M.O.N "yu-jo"

[kyoto885]

she's a yujo



[nolareaper]

Wow, this song is soulful and sexy! and very unique

[sevenMOons666]

im totally in love with them. absolutely beautiful women

[iiiaxel]

Gosh I love her dress :D

[KatjasHumanoid483]

Oiran and Tayu were not prostitues, but courtesans!

[xShadowxPhoenix]

@KatjasHumanoid483 No, they were both, they slept with the richest people, but luckily the geisha rose and stamped out the gaudy whores

[KatjasHumanoid483]

@xShadowxPhoenix

I'm not sure about Oiran, but Tayu were not prostitutes. A tayu was the highest possible rank of courtesan in Japan, so they remained virgins for quite a while until someone coughed up enough money to deflower her. Who would want used goods? Courtesans courted men, prostitutes slept with them.

[xShadowxPhoenix]

@KatjasHumanoid483 Nah they are the same thing, Tayuu is just the title for highest ranking slut

[KatjasHumanoid483]

@xShadowxPhoenix

Whatever! I'm not going to argue with you! I have my opinion on what Tayu were and you have your opinion, lets leave it at that!

[YukioSnowoBloom]

@xShadowxPhoenix sluts like sex. Tayu of the past didn't like it so choose another word. Plus have a brain not to call "tayu" sluts as there are modern tayu believe it or not. They entertain as geisha, no sex since the mid 20th century. What a classless word you use, pathetic.

[xShadowxPhoenix]

@YukioSnowoBloom Oh shut the fuck up, you're one of those idiot hipsters who think everything japanese was so great. They sold their bodies, they were worthless sleezy skanks, you can sugar coat it all you want saying they were entertainers, prostitutes of all sorts were disgusting. They had a choice to run away or commit suicide

[NicolaAlexandrovna]

@xShadowxPhoenix

Wow. I would agree that there is no need to sugarcoat their purpose as prostitutes but your last statement was cruel. They could not run away because if they were found (which they usually were) they would be publicly humiliated and then slaughtered. As for committing suicide, that is simply ignorance. So every person in a forced position should kill themselves? What about hope or value for your own life? There are still sex slaves today, should they kill themselves as well?

[PhoenixKyuketsuki]

@KatjasHumanoid483 Courtesan = fancy word for prostitute. Look it up if you're not convinced. Tayu were still Oiran, they were just younger ones. And like many east asian forms of this profession (oiran, gisaeng, etc.) most could not dress to the nines until a man slept with them- then they could 'raise their hair' as real (married) women did. Until then, they couldn't be full 110% members of the house.

[DarkOnyx98]

when they show her normally with the cigarette in her hand, she looks like a younger version of the actress that played okisan ((sp?))/mother of the okiya from Memoirs of a Geisha..

[ms3103alex]

美人さん～！

でもチープ。

[jojiojp]

Ah! I think I know what this person's caption means. MAKOTO (I'm not sure if this is really her because I'm not a big fan of her) is a geisha and also jazz artist. Perhaps this is her singing...in which case it is a geisha dressed up as a yuujo...which I dont really then care for the lyrics saying "Im a high class prostitute" over and over again. It only adds to the confusion between geisha and prostitutes!

[splendidwren]

You can usually tell a prostitute from the way the obi is tied. Back= Geisha. Front=prostitute. No need for tying it in the back when you just take it off and put it back on all night.

[MegaMoon1994]

She isn't a geisha it's courtesan but looks very beautiful:)

[DevonNalta]

ur wrong japan still has a red light district full of legal prostitutes

[TevitaDiary]

Isn't this Tokyo Jihen? I dont really know.. Im more into Enka music... But for not being Enka I really like it :)

[DepressedAnimeAddict]

The higher class an oiran, the more things they had in their hair. So it makes you wonder really what one of the stature shown in the video would be doing to make it such a highly paid 'session'.

