The Gei of Geisha: Music, Identity and Meaning

Kelly M. Foreman, KellyM. Foreman

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781351544085
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

The Japanese geisha is an international icon, known almost universally as a symbol of traditional Japan. Numerous books exist on the topic, yet this is the first to focus on the 'gei' of geisha - the art that constitutes their title (gei translates as fine art, sha refers to person). Kelly M. Foreman brings together ethnomusicological field research, including studying and performing the shamisen among geisha in Tokyo, with historical research. The book elaborates how musical art is an essential part of the identity of the Japanese geisha rather than a secondary feature, and locates current practice within a tradition of two and half centuries. The book opens by deconstructing the idea of 'geisha' as it functions in Western societies in order to understand why gei has been, and continues to be, neglected in geisha studies. Subsequent chapters detail the myriad musical genres and traditions with which geisha have been involved during their artistic history, as well as their position within the traditional arts society. Considering the current situation more closely, the final chapters explore actual dedication to art today by geisha, and analyse how they create impromptu performances at evening banquets. An important issue here is geisha-patron artistic collaboration, which leads to consideration of what Foreman argues to be the unique and essential nexus of identity, eroticism and aesthetics within the geisha world.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Geisha study and perform several genres of shamisen, song, percussion, and dance, and are unique in the context of the traditional arts in Japan because they are multi-disciplinary artists in contrast to highly specialized professional musicians, dancers, or actors. Geisha also differ from others in the arts in that they know their patrons personally and they perform in both private and public (stage) contexts. Geisha originated during the mid-eighteenth century (first men and then women) within the thriving urban theater and pleasure districts of Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto, where a wide body of musical repertoire was also developing.

The term “geisha” is written with two Chinese ideographs which correspond to “art” and “person.” While gei is translated as art, the application of this term is narrower than its English equivalent, because while it is possible in English to speak of communication arts, social arts, or even sensual arts, the Japanese term gei in this context corresponds to the fine and performing arts: visual art (sculpture, painting, calligraphy, flower arranging, and so on), classical music (Japanese or Western), and classical dance (Japanese or Western). Geisha do not study “pleasure arts” pertaining to sexual service, nor do they specialize in tantalizing sensual artistry. The first geisha were, in fact, men.

The community of geisha and their performance venues, referred to as the karyūkai (“flower and willow world”), has been a relatively rare one for scholars to devote serious study to. The karyūkai has always maintained a level of exclusiveness and privacy that makes access to its environs formidable, and many of the source materials that did exist perished in the fires common during the early part of the twentieth century, due to war and earthquakes (Iwabuchi 1996, 36). The most extensive and reliable Japanese sources on geisha are Mitamura Engyo’s Karyū Fūzoku [Culture of the Geisha Community] (1926/1998) for the historical development of Edo/Tokyo area, Aketa Tetsuo’s Nihon Hanamachi Shi [History of Japan’s Hanamachi] (1990) for the Kansai area (Kyoto and Osaka), and Iwabuchi Junko’s ‘Danna‘ to Asobi to Nihon Bunka [Patrons, Play and Japanese Culture] (1996) for information pertaining to the complicated topic of patronage. While there are occasional references to music within these materials, very little (if any) discussion is included about how geisha perceive themselves as musicians, their position within the traditional arts communities, or specifics about geisha’s actual commitment to music.

English-language sources on geisha shed even less light on issues of geisha’s gei. The American anthropologist Liza Dalby conducted field research for fourteen months (1975–1976) on geisha culture and society, and published Geisha (1983) based on her doctoral dissertation (Crihfield 1978). Dalby’s publications remain among the most accurate English-language sources on geisha, and they are significant because she wrote about geisha from the perspective of a female scholar who had lived within an actual geisha community. Dalby’s research taught us much about the internal structure and workings of the geisha community, and her findings on the symbolic “families” of women within the karyūkai provided a much needed basis of understanding for geisha identity.¹ Her subsequent brief book on kouta (a genre of music performed by geisha) also gave Western readers a small taste of geisha’s gei (Crihfield 1979). However, although Dalby studied the shamisen and provided an overview of music, several questions regarding music remained unanswered, particularly with the contemporary situation in mind. Exactly how dedicated are geisha to musical study? How do their artistic abilities compare with professional stage musicians, and how are they viewed by professional performers and by their teachers? What makes up the musical repertoire of the contemporary geisha, and are there genres or pieces unique to geisha communities? How were geisha and the karyūkai involved in the historical development of shamisen music? How are geisha taught music, and do their teachers address the musical needs of these unique performers? Do geisha themselves instruct or compose music, and under what circumstances is this done? What is the process for creating the musical component for banquet performances done each evening, and how are these skills acquired by (or transmitted to) younger geisha?

