Ichiyo-zakura Oiran Dochu Procession + Show 一葉桜まつりおいらん道中

[emirot]

they way the oiran walk just amuses me.

[orgoik]

How beautiful. The Oiran with the black and gold kimono(1:28) was sooo beautiful. Her face was so elegant. I know this is almost mean, but they almost seem...inhuman. They really do seem like women turned into moving pieces of art. It's kind of amazing and sad at the same time XD

[dhoakohime]

Hi! does anyne know where i can find more info about oirans and tayuu? how can i distinguish them? and finally....in what day do they do this festival? i went to japan once and i missed it...and searching and searching i have come across different dates :(

[MissTwix]

@dhoakohime this year it is April 10th

[NIKKIselma]

i thought oiran no longer existed?

[Tekirai]

they dont but keep the oiran life and traditon alive with festivals like these same with the famous daimyo of the feudal era *i thought the were still around mah self!! @_@*

[freacls]

they do look like the Geishas and are as pretty as them i can see why a lot of pepole get mixed up

[wolifgang]

WHy does she walk like that? ANy tradition or any symbol anything?

[freacls]

dont know bur shes very brave walking in those shoes its amazing she dosent fall and hurt or break her ankles but the Orian [and Geishas] are lovely to look at like dolls

[bucketoftsuki]

It's mostly just for fashion - 'orian' were the trend setters of the Edo period, and they made it quite popular to walk this way in those shoes. One could argue that it's the weight, but notice how she isn't shuffling? The shoes are around 2.5kg, so she must have very strong ankles.

[sethralogoth]

It's most likely the most comfortable and least damaging way possible to maintain a graceful gait, when your shoes weigh 2.5kgs.

[akissy]

actually this is the correct reason. It was easier, more comfortable and safer to do the figure eight walk, rather than try to drag your okobo on the ground and risking one of the legs getting a stone in it and making you fall.

Don't remember her name, but it was one particular Tayuu (not Oiran, those aren't Oiran, Oiran have different hair ornaments) who came up witht he figure eight walk... and the rest ran to copy it, since, yes, they were the fashion setters. ^^

[pincushionllama]

i believ \e her name is katsuyama? i believe the maiko of today where a hairstyle named after her.

[TheRawr75]

@pincushionllama WOAH, she is not a Maiko. She's an Oiran. There's a HUGE difference.

[MarissaAdams]

The figure-8 walk is beautiful, but it must be so hard on those geta! I wonder if the inner sides of the shoes have to often be re-varnished and repaired, scraping on the ground like that...

[myfcr]

which is the name of the shoe is put at the end

[FruityPara]

*Geisha (geiko) DON'T wear Okobo. Only Maiko's wear Okobo.

*Oiran wear obi in front so the customer can untie her obi quicker.

*thanks to the oiran, geisha's and maiko's got a bad name and many don't know much about their lifestyle and stuff.

Such a shame since it's a very hard job and hard work to become one too ^__^

Memoirs of a Geisha is just a movie. A novel that has real and unreal things inside. Keep that in mind. She only wore those high shoes as a show. ^__^

[SyNthSkiN]

Actually, according to anthropologist Liza Dalby oiran, tied their obi in the front because that was the practice of married women at the time. It would make sense for them to tie it in the front for easy removal, but in my opinion that would seem to insult their honour.

Again, just an opinion, I thought perhaps you might like to know this.

[GalinaMora]

I'm curious about time they spend on their hairstyles. Anyway it costs it.

[bucketoftsuki]

In traditonal times, Geisha would sleep on 'wooden pillows' - techinally just little wooden neck supporters that they would lay the base of their neck on. Hairstyles took hours to complete and this sleeping style was favoured as it kept the head still, so the hairstyle could be preserved longer. Nowadays, Geisha's rarely use their real hair, but instead wear high-end, very expensive wigs.

[globaltrance86]

Memoirs of a Geisha is such a stupid movie because it is so inaccurate! Ignorant people just eat that shit up.

[sunakochan69]

@FruityPara not too sure about that third part, Oiran were there before the geishas. So it's not their fault Geishas get a bad rep, more like western ignorance.

[HaditaBlue]

@FruityPara why is the lady in thoes shoes, with the tabi and the super hair? what is she? coz since i know the tabi is only for geishas, the shoes for the maikos and that kind of super hair is for Oiran...so in the end, she is....what??