[marley1993]

this is a tayuu, oiran and tayuu are not the same thing, just as tokyo and kyoto geiko(geisha) have differences so did the oiran and tayuu. Tayuu wear different kanzashi to the Oiran. the oiran would wear more plain tortoise-shell, stick like kanzashi and the tayuu wore modern bira-kanzashi (the dangly hair ornaments), also oiran wore plain combs as opposed to the shinier kanzashi style comb that the Tayuu wear. confusing the two is a common mistake much like confusing a maiko and a geisha. x

[xxHartBrokenxx]

this is a taayu I think... :l deff not a geisha, so please change it because girls dressed like this were high class prostitutes.

[karma360amrak]

Everything evokes a complimentary duality of tradition and modernity in this music video - from the Japanese crafts to her poses and mannerisms to hairstyles to styles of kimonoes to make-up. And all shown while this cool rendition of jazz music, Japanese-style, is luringly drifting out of the speakers. A beautiful contrast!

I ♥ Asia.

[10ende1992]

ナイス！！

[chh150]

did more reseach and it is a tayuu, oiran has the mikey mouse ear thingy in the back of thier hair.

[teamshintaichi]

@chh150 they are just different words for the same thing like how in kyoto a geisha aprrentice is called a maiko but in tokyo they are called han gyoku

[helsbard]

This is not a Geisha, but a Oiran or Tayu, a high class prostitute. But they are not allowed to prostitute anymore since 1958 so they are just dressing up once a year to comemorate the Oiran/Tayu history.

[netjryt]

You are right...but so nice to see in this genre.

[satori03]

thank you for the information

Satori

[contortionist104]

i think this is a Oiran, because Tayuu have their Obi in front of their stomach in a bow and Oiran don't have that

[WillyyyV]

@helsbard, acshully there are still 2 working Tayu in Kyoto today! Of course they do not have sex anymore. They entertain just like a geisha.

[YukioSnowoBloom]

@helsbard, that is in fact a real Tayu, not someone just playing dress up. Her name is Furisode Tayu I belive. They do not engage in sex anymore, but they do everything else. They only dress up like Oiran once a year, not Tayu. -_-

[jojiojp]

@YukioSnowoBloom "furisode tayu" is the name of a type of tayu that only existed for a few years during the taisho era and now is trying to be brought back...but this is not the girl you're thinking of. This singer Makoto is a geisha and also jazz artist

[eburel506]

well judging by the way she is dressed thats not a geisha. looks more like a courtisan. Very elaborate kimono. Obi tied in front, LOTS of hair Combs and big hair. Still well done thought and the song is cool.

[alixinthemiddle]

what a jazzy, snazzy song

[kanatapaw]

yes i like it :D

[awekuvbtyrftrbjwe]

おいらんじゃない。

こったいだ。

[jadednyte]

I went as Oiran for halloween last year...let me tell you, that aint easy to pull off. The whole outfit was crazy heavy!!!

[RememberTheMemory]

Looks more like an oiran lady than a geisha.

[awekuvbtyrftrbjwe]

だから太夫だって

[nihongakusee2004]

すごかった！！！

[icximacu]

すごい！

今までみたどんな役者さんよりも様になってる！

花魁姿もそうだけど、いかにも遊女崩れの格好もすごい！

こんなにリアルな花魁・身請けされた元遊女みたことないって思っ­たら、本物の芸子さんだったのね。

納得。

今日本で見れる一番リアルな花魁だと思います。

すばらしい！

[osbourn15]

There are quite a few Tayuu still working. Not just one ;-)

[kmah88]

really great! (although the "child attendants" look like something out of contemporary horror movies)

[sprgirl1001]

cool

[sushiko18]

KAWAII KIMONO NE!It's a pretty costume, makeup, and hairstyle.

[hpeterswald]

I hope to see her at the Toshino Tayu Hana-ku-yo on April 18 :-DDD

[ilovesamsungverymuch]

What is the difference between tayuu and oiran?

