Download or read book Geisha written by John Gallagher and published by Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. This book was released on 2003 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan's geisha have fascinated and allured westerners for centuries. But just who are geisha? This book delves into their lives and history with detailed coverage of their training, their costumes, and the intricate world of tradition in which they live and work. This finely illustrated book looks at the gradations of rank, clothing, and makeup, as well as the subtle changes of geisha appearance through the seasons. It explores the network of dance schools, teahouses, temples, offices and traditional crafts, with calligraphers, dyers, and sake warmers among the many occupations serving in the hanamachi or "flower towns," as geisha districts are known. The geisha craft itself draws on an array of traditional Japanese arts: dance, tea ceremony, traditional music, and games, all in the service of leisure. This book explains how this complex and often misunderstood world evolved, how it fits into modern Japan, and how it is adapting in order to survive there.--From publisher description.
Download or read book Geisha Maiko of Kyoto written by John Foster and published by Schiffer Pub Limited. This book was released on 2009 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This exquisite collection of photographs and interviews focuses on four of Kyoto's most beautiful geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha). First, the geisha and maiko were photographed at Kyoto's largest geisha dance performances and other important dances. Next, portrait sessions were held with each woman to capture the kata (forms or poses) of her favorite dances. The geisha and maiko were then interviewed about their photographs, giving the reader a rare insight into their artistic training. Finally, images follow one maiko from her last few days as an apprentice through her first few days as a geisha. Never before has the change from maiko to geisha been documented so completely. The result is a collection of 149 gorgeous photographs that shed light on these exquisitely beautiful women like no other book before.
Download or read book Geisha written by Jodi Cobb and published by Knopf. This book was released on 1995 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A photographic chronicle of the life of the geisha, detailing the training, costumes, make-up, and attitudes that allow them to present the illusion of the perfect woman.
Download or read book Geisha written by Stanley B. Burns and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japanese Geisha and courtesans intrigue and fascinate Westerners. During the mid-19th century, Japan opened its doors to the world and became an essential destination for travellers. Geisha: A Photographic History 1872-1912 documents the intimate life and culture of this 19th century icon. It portrays the artists of these images in a cultural reality created by staged studio photography, private scenes and rare outdoor images. Essential viewing.
Download or read book Geishas and the Floating World written by Stephen Longstreet and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Geishas and the Floating World returns readers to a lost world of sensuality and seduction, rich with hedonism, abandon, and sexual and personal politics. "Floating World" refers to Japan's traditional Geisha pleasure districts, but also to the artistic and literary worlds associated with them. At the heart of the "Floating World" and the system it supported was an extensive network of talented courtesans and entertainers, typified by the still fascinating, enigmatic Geisha. Stephen and Ethel Longstreet bring the reader on an in-depth tour of the original and most infamous red-light district in Japan--the Yoshiwara district of old Tokyo that underwent tremendous changes during the more than three centuries of its existence. Beyond the erotic allure the district held, the Yoshiwara also fostered a rich culture and a much studied and revered artistic and literary tradition. This account is adorned with examples of fine woodblock prints and quotations from often bawdy, and always colorful, original sources that offer a gripping portrait of life within the pleasure zone. Geishas and the Floating World balances scholarly insights with a master storyteller's flair for the exploits and intrigues of people operating outside the confines of polite society. Stephen Mansfield's new introduction bridges time, examining gender realities and the Yoshiwara through contemporary eyes, highlighting often overlooked subtleties and the harsh realities associated with this glittering world.
Download or read book The Women of the Pleasure Quarter written by Elizabeth de Sabato Swinton and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fascinating study of geisha, courtesans, kabuki performers as portrayed by masters of Japanese art from 1600 to 1868.
Download or read book Geisha written by Peabody Essex Museum and published by George Braziller Publishers. This book was released on 2004-08-31 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned thoughout the world as purveyors of beauty, mystery, and allure, geisha have come to represent the epitome of Japanese elegance and chic. The contributors to this book each considers a particular aspect of geisha tradition and aesthetics.
Download or read book The Gei of Geisha Music Identity and Meaning written by KellyM. Foreman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Geisha written by Mineko Iwasaki and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2003-09 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Kyoto geisha describes her initiation into an okiya at the age of four, the intricate training that made up most of her education, her successful career, and the traditions surrounding the geisha culture.
Download or read book A Geisha s Journey written by Komomo and published by Kodansha Amer Incorporated. This book was released on 2008-01-25 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the cobbled streets where Komomo walks in her elaborate dress to the inner sanctums of her dressing room, these pages offer a rare look at a contemporary teen's journey to becoming a geisha, photographed in full color by Naoyuki Ogino. This is the story of a contemporary Japanese teenager who, in a search for an identity, became fascinated with the world of geisha, and discovered in herself the will and the commitment to embark on the many years of apprenticeship necessary to become one. It is also the story of a young Japanese photographer who grew up
Download or read book Life of Geisha written by Eleanor Underwood and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2012-07-10 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book of Geisha culture and history features beautiful antique photographs and a wealth of information. Geisha have the odd distinction of being both legendary and real, and this book helps clarify those differences. Myth by nature is monolithic, transcending history and individuals, whereas the reality is a variety of geisha communities in different areas of Japan, Status hierarchies among communities in the same city, and of course differences among individual geisha. The Life of Geisha illustrates the fascinating world of Japan's powerful and seductive geishas, a fading yet beautiful world that has captured the imaginations of millions of readers. This striking book contains full-color woodblock prints made during Japan's famous Edo Period, historic and contemporary photographs of geisha life, and images of the "floating world," Japan's mysterious artistic subculture. The accompanying text includes evocative Japanese poems and haikus. All celebrate the beauty and creativity of the geisha, who with her exquisitely detailed costume, elaborate makeup and hairstyle, and artfully ritualized behavior, chastely beguiles and entertains Japan's most powerful men.
