the end of junior high school, until they are fifteen. Up until that was required, geisha began their training when they were six years old, and started as a maiko, an apprentice geisha, when they were eleven. They even became full-fledged geisha when they were fifteen, at the same time when teenagers nowadays would come out of compulsory education. This contributes to a drastically smaller amount of maiko and therefore geisha, who now apply at a much later age than traditionally (Downer 203).

Historically, geisha show the cultural view of marriage and the value of having someone to provide what a wife cannot. The origins of geisha, back when prostitution was legal, shows how much the Japanese valued the “earthly”, animalistic side of a human, or at least came to the conclusion that it cannot be suppressed. Even today major cities still have red-light districts and “love hotels”, where couples go to for some privacy.

Geisha also display certain physical aspects that were valued in Japan and times past. One noticeable characteristic of geisha, besides the white make-up (as pale skin was considered desirable in many cultures) is that on the back of the neck is a two- or three-pronged design on the hairline formed by the make-up. The back of the kimono’s neckline also droops down to show off the neck and upper back. Both showcase that the neck had been a favored erogenous zone to the Japanese. Maiko also apply red lip coloring so that it does not fully fill up their lip, so she appears to have a pout. In addition, they wear sandals with platforms so thick that they must walk with short, toddling steps. Both of these characteristics were seen as attractive. All of these characteristics reflect values regarding beauty (Graham-Diaz Geisha FAQ.)

In fiction, geisha play the role of a beautiful, yet tragic figure, often the victim of love. There is a romantic notion of geisha that they must always act as if they love their customers, but not truly fall in love, as that would bring them ruin. In novels and poems, geisha is often written as committing lover’s suicide with a boyfriend who was too poor to buy her out of service and marry her. In cinema, they may suffer other misfortunes from love. In “A Geisha”, one beautiful geisha and her maiko “sister” fall on hard times and can’t find jobs ever since they both turned down two powerful men’s sexual advances. A geisha is supposed to always please the customer, and they broke that practice and suffered the consequences. In “The Sisters of Gion”, one geisha lets the man she loves stay at her house, even though they’re both poor and it’s not helping her situation. Her younger geisha sister uses lies and trickery to kick him out, and also manipulates another young man’s love for her to his disadvantage. In the end, her misdeeds all come back to her and she ends up severely injured.

Somewhat related, geisha, and before them courtesans, were also often the subjects of ukiyo-e, or wood-block printings. The term “ukiyo-e” means “painting of the floating world”, in reference to the “floating world” of the pleasure quarters. Therefore another role of geisha and their world is that of a source of inspiration for artists and writers (Downer 412). Another role of geisha is that of the confidante. Since geisha appeal to men as they grow older and wealthier, many prosperous, powerful men visit geisha tea-houses for entertainment and business outings. Whatever is said in that house remains there, and geisha must never speak of it. Those who sell out their customers or, as one lady did with her past bigwig client, tell the press, are looked down upon with disgust and contempt by other geisha. Anything said or done at a geisha party by such a customer may hurt him if it leaks out, and geisha are trusted not to let that happen. Some women were also rumored in the past to have influenced important clients, who happened to have been government officials, in their decisions (Downer 28).

Geisha have several roles in Japanese society, some varying throughout time. In past times, they were providers of what both the wife and the courtesan couldn’t satisfy; in current times, they’re the providers of traditional and elegant entertainment. They reflect of Japan in the past, and the changes brought on them recently reflect the values of now. This is fear of geisha dying out due to these new values, but there is still a needed role of them.

Works Cited

“Ayama”. Geisha and Maiko. 19 Oct. 2003. http://www.whatever.net.au/~amaya/geisha/.

Downer, Lesley. Geisha: The secret history of a vanishing world. London: Headline Book Publishing, 2000.

Geisha, A. Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi. New Yorker Films, 2001.

Graham-Diaz, Naomi. Immortal Geisha – Information about Japanese Geisha and Lifestyle. 2003. 19 Oct. 2003. http://www.immortalgeisha.com/ig/index.html.

Sisters of Gion, The. Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi. Home Vision Entertainment, 1997.