Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Geisha Musings...


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I love Japanese culture.













Japanese interior design is a feast of the senses.

Minimalist...
calming...

serene...



But the Geisha...ah, the Geisha...

She fascinates me. 


She takes my mind on a stroll through the centuries.
A world seen through the eyes women living in a mans world.

Girls, when you think you have it bad
 remember our japanese sisters...


When you get up in the morning and fix your hair just remember...
  
They had hairstyles for their station of training as a geisha.
Their hair was the same everyday until they mastered that level.
Once they went to the next level,
they would never wear the previous style again 
Boring...


What's he giggling at?


I think it's her feet.


Check out this poor girls tooties...

Is that her toes she is pointing at?


...and she is putting THOSE feet in THESE shoes 
These aren't even sexy ladies...

...and for this? 
These deformed feet were called lily feet.
Japanese men found this look highly erotic. 


You can see the bindings, that trained the feet, better here.

 No thanks!

Traditionally, Geisha began their training at a very young age.
Some girls were bonded to geisha houses (okiya) as children.
These girls were referred to as hangyoku
and were as young as nine years old.
 This was not a common practice in reputable districts and
disappeared in the 1950s with the outlawing of child labor.[6]
Daughters of geisha were often brought up as geisha themselves,
usually as the successor (atotori, meaning "heiress")
or daughter-role (musume-bun) to the okiya. (source: wikipedia)

Isn't she a cutie?







Makes catholic school look like a breeze doesn't it?


These were not luxury bath houses girls...
no running hot water, Calgon, jacuzzi jets


No fluffy spa towels...
...and sharing your bath with your girlfriends
...in the same water, no less. 


No triple blade razors to shave the legs...

And yet... 


...there is still honor...

...and grace...



...and a beauty of it's own.


The original platform shoes.



A wonderful book and movie that captures the life and spirit of the geisha.


Captivating...


...honorable...

...ageless...


Our sisters.

Our gender.

They were strong women
...just as we are. 





7 comments:

  1. Fascinating! One of my favorite books is "The good earth". My feet hurt from looking at the pictures.
    Gayle from Vintage Farmhouse

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very lovely collection of photos; I especially enjoyed the black-and-whites.

    However, there is one small mistake: foot-binding is a Chinese tradition, not Japanese. (In fact, when places like Taiwan became Japanese colonies, foot-binding was outlawed.) The neck, rather than the foot, was the traditionally erotic area for Japan. The patterned makeup on the back of the geisha neck is meant to highlight the appeal.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Japanese didn't have the foot binding culture, it was the Chinese. In fact, many Japanese found it to be barbaric, not erotic. Besides, you couldn't put those lily feet in what the Geisha wear.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Japanese didn't have the foot binding culture, it was the Chinese. In fact, many Japanese found it to be barbaric, not erotic. Besides, you couldn't put those lily feet in what the Geisha wear.

    ReplyDelete

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