And, while some of the genres of music that geisha perform, such as kouta or nagauta, have been researched in some depth, the above socio-artistic questions have not been adequately addressed within ethnomusicological research (even within the research of these genres).² For example, while the comprehensive Nihon Ongaku Dai Jiten [Encyclopedia of Japanese Music] contains a reference to geisha, it is only a brief one:

With regards to people who hand down Edo-period music, we should not omit the existence of geisha as arts professionals. In Kamigata (Kansai) they were called geiko, and males of this profession were called otoko geisha, hōkan, taikomochi. Today, kokyoku and zokkyoku types of pieces are done by these performers within the amusement districts, most of which fall within the domain of women. (s.v. “Geisha,” 169)

The majority of materials that treat the topic of geisha focus on images of lovely passive “geisha girls” whose purpose is male entertainment and pleasure, or as prostitutes or courtesans. Art, if it does exist, is seen only to make the object (the woman) interesting and desirable, rather than a choice or way of life. These images have been a part of American culture for at least a century and have served as inspiration for countless novels and films internationally. Actual geisha have little in common with these depictions, but this disparity in representation is understandable given the simple fact that very few people, Japanese or non-Japanese, have ever met or spoken with geisha. Moreover, there is no law to prevent anyone, including hostesses or prostitutes, from referring to themselves as “geisha,” and in fact many have and continue to do so. There are “geisha” found throughout Japan who may or may not give any sort of performance whatsoever, and may well be available to share a pillow for the night.

Because the term “geisha” has been and continues to be applied very liberally and because this study concerns the ways in which geisha have been involved with, have contributed to, and define themselves in relation to traditional Japanese music, there is a need to clarify exactly what I mean when I say “geisha” and to supply a working definition. Thus, geisha are women who are officially registered as geisha, geiko, or geigi through a central kumiai office affiliated with each separate hanamachi geisha district. Furthermore, geisha are defined as those actively studying music and/or dance within the community of teachers associated with that hanamachi, and they are actively involved with the performances associated with that hanamachi and its group of teachers. This definition is how the karyūkai defines geisha and gives some indication of its expectations for them.

Attempting to identify such geisha, particularly outside of Tokyo and Kyoto, was not an easy task. Demographic records are not maintained at a comprehensive national level, and geisha are decreasing in number. The process of trying to identify arts-inclined geisha was aided by an annual performance given by such geisha throughout Japan, at the National Theater of Japan in Tokyo (the Tokyo Kokuritsu Gekijō). Since all geisha in this performance are true geisha—accomplished musicians and dancers—it is limited to those geisha communities that the traditional arts community feels possess a high artistic level. This performance therefore served as an excellent resource for pinpointing contemporary geisha communities, and I concentrated my field research on those that were allowed to take part in this performance. These communities consisted of five geisha hanamachi in Kyoto (Gion Kōbu, Gion Higashi Shinchi, Pontochō, Miyagawa-chō, and Kamishichigen), five in Tokyo (Shinbashi, Asakusa, Kagurazaka, Mukōjima, Akasaka), and Hakata (Kyūshū), Gifu, Kanazawa, and Niigata located outside of Kyoto and Tokyo.

Regardless of how I delimit a definition of “geisha,” however, the majority of the English-speaking world has some concept of this term and an image already in mind. More than twenty years have passed since Liza Dalby published her research asserting that geisha define themselves as artists rather than as prostitutes or servants of men, but her contributions brought little change to the public commitment to the pathetic, passive “geisha” idea. I too have presented this research in a variety of academic formats and have found that audiences still have difficulty embracing an alternative view of geisha as anything but objects or courtesans. I have found repeatedly that information emphasizing the importance of art for geisha is acknowledged as a mere footnote, if at all, and efforts made to clarify these issues tend to offer little resistance to the determination to condemn the institution of geisha (past and present), and by extension, the general position of women in Japanese society.

For this reason, in order to clear room for a more balanced picture of these female performers, it is first necessary to deconstruct what “geisha” means in the United States and what seems to be at stake culturally in the American idea of this term. Moreover, since American ideas and institutions often take little time to cross the Pacific, I found that Japanese perceptions of geisha have been shaped by these American ideas over time. Geisha have even had to consider carefully how to present their world to the public in order to respond to the constructed images created outside of Japan.

