Cultural Observation: Secret Life of Geisha To this day, the Geisha remains an iconic symbol of Japan’s culture and history. Geisha first appeared in the early 1600’s during the rule of the Shogun. At this time, Japan had isolated itself from the rest of the world and remained this way for hundreds of years. Geisha were originally male artists and entertainers who performed at banquets. Female prostitutes would also entertain male warriors at banquets inside the pleasure corridors. Eventually, some of the female prostitutes began learning the art of geisha in order to increase their clientele. Before long, more customers preferred the company of female geishas causing the male geishas to become obsolete. By 1779, Geisha art was declared an official line of business by the Kenban, a registry office, who stated that sex wasn’t allowed as part of geisha services. This was done to prevent competition between geisha and prostitutes. The word geisha means “artist,” and they must excel in dance, art, and literature. If a young woman desires to become a geisha, she must complete five years of training as an apprentice, or “maiko.” Each maiko has an older sister, which is an elite geisha who teaches her everything she needs to know. Geisha girls must leave their families and former life behind once they move into the geisha house. In the documentary The Secret Life of Geisha, Yuiko is a young maiko living and training at a geisha house in Kyoto. She expressed her worries about moving there, explaining that she was afraid the girls would be cruel. To her surprise it was quite the opposite and everyone as very welcoming. At the top of the geisha house is the geisha mother. She sets up their training, provides them with kimonos, and room to live in. It is always in the geisha mothers best interest to treat her girls good because they’re a $500,000 investment each. Even after an apprentice is done with her five year training, it never really ceases. A geishas main purpose is to keep a man or group of men company in the evening, but that doesn’t necessarily mean sex. Many geisha girls will sit and talk with the men, hold intellectual conversations and perform story-like dances. Everything that is said or done within the geisha tea house never gets repeated. Geisha are seen as “delicate guardians of ancient customs.” During the last years under the Shogun rule, a group of samurai warriors planned to overthrow the oppressive government. They used the geisha tea houses as their secret meeting place. These samurai warriors were successful in overthrowing the Shogun, and therefore the geisha were seen as an ally. Many elite men of Japan began taking geisha women as their mistresses or wives. During the early 1900’s, geisha women were viewed as the most stylish and graceful. Times were quickly changing and many technological advances were being made, but throughout such rapid change the geisha remained a strong symbol of Japanese tradition. People strongly supported the geisha, and by the 1930’s there was a high demand for their services. The demand became so intense, that families from the countryside began selling off their daughters by 7 years old. They became “property” to their geisha mothers. During this time, the act of Mizuage which was selling a geisha girls virginity to the highest bidder also became very popular. Many of them wouldn’t be informed about it until the evening before, so instead of it being something special or romantic I can imagine it was much more traumatizing. A geisha never has control over who she will spend her next hour with, and it’s the same way if she gains a Danna. A danna is a wealthy patron who pays the geisha mother off so that the geisha girl is able to live on her own. He pays for all of her expenses in exchange for an intimate relationship. The geisha is still able to entertain other clients, but her danna is the only one who can be intimate with her. Although a geisha doesn’t get married, she may still have children by her patron. Sometimes this works out for her if she falls in love with him, but if not then she must put up with the circumstances. Nonetheless, she never has a say in who she ends up with. The process of getting ready takes time and patience. A geisha begins by painting her face white, lining her lids with black eyeliner, and painting half of her lips in crimson to suggest a seductive pout. A small back portion of her neck is left unpainted which enhances the look of a mask and heightens the sensuality of her bare skin. A garment helper will tie her obi up in the back for her so that it’s cinched tightly. Every week a geisha girl must go to a special hair salon to have her hair washed and styled. The up-do is known as the split peach which is characterized by a red piece of silk in the back. To keep her hair in place, the geisha must sleep on a wooden block until she gets it done the following week. The ornaments in a geishas hair are personal to her and should never be borrowed or shared. Before leaving the geisha house, a geisha must wear tall wooden clogs so that her kimono doesn’t drag on the ground. Each kimono is worth $7,000 and many geishas own around a dozen. Specific colors are worn during different times of the year. A black kimono symbolizes the start of a new year and is worn for special occasions. The pink kimono with it’s cherry blossom design is worn in the summer, the orange with it’s maple leaves is worn in the fall, and the green one is for the winter. An elite geisha, or one who has grown very successful, typically has a danna and lives on her own. Since she is free from the geisha house, she is able to wear her hair more comfortably in a pulled back bun and wear minimal face makeup. An elite geisha also chooses her own kimonos, whereas a maiko who lives in the geisha house has to take what is given to her by the mother. Nowadays, a married couple in Japan doesn’t necessarily share the same relationship with each other like we do in the west. The wife doesn’t maintain an intimate relationship with her husband. Her job is to take care of the home and children, while her husband goes to work and pays for a geisha as entertainment. A wife and geisha are not to be compared, and if the husband has a sexual encounter with a geisha his wife views it as honorable. This is very different from how we view marriage and relationships in the U.S. After the recession that has gone on in the past couple years, the livelihood of geisha has decreased dramatically. In Tokyo, only about 100 true geishas still remain. The demand for geisha has fallen tremendously, and the only way these few geishas can maintain is by loyal customers and booking banquets. Media coverings have lashed out at businesses entertaining elite men, so this has also tainted geisha services. These changing attitudes are changing male tastes. The younger generation are not interested in geisha, but prefer younger hostesses. I believe this is due to a misunderstanding of geisha art and tradition. Prior to watching The Secret Life of Geisha, I never really understood what a geisha’s role entailed. Now that I have learned more about them, I find the tradition very beautiful and in a sense empowering to the geisha women. Although in some aspects I see that it’s all about pampering the male ego, the women are the ones who call the shots. They are able to create a better life for themselves and indulge in the finer things. It is sad to see that the geisha business is dying out, but I feel that it is inevitable in such a technologically advanced country like Japan. Even if it does become completely wiped out, I know that it will never be forgotten and that it will always be a celebrated part of Japanese history.