[JPandCo]

tayuu were at the shimabara and oiran at yoshiwara

[Sushiko15]

tayuu is the top ultimate courtesan and oiran's are lower courtesans but if you worked your way up to be a tayuu you would be the top and over all the rest. that's the difference. also oirans and tayuu's are not geisha. geisha's tie their obi sash in the back oiran's which are prostitues tie their sash in the front for they can take the kimon off fast and put it on easier.

[HINIMIT]

That's one reason why they MIGHT tie their Obi in the front.

The other is that it is traditional that married women tied their obi's in the front. And in a sense, Oiran were "married" to their clients for the night.

[FruityPara]

Married woman don't wear obi's in the front. Married woman don't wear bright colored and long sleeved kimono's anymore and wear a simple obi at the back.

The oiran's just had it in front so their customers could get rid of the kimono much easier ;)

[lpmar176]

Fom what I've heard that's exactly why Tayuu and Oiran tied their Obis in the front, to have easy access to their bodies during business hours thus it became a symbol which advertised their profession...

[WillyyyV]

@lpmar176, they tied their obis in the front because back in the day married women were required to tie their obis in the front. An Oiran/Tayu was supposed to be act, pretty much, like ur wife for one night. If u know what I mean.

[Miyofuku]

I always thought Tayuu was the top rank for the courtesan in Kyoto and Oiran was the top rank for the courtesan in Edo/ Tokiyo

[shishie4811]

tayuu is the topr rank in kyoto's floating world. and Oiran is the top rank in tokyo's floating world.

[ThePeacefulCat]

This is very strange.. It sounds like she is singing in French/Czech/Canto/Japanese at the same time..!! Great video though.. I would hire her..

[Chlorophylienne]

Stop,i find the background is CHINESE CHARACTERS?

......Why?

[Ecthelion008]

The Japanese language is written either directly in Chinese or in a close derivative of it. Spoken, about 30-60% of it will be using Chinese (On-yomi) pronunciations.

[rhythm465]

Japanese pronunciations are far from Chinese pronunciations.

[kittenbut1]

you're stupid

[dan7180]

shes gorgeous

[DameDiabolique]

Tayuu

[fight1on]

So cool Just love it

[kittenbut1]

I like the way her mouth moves..don't know why.

[Hisami8]

It's always nice when a geisha forms a career outside the flower and willow world. She must have had so much fun dressng up as an Oiran.

If you meet Makoto in real life she's awesome, and so doen to earth. She's beautiful too.

[kittenbut1]

What the heck is this called?

[superabuela86]

THIS IS VERY EXTRANGE.. THIS MUSIC...

[kittenbut1]

That is so a oiran :D not a geisha, but awsome vid

[beigesilkworm]

oiran or tayu? i always confuse them....

[beigesilkworm]

is that an oiran or a tayu? i always confuse them....

[millamus]

tayu

[fruitsbasketRULES]

thats sooo awesome!

[Oshidorinohina]

oiran rock well...the last 4 anyway

[shishie4811]

1 left

[IchigoNiNaru]

What's the last oiran's name?

[millamus]

her name is kisaragi, there are five tayuu but, she is the only one stil preforming( we presume that she is the only one left, we don't know for sure if hana-ougi and tsukasa still preform).

[ilovesamsungverymuch]

What? There are still tayuu's in japan at present time? I thought she's an actress.

[millamus]

yes the tayu still exsist, but the oiran is extinted,( and is played by actors at special occasions)

[ilovesamsungverymuch]

Are tayuu prostitutes?

[millamus]

back in the days they were high class courtesans, of courses today they are high class artist and don't perform any kind of the sexual aspect

[osbourn15]

No, this is all Makoto.

[millamus]

i know that this is makoto, if you read all the comments you would see that i was replying to IchigoNiNaru's question "What's the last oiran's name?"

[gardengeisha]

Lovely

[LiebestodBlut]

neat! =D

[DameDiabolique]

This is the most awesome video!!!!