The Geisha Myths

What is a geisha?

To Western eyes, a Geisha is only a hostess in a tea house. But to the knowing Japanese, a Geisha is much more. Taught to please any man—and all men—she is delicate, or she is strong. Wise in the ways of the world when her man demands, or shy and silent. (Cooper 1961, introduction)

The “geisha” image has been embraced and applied with great dexterity in American culture, from popular songs of the early 1920s and 1930s, to detective novels and other short stories, and heavy metal music’s application of the term “geisha” to groups and song selections. The term “geisha” has been used in the English language for at least a century, and while the term “geishas” first appeared in print in The Contemporary Review (1891, vol. 777), it is likely that the term had been in usage before that time. The following definitions of “geisha” were taken from a sampling of English language dictionaries:

Webster’s New International Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1954):

“geisha: a Japanese professional singing and dancing girl.”

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1971):

“geisha: 1. a Japanese girl who is trained to provide (as by playing on the samisen, dancing, serving food or drinks or by sympathetic, witty or amusing talk) entertaining and lighthearted company (for a man or a group of men). 2. courtesan.”

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1986):

“geisha: a Japanese girl who is trained to provide entertaining and lighthearted company esp. [sic] for a man or a group of men (since 1887).”

The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd. ed. (1989, vol. 6, 419):

“geisha: a Japanese girl whose profession is to entertain men by dancing and singing; loosely, a Japanese prostitute (since 1891).”

The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology (1995, 312):

“geisha: since 1887, borrowing of Japanese geisha, literally, person accomplished in the social arts (gei: art, performance; sha: society [sic]).”

There are a few developments in the terminology in English as the term drifts away from its original meaning. By 1971, “geisha” has the added definition of “courtesan” and by 1989, geisha are defined as prostitutes in no uncertain terms. In addition, with the 1995 definition the gei of geisha has been shifted from performing arts to social arts, a misunderstanding of gei in which music and dance are completely absent (although many geisha possess great social skills as well). Moreover, these definitions reflect only a fraction of the diverse meanings that have been applied to the term “geisha.” For example, “geisha” means servant and cook in the following cookbook, something actual geisha and their customers would find amusing since few possess any domestic skills or knowledge whatsoever:

A few years ago, one of my more enterprising friends shipped a Japanese Geisha from Japan to his wife in the States … Even his wife liked the Geisha. And why not? The Geisha cooked and graciously served exciting Japanese food … When the Geisha went home, the wife carried on in true Geisha fashion. She continued cooking and serving Japanese dishes to the delight of her family and friends. And that’s what this book is all about. You, too, can be a Geisha in your own home … So grab your kimono, light the hibachi and be the first instant Geisha on your street. (Larson 1973, 5)

While the above statement was published almost thirty years ago, Arthur Golden’s tremendously popular novel Memoirs of a Geisha (1997) and the film that followed indicate that geisha tales are as popular as ever. Securing a position on the New York Times bestseller list for several months, Golden’s novel, which was presented as a “memoirs,” was highly insulting to Iwasaki Mineko, the geisha who had allowed him to interview her:

What is written in Arthur Golden’s book is false … He got it wrong … For me, personally, this is a libel, an infringement … also a libel against Gion as a whole … Real geisha don’t tie men’s shoes—maids do that. Real geisha don’t take [time] off from their training. Golden got the organization of the geisha house wrong, and misunderstands the painted smile of the traditional noh dancer … The book is all about sex. He wrote that book on the theme of women selling their bodies. It was not that way at all. (Struck 1999)³

This geisha responded to Golden’s distortions by publishing an English translation of her own autobiography, Geisha, A Life (Iwasaki 2002), but this book has had far less success because marketing efforts have been nowhere near those devoted to Golden’s Memoirs and because it focuses heavily on the complexities of the art world (the relevance of which most readers miss or ignore). Even though Golden’s novel is fiction, it has been embraced worldwide as a true geisha biography and an authoritative account of t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures and Music Examples
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Repertoire and Training
• 3 Geisha Performances and How They Are Constructed
• 4 Geisha and Traditional Arts Society
• 5 Entertainer vs. Artist: Patronage and the Negotiation of Identity
• 6 Understanding Geisha and Gei: Eroticism Through Ambiguity
• Bibliography
• Index