THE GEISHA: A SECRET WORLD OF ART, FASHION AND CULTURE

The geisha is probably the figure that, even today, represents one of the most fascinating aspects of Japanese culture , in a combination of art and beauty that has crossed the history and evolution of the country.

A Maiko in Kyoto © gianniscognamiglio

But what might seem like a traditional figure is in fact one of the symbols of the female revolution in Japan : the geisha marked the birth of a new type of woman, exalted thanks to her art and a balanced and pure elegance. Hers is an absolute beauty , placed in a detached and exclusive world, full of charm and character.
Geisha derives from the term gei which means "art" with sha , which means "person" : it is precisely to art that a geisha will dedicate her entire life. Between the ages of 15 and 20 the apprentice - who takes the name of maiko - from mai , "dancer" and ko , "girl" - begins a path comparable to that of a student in an academy: daily lessons in dance, singing and other types of traditional arts alternated with evenings of entertainment for practice. Once the learning path is finished , the maiko is ready to become a geisha .

A Geisha on the streets of Kyoto © Tianshu Liu

Refined hairstyles, elaborate makeup and splendid kimonos - Susohiki or Hikizuri , synonymous with each other - make them characters of a unique elegance in the world, with some differences depending on the level of experience acquired.
The type of kimono, in fact, changes between a maiko and a geisha, as do the hairstyle, make up and accessories. What are the differences between the clothes worn by maikos and geisha? The former have long sleeves like the Furisode and are characterized by a clear red collar, while those worn by geisha have shorter sleeves and a completely white collar.

Young Geisha © Marat Yakhin

The make-up ritual of a geisha is called " Oshiroi Make Up" and represents a sort of "dressing" of the face , in which the woman abandons her identity to dress that of an artist with almost otherworldly abilities, with a real narration of his experience.
Geisha makeup starts from an initial preparatory phase where bintsuke , a scented wax , relaxes the features and creates a fixing base for the subsequent creams. We then move on to oshiroi , the white foundation created from water and rice powder, spread over the face and neck with a brush; the white is therefore enlivened by a red pigment , distributed around the eyes and shaded outwards, as well as by the color of the eyes, defined as black , with eyeliner, pencils and mascara. Finally, the process ends with the lips, painted with a lipstick traditionally created ad hoc: Kyo Beni , or " Kyoto red" , which outlines the lips in a subtle way.

A Geisha in front of a pagoda © Caver998

Once the face has been dressed and the hair has been styled, it is possible to wear the kimono , which will also be more or less decorated, depending on the geisha's path. Japanese tradition dictates that these clothes, like many other objects, are decorated with specific fabrics and patterns: many patterns with different origins, hidden meanings and precise objectives . From Kō characters intertwined with leaves, from hawk or eagle feathers to shark skin, from overlapping circles to tortoise shell, from the chessboard with colored squares to the fawn stain, from diamond to ocean blue.

A small part of the Kimono Forest © Jo Sorgenfri

The geisha entered the collective imagination with even greater force in 2005, after the release of the famous film "Memoirs of a Geisha" , a film directed by Rob Marshall which received great success all over the world and at the same time received several criticisms for its inaccuracies social and cultural.
There are moral and aesthetic rules for the lifestyle of geisha, registered in the kenban , a professional register managed by the Japanese state which aims to preserve this figure which has been slowly but surely disappearing over the years. In fact, if 100 years ago there were more than 80,000 Geisha, it is estimated that today there are less than 2,000 in all of Japan .