#chiyoha

Hello again, Anon o/ Japanese Wikipedia has a full list of her five autobiographies. I doubt any of those were translated to English, but if you can read Japanese (opposed to me), it shouldn't be a problem for you! 『照葉懺悔』 1928 『照葉始末書』 1929 『黒髪懺悔』 1934 『祗王寺日記』 1973 『花喰鳥―京都祇王寺庵主自伝』 1984 『つゆ草日記―嵯峨野 祇王寺庵主自伝』 1992

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/chisho-takaoka-alias-tehura-la-geisha-qui-sest-coupe-un-doigt-pour-son-amant/

Chishō Takaoka alias Tehura, la geisha qui s'est coupé un doigt pour son amant

A portrait of Maiko Chiyoha of Osaka, taken in 1910 or 1911.

Chiyoha later moved to Tokyo and there became the famous Geisha Teruha, a very popular postcard-model and Geisha.

She was also known abroad for her unsteady life.

Teruha-san was born as Chishō Takaoka was born on April 22nd of 1896 in Nara, but her birth registration was made in Osaka, where she also grew up.

Her mother died when she was two and as her father was an alcohlic, she was mostly raised by her grandmother.

At 12 years old, Chishō-san’s father tricked her and sold her to an okiya in Osaka. She became their adopted daughter and debuted under the name of Chiyoha at age 14; her older sister was the famous Geisha Yachiyo I. She was considered a radiant beauty and soon gained popularity.

A year later, she fell in love with a man named Otomine, who was a successful kimono-seller. They eloped to Beppu, a popular onsen town.

Soon, Otomine discovered a picture of a Kabuki actor in her pocket mirror and became so jealous that he broke up with her.

Desperate, she cut off her little finger and gave it to him in an effort to prove her faithfulness; however, Otomine did not take her back.

Word of this soon spread and it became impossible for her to return to Osaka. A Geisha from the Shinbashi District of Tokyo called Kiyoka took her under her wings and she debuted as a Geisha in Tokyo under the name of Teruha.

She became a very popular postcard-model and an even more successful Geisha.

In 1919, at age 23, she married Suezo Oda, the manager of a Motion Picture Company.

They visited and travelled across the U.S.A. together, but she had an affair. After coming home to Japan, she attemptet suicide two times and her husband filed for divorce because of her affair. She started working as a Geisha again.

In the mid-1920s, she married a doctor and ran a bar in Osaka.

Her second marriage also failed and in 1935, at age 39, she entered the Bhuddist priesthood in Temple Kume and started calling herself her birth name again.

She then moved to the Giōji Temple in Kyoto and stayed their for the rest of her life. Giōji became a refuge for heartbroken women.

She died on October 22nd of 1994, at the high age of 98.

She wrote five autobiographies, starred in the movie “Ai no tobira” in 1923 and even inspired Jakucho Setouchi’s novel “Jotoku”.

She was also known abroad for her tumultuous and tragic life and was soon called “the nine-fingered Geisha”.

Chiyoha 1910 (by Blue Ruin1)