Geisha Culture Research Paper

DaZaree Sneed

What I’ve learned about the Geisha culture in Japan

The lifestyle of a geisha, is a part of an old traditional Japanese culture. Geishas are female entertainers, they act as hostesses, dancers and companions mainly for a particular group of men.

Geishas were common in the 18th and 19th centuries, originally were all male, mainly court jesters to Taikomochi where the geisha culture evolved from, in today’s times male geisha is extremely rare. As women started to take over the role they became known as onna geisha meaning “women artists”. It was customary for females to start their geisha training in early childhood.

Geisha is the most common term to English speakers, and most commonly used within Japan as well. The phrase “Geisha girl”, was common during the American occupation of Japan, it carried an association with prostitution. Geisha households buy young females from their impoverished families, and raise and train them to become geishas. As young geishas are developing in life they worked as maids, and as assistants to senior geishas as part of their training. This is a way for upcoming geishas to earn
for their upkeep and education.

This old tradition of training still existing in Japan, where a geisha student stays in the home of the master of certain arts, starting out doing basic homework and obtaining and help out the master, so they can eventually move up and become a master in her own right.
This training can last for a long period of time. This type of study traditionally begins at a young age and consist of a large variety of arts, containing Japanese musical instruments (mostly the shamisen) and, original forms of singing, traditional dancing, tea ceremonies, flowering arranging, poetry and literatures. Through assisting and watching senior geishas they became tremendously skilled in the complex traditions surrounding, choosing, matching, and wearing valuable kimono, and in different games and the art of conversation and also dealing with
clients.

Once a woman became a mature geisha (also known as a Maiko) she would start to guide senior geisha to the tea houses, parties and also to banquets that establish a geisha work environment. To a certain extent, this traditional method of training prevails, though it is of necessity foreshortened. Geishas are still in existence today, although their numbers are continuing to reduce. Current geishas are no longer bought by or brought into geisha houses as young children. Becoming a geisha is now fully voluntary. Most geishas now begin their training as a young adults.

As I was researching I’ve learned a lot about the geisha culture, and all of the things they do. Such as how the geisha culture first evolved, and the changing conditions of poor young children being brought into geisha houses to today the practice is completely voluntary. Geishas are women of art that has been mistaken as prostitutes Geishas are not prostitutes because they entertain men behind closed doors in a unique manner, there has been many speculations about the underpinning of their profession. The bewilderment that surrounds this issue has been troublesome by Japanese prostitutes who wish to co-opt the importance of the geisha image, and by the faulty depiction of geisha in Western popular cultures.