#yuujo

exhausted, i met my friends.

Nihongami: Hairstyles of the Karyukai - Tayuu, Shinzo & Kamuro

Historical Time Period: Mid-Edo Period - 2nd Half (1753-1789)

Hairstyle Name: Otoko Genroku (男元禄) lit. “Genroku Man”

     This hairstyle is different from its sibling style, the Onna Genroku, in that the topmost gathering of hair is styled in a tall, shaku-like pattern, compared to that of the female style. These hairstyles are a reference to the loud, flamboyant gender-fluid style of fashion during the Genroku period of Japanese history, a time when men and women dressed so alike you couldn’t always tell them apart on sight.

Asian Clothing Figurines Review

Asian Clothing: Japanese Kimono

Kimono Type: Kabuki Kimono: Oiran

Accuracy Rating: 4.5/5

Positives: Everything!!!! It’s perfect! It’s modeled on the kabuki costume for Yatsuhashi-oiran from the play Kagotsurube Sato No Eizame by Kawatake Shinshichi III.

May 2019: Tayuu Sakuragi (桜木) of Wachigaiya okiya in Shimabara looking radiant as per usual, along with her too cute kamuro attendants.

Hi! I am not a specialist in old Japan red districts, but she definitely looks like an Oiran! Her finery, especially the many beko kanzashi (turtleshell hairpins) are telling 😊

Yuujo looked far more “plain”. They didn't have kamuro apprentices or otokoshu (male helpers, here holding up an umbrella) attending to them. Plus I also don't think a yuujo would have had her pictures taken like this portrait 🤔

My question would be: is she an Oiran or a Tayuu? By attire only, I'd say Oiran but I have found this same picture refering to her as Tayuu from Osaka (not Yoshiwara then?). I find it quite weird as Taiyuu hair accessories are normally different so it might be a regional variation? Could you help us @geimaiko :3?

The box (hako) is probably a wooden box draped in a pretty fukusa. It is used as a kind of handbag for the Oiran belongings. It is classier than a normal drawstring bag (kinchaku) or kago (basket, with or without drawstring bag inside - the one still used by maiko for example). 

The Oiran is not holding anything in her hands ;) That big thing at her middle is her luscious obi belt!

The obi is knotted up front as it was customary for prostitutes (but beware it was also worn often this way by any women especially pre Meiji era noble women). This knot is a variation on the classic bow knot (bunko musubi) with wings laying flat to display the over-the-top obi (which must be padded to lay this straight) .

The musubi beautifully display a hagoromo pattern (a kite-like motif symbolizing a robe of feathers worn by tennin, see pic below). It is absolutely dramatic and I love it ^^

Nihongami: Hairstyles of the Karyukai - Tayuu, Shinzo & Kamuro

Historical Time Period: Mid-Edo Period - 2nd Half (1753-1789)

Hairstyle Name: Onna Genroku (女元禄) lit. “Genroku Woman”

    This hairstyle is different from its sibling style, the Otoko Genroku, in that the topmost gathering of hair is spread out in a wide, fan-like pattern, compared to that of the male style. These hairstyles are a reference to the loud, flamboyant gender-fluid style of fashion during the Genroku period of Japanese history, a time when men and women dressed so alike you couldn’t always tell them apart on sight.

Source: http://nihongami.blogspot.com/2020/06/1.html

Japanese Hairstyles: Historical Overview Part 02: Women’s Hairstyles of the Edo Period, Part 02

Hairstyle Name: Koubai Tenjin (紅梅天神) lit. “Red Plum Blossom Heavenly God”

September 2019: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, having her hair done in the Kottai Ofuku hairstyle onstage as part of a charity event to commemorate the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake.