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Geisha
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| What is a geisha? |
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Re: Geisha
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You should read Memoirs of a Geisha, by Nathan Golden. Its a really good book and I heard that a movie is suppose to be in the works of production with Steven Speilberg and Maggie Cheung. Anyway, short and simple, a geisha is the japanese version of a prostitute. You can't compare American prostitutes to Japanese geishas though because the culture is different. The japanese highly regarded the geisha position in society status and it was an honor to be a high level geisha. Personally me being a girl, I dont agree with anything involving degrading women, but whatever, I guess a girl's gotta make money somehow. Ok, that's all, sorry to digress, I guess i'm in a digressing mode this morning. :D |
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Lady Fox, Nice recommendation of the book (By Arthur Golden), but geisha were different from prostitutes - although many prostitutes dressed up as geisha for the appeal. Geisha were actually considered high level entertainers. If you remember, in the book Chiyo's sister was actually sent to a brothel since they did not believe she had the looks or the appeal to be a geisha. Now, if you call having a patron (normally 1 for the geisha's lifetime) prostitution then I can see where your ideas would come from. |
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by StriderNeko
on 2005-08-15 14:22:49 (edited 2005-08-15 14:23:01)
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Perhaps this would help, as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha |
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I agree with FDF. They weren't technically prostitutes..as they didn't always do "anything" with the customers. They were entertainers and such. Now, granted, their lives weren't the best..and definately not their own. However, they could turn things to their advantage. Definately read the book. Then you can pick your own opinion. Personally, I think it just depended on the Geisha herself as to whether or not she could be considered a "prostitute". By this I mean her actions, and what she choose to do, ect. The main character took a turn for what I thought was the worst, but it made her life so much better in the end...so it wasn't that bad after all...dern...is that considered a spoiler?
Where do those mallets come from anyways?
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yes that's a spoiler!  "If one is to become a lady, one must not chew on her chopsticks!" |
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by Michishirube
on 2005-08-22 12:58:23
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I second the book, Memoirs of a Geisha. It's so realistic I had a hard time believing it was fiction! Geisha DID sometimes sleep with customers, but that was kind of frowned down upon. Geisha only really did it if they were desperate for money or if they really liked the guy. The DID sleep with their providers (can't remember the Japanese word for it), but they were bound to them, it wasn't like they were just sleeping around. They also slept with someone for the first time during their mizuage. That was a sort of coming to womanhood, I guess, though. |
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you mean their, ahm,.... danna??? was that it? but yeah, i did like that book. I just bought another one called Geisha, A Life, but I haven't read it yet. it's a book that i think takes place in a more modern time... yeah, i think so, considering that Memoirs of a Geisha took place during World War.... II???? hehe =_=' {not so good with history}
nya........... hehe.
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I recently bought a book on Geisha and the main misconception that they are prostitutes is just wrong. To put it simply, here is an exerpt from the book by Kyoko Aihara. "A century ago they were a frequent sight in the city, as were similar female entertainers in other cities, but today their existence is fragile and few women remain in these demanding professions. It takes many years for the women to hone and refine their artistic and conversational skills so that they can expertly entertain men in the traditional manner and participate at Japan's colourful seasonal festivals. Only in Kyoto does this level of expertise and training still exist, ensuring that the maiko (apprentice geisha) and geiko (aka geisha) who still live and work here are truly guardians of Japan's cultural past". It goes on to talk to explain the references of the word 'maiko' a woman of dancing and 'geiko', a woman of art, and the book is complete with pictures and definitions..a must buy. Geisha don't go sleeping around at all, and many don't become geisha for the main purpose to make money. Some simply want to be able to cultivate and work on the arts, their decision not to marry...etc. |
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| Okay, maybe I should've explained myself instead of giving the "short and simple" version. I'm using the term prostitute loosely because they're not equivilent to our American term of prostitute. Sure they're entertainers but because they get paid to "sleep" with the benefactor, doesn't that make them a prostitute? And wasn't it the aim to find a benefactor so that you could live comfortably and securely? I mean you could even say a geisha is the equivilent to a mistress. I'm looking solely at the lifestyle they led and the options they had as women in that time period. I guess you can say that they were entertainers first and "prostitutes" if and only if they decided to, last. So I totally agree with everything you guys are saying, and if you read that book perhaps you'll understand my reasoning. |
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by kirisuto_kyo
on 2005-09-09 21:17:48
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well everyone here practically summed up what a geisha is. if you wanna know more about geishas in anime watch samurai champloo or this one anime i know no one's heard of called "a tree in the sun". it's a kinda old anime that's based on the feudal era with samurais and all with geishas in it. if you find the anime, that's good cuz it's difficult to find. i think the director or the head person of the anime said the story was based on his great grandfather... 
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on 2005-09-10 04:16:19 |
hm.. i don't know so much about the books that everyone says about geishas., but i think they are a bit biased because they aren't written by geishas themselves. also, as far as i know about geishas, they are more than entertainers and mistresses, for all i care. they also live a double-life.. i mean, try imagining a five year-old girl learning stuff which doesn't fit her age.. like dancing and stuff. hm, let's just say that theire childhood was stolen from them. instead of playing in the streets, they're back at the "house", where they have to learn so many stuff. tee hee. i've watched a 60's film titled "My Geisha" so i'm a bit around the 60's.. nowadays i think some geisha became trained at a later age... ^.^   |
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on 2005-09-11 02:11:50 |
it would help [if your still interested] if you will wait and see the movie Memoirs of a Geisha since it is easier to understand things when you're watching instead of reading. It will be played by Zhang Zi Yi [if i'm not mistaken] so it would be a good one, i assume.    |
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yeah, and by the way, i think it's coming out in December. I saw a poster for it at the movie theater and I hugged my friend to near-death out of joy. i'm so psyched for it! i just hope they don't butcher the book *cough*third*harry*potter*movie*cough*cough*cough*.
nya........... hehe.
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Yea, you guys are right, the movie is being shown in theaters. Here's a link to the trailer. Make sure you right click and download. Enjoy! :) http://www.movies.co.jp/sayuri/trailer/sayuri_trailer_500k.wmv |
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thank you!!! *i-kow-tow-bow-to-your-wow* hehe.
nya........... hehe.
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Hey, another really good book to read is Geisha, A life. It is an autobiography by Mineko Iwasaki who was a top geisha in the 1970s. Arthur Golden, the guy who wrote Memoirs of a Geisha, interviewed Mineko when he was writing his book and you can actually see the similarities between the two stories. (He also talked to the only ever American geisha) Anyway, I find geishas extremely fascinating. It's amazing to me that an institution could last throughout centuries in a culture. You don't find stuff like that in America.  |
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oh my gosh, that's from WICKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nya........... hehe.
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Yes it is. A great show... |
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I didn't bother reading the recent posts, so forgive me if this has been said already. I found a great treasure trove of info and media on geisha/geiko and maiko, even tayuu and oiran(the last two mentioned are what made people believe geisha and maiko were prostitutes.. grr..) just go to Immortal Geisha "If one is to become a lady, one must not chew on her chopsticks!" |
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