Download or read book Memoirs of a Geisha written by Arthur Golden and published by Longman. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Captivating, minutely imagined . . . a novel that refuses to stay shut" ("Newsweek"), "Memoirs of a Geisha" is now released in a movie tie-in edition.
Download or read book From Geisha to Diva written by Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and published by ABC Art Books Canada Distribution. This book was released on 2001-08-01 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The magnificent kimonos that once belonged to the Geisha/Diva Ichimaru of the early to late 20th century are the subject of this illustrated publication. The richness of the costumes is a stunning experience. The authors weave a compelling story of not only the nuances of the age old geisha tradition, but how a young country woman rose from a background of poverty to become one of her country's national treasures.
Download or read book Geisha written by Mineko Iwasaki and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2002-10-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GEISHA, A LIFE "No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story. We have been constrained by unwritten rules not to do so, by the robes of tradition and by the sanctity of our exclusive calling...But I feel it is time to speak out." Celebrated as the most successful geisha of her generation, Mineko Iwasaki was only five years old when she left her parents' home for the world of the geisha. For the next twenty-five years, she would live a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and rich rewards. She would learn the formal customs and language of the geisha, and study the ancient arts of Japanese dance and music. She would enchant kings and princes, captains of industry, and titans of the entertainment world, some of whom would become her dearest friends. Through great pride and determination, she would be hailed as one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, and one of the last great practitioners of this now fading art form. In Geisha, a Life, Mineko Iwasaki tells her story, from her warm early childhood, to her intense yet privileged upbringing in the Iwasaki okiya (household), to her years as a renowned geisha, and finally, to her decision at the age of twenty-nine to retire and marry, a move that would mirror the demise of geisha culture. Mineko brings to life the beauty and wonder of Gion Kobu, a place that "existed in a world apart, a special realm whose mission and identity depended on preserving the time-honored traditions of the past." She illustrates how it coexisted within post-World War II Japan at a time when the country was undergoing its radical transformation from a post-feudal society to a modern one. "There is much mystery and misunderstanding about what it means to be a geisha. I hope this story will help explain what it is really like and also serve as a record of this unique component of Japan's cultural history," writes Mineko Iwasaki. Geisha, a Life is the first of its kind, as it delicately unfolds the fabric of a geisha's development. Told with great wisdom and sensitivity, it is a true story of beauty and heroism, and of a time and culture rarely revealed to the Western world.
Download or read book Geisha written by Lesley Downer and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since Westerners arrived in Japan, we have been intrigued by geisha. This fascination has spawned a wealth of fictional creations from Madame Butterfly to Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha. The reality of the geisha's existence has rarely been described. Contrary to popular opinion, geisha are not prostitutes but literally arts people. Their accomplishments might include singing, dancing or playing a musical instrument but, above all, they are masters of the art of conversation, soothing worries of highly paid businessmen who can afford their attentions. The real secret history of the geisha is explored here.
Download or read book Geisha Journal written by Jingle Journals and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-01-12 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This journal makes a great gift for writing, researching, prayer, gratitude and self help as well as recording thoughts and experiences. Featuring lovely vintage images from the Kusakabe Kimbei collection of early 19th century Japan, we are sure this journal notebook will be a welcome addition to your research!
Download or read book The Nightless City of The Geisha written by D.E. De Becker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2005. The Japanese geisha is the ultimate erotic icon – the courtesan par excellence - and this is her definitive book. The life of the geisha is the most secret and traditional in Japan, and today remains largely unchanged and unknown behind the tea house doors. This remarkable work was the first to reveal the hidden world of the geisha of the famous Yoshiwara quarter of Tokyo, the 'nightless city', and it has never been surpassed. Written over a hundred years ago, it is a meticulous description of every aspect of geisha life there, including the history of the geisha, life stories of famous geisha, the decoration of the tea houses, the different grades of courtesans, their costumes and hairstyles, the instruction of young girls brought to the tea houses, the art of selecting a geisha for the evening, proper conduct on the morning after, erotic practices and charms used by geisha to attract lovers. The vibrant life of the Yoshiwara quarter is evoked with finesse, portraying the procurers and madames, the festivals and geisha processions, even the menus of the tea houses, along with such matters as forms of contracts between brothels and courtesans. Profusely illustrated with photographs, prints and drawings, this is an essential volume for all who are fascinated by the sophisticated sensuality of the willow, the cherry blossom and the silken kimono.
