Incredible facts from the life of geishas that you probably didn’t know (19 photos + 2 videos)

13 November 2017

The life of a geisha has attracted, is attracting and will continue to attract interest precisely because of its unusualness, veiled eroticism, secrecy and amazingness. The image of a mysterious beauty in a kimono touches and captivates people all over the world. After all, the geishas were prepared with special care, practicing all the movements, working on every detail of their appearance, manners and actions...

Geisha - a man of art, initially there were men and only the first female courtesan, who paid off her debts on her own, began the tradition of women = geisha

To teach the art, geishas chose the most beautiful girls - they were given to them by their mothers themselves, or they were bought by a “pimp.” Maiko's students dreamed of becoming guisha, but for this they had to work very hard

The most important thing for a future geisha is humility. She must do any work, at any time of the day, and thank her “mentor” for it.

Geisha were educated - she had to carry on a conversation on almost any topic; in addition to pleasing her ears by playing musical instruments, the tea ceremony, she had to have competent speech, intelligence, and a sense of humor.

Great attention was paid to appearance, especially the face - it was smeared with various creams in several layers, special white (previously created on the basis of lead), creams based on nightingale droppings, and wax.

Be sure to have a white face, black eyebrows, small lips with a red “bow”. A geisha must neither sweat, nor worry, nor cry - otherwise all this splendor will flow. How they managed not to sweat under their multi-layered kimonos remains a mystery.

Before a geisha makes her debut, she is given the most erotic hairstyle in the world - momoware, that is, “split peach”.

The geisha's bangs are combed back, and the rest of the hair is tied at the top of the head in a knot - it is tied around a piece of red silk and, when the young geisha turns to the man, her “split peach” with a blazing scarlet spot inside, thereby attracting men.

It is interesting that previously geisha hairstyles were done at best once a week - in order not to spoil the hairstyle, the styling of which was very expensive, geisha slept on a hard takamakura roller.

The mincing gait of geishas is their shoes - okobo, with the center of gravity on the heels - here you can either mince in small steps, maintaining balance, or fall forward on your face.

Plus, the long sleeves of the kimono should not drag on the ground, so their gait looked like running along the waves - in small steps with raised arms.

Geisha were not allowed to eat or drink in the presence of a client. By the way, clients for the young geisha were found by the so-called elder sister - an assistant who went around the tea houses looking for clients, and also helped the geisha with a kimono

Each geisha kept very serious accounting and reporting - which houses she was in, how many, with whom, how much they paid, how much she paid for rent. Plus, she and her sister often walked around dozens of houses with the words: “My name is so-and-so. I am a beginner geisha and I beg you to show me some favor.” After that she had only to watch and be silent, because... she had no right to look after the men there on her own initiative - she had to present herself in such a way that the man would want her and invite her to look after him.

Mizuage is the sale of one's own virginity. When the young geisha was ready to say goodbye to her virginity, she sent out an ekubo rice cake with a small red depression in the center to the richest men and waited for the highest bidder.

Although many researchers today oppose this formulation of the question - there is no talk of any sale of virginity - it is simply that the aspiring geisha crosses the threshold of maturity and is ready to earn independent income - after all, she has no one else to pay for a kimono, food and housing. Therefore, she chooses the one who will introduce her into this adult life, and virginity is just a tribute.

Having passed the mizuage, the aspiring geisha exchanged the red collar of her kimono for a white one and received the right not only to pour sake or tea, but also to have danna.

Danna is a patron - the richer he is, the more worthy and popular the geisha. The rumor that geishas ruined their bodies left and right is unfounded. Most often, a geisha had a dana and no one else sexually

It’s true that keeping a geisha cost a pretty penny - keeping a geisha was a very expensive pleasure that not everyone could afford. Education, ransom and "mothers", kimonos, jewelry, food, treatment, housing, maids - all this and much more fell on Dann's shoulders.

It was easy to distinguish a geisha from a prostitute - the geisha's obi belt was tied at the back, and the prostitute's in the front

The cost of a geisha was always determined simply: at parties, incense sticks - ohana - were lit in front of each geisha. The more sticks, the more expensive the geisha.

Geisha did not have the right to marry, only to have a rich patron

According to statistics, only 1% of Japanese have ever met a geisha. After all, few people are able to pay a quarter of their annual earnings in two hours.

Geishas don't have days off. She can be called at any minute, on any day. for example, the most famous geisha Mineko Iwasaki attended 10 different events in 6 hours.

On some she spent only 10-15 minutes, but because of her popularity she received decent money for it