#geiko

Thanks a lot for your answers they always are thoughtful and a pleasure to read

Hi Myoseki Anon!

Thank you for your kind messages! I find the topic also very inspiring and interesting, so much so that i am working on a post about the topic. It'll probably take a while though.

About the specific aspect of trademark, i haven't really found the answer as to which house gets dibs on which myoseki. For example, there are many Takaos and many Hanaogis to be found throughout history, and we know that Hanaougi/Hanaogi is usually affiliates with the Ogiya/Ougiya. But there have been Ougiyas in the Yoshiwara, Shimabara and the Shinmachi. I don't know how this works yet. If it's just so popular that every district must have at least one of each.. or if they are all affiliated, like if THE Ougiya of the Shimabara that then moved to the Shinmachi was also affiliated with a Ougiya in the Yoshiwara... Did they all have the same grand-Oneesan like we know with Geimaiko?

I do know that some traditions around the myoseki can be observed in kabuki (and other artforms like sumo, bunraku etc.) to this day and i find that the spectacle around the naming conventions must have been similar way back in the pleasure quarters, that's where i would go off of. Some families have the rights to certain naming lines and and there is a lot of reverence around the tradition. Names aren't passed on simply for the sake of it. Specially myoseki that are well connected to spectacular artists. If an actor was prolific in his roles, it was his legacy to pass on. If his successor wasn't ready up until his middle age, then he would have to work harder and refine his art to achieve the privilege of the name.

Can't you just imagine a similar celebration for a young Tayuu? Picture it, if you dare! Imagine raising the Shinzo, from a simple Hiragana name, to receive a grand myoseki, one that was not only fitting to her own talents, but also according to fortunetelling traditions and also according to the history of her house. There would have been so much celebration around it, so many festivities, new clothes, new hair, new everything for the Tayuu. Even the Kamuro would all receive new names to reflect some inside joke or connection to the Tayuu's myoseki, everything shifted! The whole quarter would have been abuzz!

We all know that The Genji Monogatari was one of the sources for many names, but Noh and other courtly artforms made their way into the convention as well. Many scenic names are in fact only poetic in conjunction with lore privy to the nobles. Actually really only targeting the audience the Tayuu would have aspired to.

That being said, i'm not there yet, nowhere there yet actually lol. So i hope this little bit i have is okay as an answer. One day i'll have a really cool post about it and share what i have with you all!

Hi Anon, thank you for your question

Yes they did! In fact i've been on the hunt for testaments and pics for what feels like forever!

At some point, the Shimabara Geiko and Tayuu appeared on the stage of the Miyako Odori. We see them in these lovely 1917 program scans.

Source: Naomi No Kimono Asobi on Flickr

Source: Naomi No Kimono Asobi on Flickr

I find these fascinating! Specially the one of the Kamuro that might have also danced on stage but certainly participated in the tea ceremony, and this one of Takamatsu-Dayuu in something more contemporary and less formal for a Tayuu. It's so interesting to me, that she opted for a more Geiko like look. This picture make me wonder so many times of how we picture Tayuu and how they might have actually operated.

So the Shimabara had its own Kaburenjo, established as the Shimabara women's training center in 1873 and closed down again in 1881 and the Kagai was officially defunct in 1977 due to lack of demand for its Geiko. Until 1976, it was a member of the Kyoto Geisha District Association and possessed its own unique status and culture, distinct from Gion. We have 100 years of regulated activity to unearth, so at some point we will piece everything together. But from the short lived Kaburenjo we can gather that the Odori wasn't that big of a success.

The Shimabara Geiko had their own Odori: Aoyagi Odori 青柳踊 (maybe in the Shinozuka style) but apparently only for 8 years. During and after which it was again used as a women's educational center where the women of the pleasure quarters would learn skills like sewing to help them exit their profession. It was ultimately demolished in 1996. The Shimabara Geiko also had their own Onshukai.

Since the Tayuu were called upon to host the tea ceremony during the Miyako Odori after the Kaburenjo's demise, one could imagine they might have done the same for the Aoyagi Odori, even if they might or might not have actually danced on stage. While i am usually sure, that the Tayuu and the Geiko would have operated quite separately in most cases, that mix in Gion Kobu makes me wonder.

Maybe one day some interesting photos might surface. Maybe some programs. Let's hope that the memory does not fade around this short lived Odori tradition.

https://ameblo.jp/gion-hayakawa/image-12129169572-13568213287.html

Hi Anon

Thank you for your kind message <3 That's very sweet of you to take the time to share this one:

Source: Gion Hayakawa on Ameblo

I actually remember being blown away by this one way back too! You really hit it right with this one! Maybe because Masaki is such a great model for photos, i always liked her look a lot.

So Shibori is known to be really expensive and intricate but i actually had never seen it done before. I found this video and thought i would share:

So this is actually insanely laborious, taking up years of work to create a piece like the one Masaki is wearing.