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

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.

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

i thought oiran  no longer existed?

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!! @_@*

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

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. ^^

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

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.

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.

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.