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Geisha Essay Xiu Ling Stein-Leonard November 30, 2017 Asian Conversation Professor Quimby Understanding the Geisha Community When hearing the word Geisha, I assumed young women who have been trained at a ​ ​ young age to be idealist women for Japanese men. However this idea of geisha is not accurate and quite demeaning. I knew geisha were trained women to “seduce” older men, and would ​ ​ dress up in lavish kimonos and had elaborate makeup. There is more than appearances that meet the eye. The knowledge that is engrained in a maiko such as traditional fan dances, tea ceremonies along with learning music travels with these girls for a very long time. For me, I always thought that geisha were high class courtesans who entertained their guest but ending the night with their host. After reading several novels that were written by geisha women I soon ​ ​ realized that the geisha community was quite detailed and complex. For example the ranking ​ ​ within the Okiya is as followed Shikomi, young girls who are events for the house, minarai, older ​ ​ ​ ​ girls who are servants to the geisha, maiko, apprentice geisha who are studying under a senior ​ ​ geisha and geisha, professional entertainers.However there are higher ranks such as atotori, who ​ ​ ​ ​ is the heiress for the house. From an outside point of view, it is hard to see the caste system, but when reading from several novels you see this complexity within the house.Even though there is ranking within the Okiya, there is also rankings of buildings where Geisha go. Such as Gion versus Suwa. Geisha are a symbol of Japanese culture and highly prized. With the use of several ​ ​ novels written by Geisha women, there is a clear picture of how outsiders should view their jobs along with what they stand for. 1 The image of a Geisha is often debated as there is the picture of a geisha from movies and then there are pictures of geisha from novels. In Geisha, A Life by Mineko Iwasaki, who was a ​ ​ former geisha, she explains how there are many interpretations of what it means to be geisha “I want you to know what it is really like to live the life of a geisha…”(Iwasaki 1). In her own opinion, being a geisha has its cost, but in the end you end up with “a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and richly glorious rewards”(Iwasaki 1). Compared to Memoirs of A Geisha, a book written by Arthur Golden but turned into a movie in 2005, the ​ picture of being a geisha is a bit different. The opening of the movie depicts two sisters being taken away from their home to become geisha, however due to the physical appearance along with age causes the sisters to separate. Already from that moment the image of a geisha is set in place. Although Chiyo is Shikomi at the beginning, with the news of her dead parents, she is ​ ​ stricken from her title and becomes the mother's servant. Becoming a geisha is incredibly hard for many girls, but for Iwasaki it was quite easy. At just three years old, Iwasaki was destined to be a geisha, according to Madame Oima. “You know, Mr. Tanka, i have been looking for an atotori (one who comes after or successor) for a very long time and I have the oddest sensation ​ that i have just found her”(Iwasaki 18). Although Iwasaki comes from a privileged home along with a lineage of geisha, it is quote surprising that at just three years old Iwasaki held the energy of being an atotori. It is important to note that Geisha, A Life and Memoirs of A Geisha are based ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ on the same geisha, Mineko Iwasaki, however the translations and ideas of what it means to be a geisha is distorted and possibly exaggerated. 2 Coming from different backgrounds, Chiyo and Iwasaki were destined for different roles in the Okiya. Chiyo becomes a geisha later on after meeting the Chairman in which she is taken under Mameha wing. Although the movie shows the training process of becoming a geisha, such ​ ​ ​ as practicing walking in public with specific sandles, the proper way of bowing, along with how traditional dances are just some of the characteristics that highlights the geisha tradition and ​ ​ culture.The movie displays the idea of a geisha as someone who must compete with other geisha ​ ​ ​ to get the highest bidding on her mizuage. However the difference from the movie to Iwasaki’s ​ ​ point of view was that she was introduced to the Okiya. As she started to spend nights at the house, and watching the way maiko and geisha interacted. Along with staying at the house for a few days, soon those days became weeks which lead into Iwasaki moving into the house. There already is an imprint on being an atotori as Iwasaki could only eat foods that were for higher ​ ​ ranking women. “No, my dear, sardines are not your kind of food, You wouldn’t like it”(Iwasaki 44). Food didn’t seem like such a big deal in the movie, but in Iwasaki’s eyes, food also showed a distinction of rank. When thinking about the image of a geisha, food doesn’t come to mind, but just the small details like the sardines actually leaves an impact on the closed society. I think the image of a geisha from the movie was to highlight the importance of choosing the right suitors along with thinking about the future of which man could be Chiyo’s danna. Also it is important to note the changing of names, for example Chiyo is given another name Sayuri when she ​ ​ becomes a maiko. For Iwasaki she was originally called Masako Tanaka but at the age of five ​ when she became the atotori her name was changed to Mineko Iwasaki. This movie didn’t fully ​ ​ depict the image of a geisha since it had an american characteristics with the theme of romance compared to actually being a biography of Iwasaki. 3 Since there are several novels that deal with the image of a geisha, it is important to find the similarities along with the differences. Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda is just ​ ​ one novel that talks about being a geisha. Although her life wasn’t like Mineko Iwasaki’s or Sayuri’s, there are similarities that are common among the basic ideas of being a geisha. Masuda wrote her novel in 1957 in Japanese but it wasn’t translated till 2003 in English. Her life before being a geisha was harsh as she was abused and unwanted. Starting out as a nursemaid in the rural area of Gohara, she didn’t have a childhood. At the age of 12, Masuda was sold to the Okiya in Suwa where she worked as a housemaid while also training “in the geisha arts of dance, ​ song, shamisen, and drum”(Masuda 2). Masuda's intention for publishing this novel was so that she could win some money, without thinking that her writing would open up a new window. Compared to Iwasaki’s novel, Masuda lived in a lower ranked house. It is quite evident that her life was quite complicated since other geish were having troubles of their own. “Temari, who’d made her debut as a fully fledged geisha, was always making her customers angry and causing trouble. She’d abandon the customers at a restaurant and run back to the house”(Masuda 46-47). The change in dynamics of Temari could be a key issue to why Masuda’s house is seen on a lower register of geisha houses. The attitudes that are given to customers have a dire effect on the house since her actions demonstrate the okiya. Some other differences that Masuda points out is ​ ​ the fact that the Prostitution Prevention Act. This act was to prohibit women from selling their body; however in Iwasaki’s novel, she clearly states that prostitution wasn’t a definitive aspect of being a geisha. The idea of a mizuage was her definition of “ceremoniously deflowered by a ​ ​ patron who had paid handsomely for the privilege”(Iwasaki 253). In Masuda’s case, prostitution 4 was prohibited due to the act unless licensed. I think Masuda’s life as a geisha was short lived as there have been troubles with her life such as an unsteady home along with the physical appearance brought her a nickname in which she was called craine. Due to the era Masuda was a geisha, the idea of a geisha house changed. More geisha started dying becasue of sexualy transmitted diseases. The picture of being a geisha during her time was their ability to entertain guest physically. Although many works of literature can depict an idea, era, theme, there needs to be some consideration for which novels could be credibly cited. Could some works of literature be misleading? From reading several works by former geisha, along with a historical context of Liza Dalby’s Geisha, I think that Geisha, A Life along with Autobiography of a Geisha are both ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ two credible sources. Both novels are primary sources for readers to understand the image of a geisha however the stories are quite opposite. Mineko Iwasaki’s novel was to clarify Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha where she would show her own interpretation of being a geisha. ​ ​ She firmly believed that Golden’s story didn’t accurately tell the story of a geisha girl and that it was her turn to tell the real story. Since she was one of Japan's highly prized geisha, it would make sense that her story would be the most accurate because she lived through her training and also watched others grow around her.
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