#mitsuozi

As we be sharing and discussing more "light" stuff recently may i suggest you this colored postcard. I cant really decipher the obi motif but the fan patterned juban (?) is lovely ! Maybe a Ogiya girl who knows....

Hello Anon!

Thank you for sending it in! That obi sure is an eyecatcher! I was locked in. The most wonderful thing is to explore the lives of these women through a garment that was passed on.

Source: Tayuu and attendants - Noel43 on Flickr

And we find out she's Tayuu Ohashi! Now speaking of famous myoseki, Ohashi certainly has all the gravitas of a famous name associated with brilliant Shimabara Tayuu: The very first famous Ohashi was a waka poetry master and famed for her expert calligraphy talents. Later on we have another famous Ohashi, who was featured in the 1790 text "Biographies of Eccentric People of the Early Modern Period" written by Ban Kōkei. Amazingly, we still have her work to this day:

Two Poems - Ōhashi-dayū (The Tayū Ōhashi 大橋太夫 Active 1700s), Ink on paper, Mid 1700s Gift of Drs. John Fong and Colin Johnstone, 2018.183

[Ōhashi is the stage name of Ritsu, born to a wealthy samurai family and trained in various arts as a child. When her family lost their fortune, they sold her to a brothel. With her talent and dazzling looks, she quickly rose to the highest rank of tayū (Grand Courtesan) in Kyoto’s Shimabara pleasure quarter. Although highly admired, she remained beholden to her clients and patrons.]

Her poems here read:

Last night’s affair, this morning’s parting. Which will be the seed of love? So you say, though… The dawn has come. My hands wring out my sleeves, making the pools overflow with my tears.

This Ohashi must have been a prolific Tayuu, as she was not only a wordsmith but her aesthetic sensibilites also incompassed ikebana and tea ceremony. I'm almost certain the Ohashi in the photos was trained to live up to this heavy myoseki. In the backshot we see her wearing the sagegami with chocho paper decoration hinting to her long career. It's actually not hard to believe at all, that these Kamuro would all be in her service with this legacy to her name.

Another Ohashi is mentioned in "The Life Of An Amorous Man":

[Then there was Ohashi "She is tall and slender," said the master of the Sumiyoshiya. "She has a bright-looking face, though her eyes are dark. Unfortunately, her mouth has a mean look sometimes, especially when she complains. At the entertaining table she is the quiet type, not very sure of herself: a poetess, one might say, who is shy at reciting her own verses. Usually her young girl attendant prompts her along."]

Just a few lines on, the famous part about Yuugiri can be read, how perfect she was in every way and how no other Courtesan compared to her. The story is funny because, yeah there must be a downside to being an expert in art that focuses on the written word, it's not out of this world crazy that a poety type would be a bit shy in a party...

In any case, a very neat backstory!

Same obi, different wearer.

Source: Mitsuozi-dayuu, dated 1936 - Madam Satan on Flickr

Now, Mitsuozi is a very beloved myoseki of the Wachigaiya and there is a good chance, that this photo was mislabeled. Otherwise we could also have an early photo of the same Mitsuozi below.

Source: Mitsuozi-dayuu, Madam Satan on Flickr

Mitsuozi was a very stylish Tayuu from the photos we still have of her. She modeled a wonderful variety of outfits and even how she would wear her kokoro knot interchangeably with a more relaxed hanging obi. From seeing Mitsuozi in the obi, we might deduct it belongs to the Wachigaiya. I will add here that Mitsuozi is in fact a misnomer, Mitsuoji would be correct.

and then this one:

Source: Oiran Courtesan - Okamoto Toyo, ca 1930, via Facebook

One of the motifs on the obi the comma-swirl, or mitsudomoe, an age-old symbol of cosmic harmony and fitting for places made out of paper and wood, a protection against fire. The other striking element is the doll. I'm guessing it's a hinamatsuri doll.

Ultimately, i'm not sold on the theory that the middle Tayuu is THE Mitsuozi of the Wachigaiya. Maybe someone with a better eye for faces can chime in!