[YukioSnowoBloom]

@FruityPara also oiran did not give maiko & geiko a bad name. The western mind just finds it naturally hard to think of a girl that entertains men without having sex, unfortonetly. It is just a way of thinking. Tayu/Oiran & geisha were of different classes [Tayu & Oiran were of a class almost equal to samuria unlike geisha back then & they kept far apart. Oiran & Tayu invented new apperances to keep their looks separate, they wanted to be different yet they often worked together in odori & party

[kiyoshi85]

Ah ... I think the person who wrote memoirs got Oirin and Geisha CONFUSED... Or the movie director and costume designers did. They make a "geisha" wear those kind of geta when a geisha NEVER wears these.

[bajubner]

Actually, geisha do wear rather high shoes, called Okobo.

They are nowhere as high as koma-geta, but are still very high.

[Calucifer13]

Oiran wear obi in the front so they can untie their garb easier.

[greenpurpleorangesod]

uhh. i dont think so. i read it about it somewhere that they wear it in front to resemble married women?

[kiyoshi85]

no your mistaken.... The bow in front is not worn by anyone but a Oirin.

[fightingjigglecow]

Oirans are high class prostitutes. How can married women sell their bodies?

[bucketoftsuki]

Rather, Orian were high class prostitutes. There are a few woman who still practice the art of Orian, but they do it as more of a preservation of history, rather than a preofession. And also, these women no longer practice the sexual aspect of the practice - in fact, most are volunteers from across Japan, who apply to take place in this very popular parade.

[Nekorin]

Perhaps it was both.

[00RiN00]

what do you call those platform shoes like slippers? is it for sale? where?

[FinlayO]

I think the shoes are called geta.

[photojpn]

It's called Oiran Dochu geta. Not sure where they sell it.

[shishie4811]

they r called koma geta you really cant get them n if you find them for sale they might range from $500-$1,500 or more.

[momomoose]

Wow.. this is really insightful :)

[ChibiKuroNeko]

I didn;t know that there were still Geisha around :o That's a neat fact to learn, and she is very beautiful in her Kimono. Geta-death xO I fall in 3 inch heels...

[sekishikurayami]

they are not geisha sorry to disapoint you^.^

[theblackbrazil]

is oiran, not geisha, geishas wear obi in the back, not in the front and never use these high heels. Oirans are prostitutes, very expensive ones, geishas are just entertainers.

[Alexus1325]

Oiran WERE prostitutes who actually used the services of geisha/geiko to entertain their clients :P Prostitution is now illegal in Japan, they exist as a state-sanctioned cultural-heritage "display," kinda like a living museum.

[Caporalea1]

@Alexus1325 It's the other way around, the Oiran came first so Geisha use the Oiran's services.

[IceRose102]

wow it so beautiful!!!!....but i'll fall in that shoes o.O

[bajubner]

I love her hair. Is it all real, or is it a wig?

I want a pair of those GIANT SHOES <3

[photojpn]

It's a wig.

[iloveSE7EN]

I believe this is the parade which features three tayu (top ranking oiran, the ones with the enormous shoes) and all others are their assistants and servants. It's really cool. This festival is to keep the oiran traditions alive.

[akissy]

the ones in red kimono are kamuro. They are the like... ladies-in-waiting for the Tayuu. and finallys omeone who got the name right!!! These are TAYUU ppls!!! Not Oiran. Oiran wear very different hair ornaments, metallic really long needle-like ones.

[Akashia14Moka]

@akissy

Actually she is an Oiran not a Tayuu. Oiran was used in Tokyo and Tayuu was used in Kyoto. Indeed Tayuu had different kanzashi. This Oiran Dochu was held in Asakusa, so she is Oiran.

[YoukoEleena]

Oooooh! Wow. That's so pretty. The pictures you see on the net don't do them justice, at least not this "Oiran". At first I thought they looked funny, with their obi's tied in front like that. But now I think they're beautiful, especially the way they walk in those shoes.

[NishiLain]

:D OMG! Beautiful! Beautiful! I was wondering how they walked...:) Thanks for uploading

[goldensloth7]

These women are dressing up as oiran, high class prostitutes from the Edo period (1600 - 1868). They were eventually replaced by the geisha when they became ritualized, over-elaborate and expensive most people.

But I don't think they're for sale. Love the walk! Sweet shoes.

[mixedgrain]

What is this 'matsuri' or festival about? And where in Japan was it held?

[kittenbut1]

damn

[kleppers]

great! absolutely great!

far better than anything else on this topic in the web

[gardengeisha]

wow!!!! this grate

[freefancy763]

I would love to have this on a Dvd