Courtesan's Dance

A geisha/courtesan (tayû) named Kisaragi in Kyoto's Shimabara district performs a dance at the Wachigaya teahouse for an audience of foreign guests.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• performing
• arts
• teahouse
• geisha
• kyoto
• Shimabara
• Kisaragi
• Japanesedance
• koto

[Fishroads]

what is the difference between Tayu and Oiran?

[dalbyliza]

Tayu is the term used in the Kansai (Kyoto area) for a high-ranking courtesan. Oiran is a Kantô (Tokyo area) term.

[kmah88]

exquisite!~

i'm currently reading "geisha" but haven't completed it yet...

how many tayuu are in japan now?

is the training similar to that of geisha?

[dalbyliza]

look at the "courtesans and geisha" page under the GEISHA menu on my website lizadalbydotcom

[ForteanLady]

The Kyoto dialect for geisha is geiko. Prostitution became illegal in Japan in 1957 (Immortal Geisha website). The Tayuu and Oiran you see nowadays don't provided a sexual service...they just dress and act the part to preserve the tradition.

To call the Oiran and Tayuu prostitutes is quite insulting....yes they provided a sexual service but they were very sophisticated and very, very expensive. Only the wealthiest men could afford them.

For these reasons they are referred to as courtesans. :)

[Lovejoyfanatic]

Oiran/Tayu are no geisha. I agree with oshidorinohina.

[Oshidorinohina]

Geisha aren't Tayuu nor are they oiran, Tayuu are trained in similar arts to a geisha/geiko.

Geisha/Geiko were men at first, being court entertainers musicians and what not- soon after the first woman geisha appeared and the idea of women as geisha/geiko was a nice they were soon seen as 'in style' and offered sexual favors to men but soon outran the courtesans and the geisha were banned from offering sexual favors to clients it has been this way for over 200 years Tayuu/Oiran aren't geisha

[pamdix]

Please read The Nightess City and Yoshiwara. Only the very best courtesans were chosen for the title of Tayu. The Tayu title died out over the years and became Orian. They were prostitutes and charged according to rank. Tayu of long ago could refuse a customer. But saying that they weren't prostitutes is incorrect. Only the early Tayu were accomplished in the arts. Having a danna that you sleep with to provide for you without love, makes you a prostitute. He pays to keep you with him.

[YukioSnowoBloom]

@PookyKBK, but she never practices in any of the odoris and she is a very rare sight in the tea houses. I'm so-so as to whether I would consider her real or not. She was never a miako neither [sorry, I don't know the term for Tokyo maiko so I will just use the Kyoto term]. She just jumped straight to full fledged geisha which never happens.

[NicolaAlexandrovna]

@WillyyyV

Prostitutes are those that would partake in the "flesh trade", selling their bodies multiple times in exchange for compensation, which IS a Oiran's primary occupation. Yes, they studied music and dance and were well educated but they WERE prostitutes. And they are not at all Geisha. I know that they do not practice in prostitution anymore, but that does not mean that they are at all what Geisha and Maiko are either.

[WillyyyV]

@sandravaneekelen, yes but Oiran aren't really "prostitutes" either. They are moving works of art. Prostitutes are like those who stand on the street corner with their thighs hanging out. Oiran are far better and higher then that. Also, keep it in mind that the Japanese have a more open view on sex. It is seen as natural, and healthy. Plus a geisha could pretty much refer to any Japanese dancing, entertaining character etc. And since Oiran don't do sex anymore, they are, really, geisha. :]

[namiexamuroxnobody]

So beautiful. To look at her face and kimono; the way she dances with skill. Then watching her unpainted hands to show that she is from this Earth and actually not a mystic creature. Truely amazing.

[PookyKBK]

That's not true, Liza Dalby practiced geisha duties as part of her cultural studies, but she is not a part of the geisha association nor a practicing geisha. Fiona Graham is the only foreign woman who is a true geisha.

[mazzy10001]

It is the traditional figure of eight in which an Oiran walks. Notice also, that she has no Tabi on her feet. This is another tradition of Oiran.