Geisha are traditional, female Japanese entertainers who’s skills include various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance. These women are the age of 21 and above. An apprentice geisha is called a Maiko and is between the ages of 15 and 20. A hanamachi is a Japanese courtesan and geisha district. The word's literal meaning is "flower street". Such districts would contain various okiya (geisha houses). An okiya is run by okaa-san (literally "mother," the proprietress of the house). The hanamachi also contained restaurants, theaters, and ochaya ("tea houses" where geisha would entertain customers).
Girls (ages 6-12 who were sold into the geisha business were usually orphans or from families who were under serious financial troubles. Upon arriving to an okiya the okaa-san would examine the girls to make sure they held up to her standards. If the girls were unattractive or for some reason displeased the okaa-san, they would be resold into a jorou-ya, a prostitute house, where they would become an oiran (prostitute). Those who were attractive and pleased the proprietress of the okiya would soon begin their training to become a geisha. Before a girl could begin her training, she would need to prove she was a hard worker. Each girl would work in the okiya as a maid doing various chores and tasks until the okaa-san determined she was ready to begin her schooling. Schooling was considered an important part of a geisha’s life, she would continue to go to school throughout her geisha career. All girls studying to be geisha took lessons at the same school. They had lessons such as tea ceremony, shamisen, dance, singing, and music. All geisha must learn shamisen-playing, though it takes years to master. Along with the shamisen and the flute, geisha also learned to play a ko-tsuzumi, a small, hourglass-shaped shoulder drum, and a large floor taiko (drum). Some geisha would not only dance and play music, but would write beautiful, melancholy poems. Others painted pictures or composed music.
A girl would usually make her debut as a maiko when she is 15 years old. In some cases the age is older. A maiko will start her formal training on the job as a minarai, which literally means "learning by watching". Before she can do this she must find an onee-san ("older sister": an older geisha acting as her mentor). The young minarai and her onee-san will be bound through a ceremony that is much like a marriage. After the ceremony the young maiko will be given her professional geisha name. It is the onee-san’s responsibility to bring her apprentice with her to certain events and observe as the onee-san is at work. From her, they would learn techniques such as conversation and gaming, which would not be taught to them in school. This stage lasts only about a month or so. After a short period the final stage of training begins, and the students are called maiko, and this stage can last for years. Maiko learn from their senior geisha mentor and follow them to all their engagements. The onee-san and imouto-san (literally “younger sister") relationship is important and would never be broken. The onee-san teaches her maiko everything about working in the hanamachi. The onee-san will teach her proper ways of serving tea, playing shamisen, dancing, casual conversation and more. Maiko only charge 1/3 of the usual rates a geisha would charge. Around the age of 20–22, the maiko is promoted to a full-fledged geisha in a ceremony called erikae (turning of the collar). This could happen after two to five years of her life as a maiko, depending on at what age she debuted. She now charges full price for her time. Geisha remain as such until they retire. Geisha are expected to be single women; those who are free to choose to marry must retire from the profession. It was forbidden to have a boyfriend or carnal relationships. A well established geisha may take a danna, or patron. A danna was typically a wealthy man, sometimes married, who had the means to support the very large expenses related to a geisha's traditional training and other costs. A danna will usually give his geisha gifts of kimono or jewelry as gestures of good will. A geisha and her danna may or may not be in love, but intimacy is never viewed as a reward for the danna's financial support. It is strongly rumored, however, that intimacy is viewed as a privilege that the danna is entitled to.
Geisha and maiko are bonded under a contract to their okiya. The okiya supplies her with food, board, kimonos, obis, and other tools of her trade. Her training is very expensive, and her debt must be repaid to the okiya with the earnings she makes. This repayment may continue after the maiko becomes a full-fledged geisha and only when her debts are settled is she permitted to move out to live and work independently. Most geisha choose to stay with the okiya due to not having a danna to support them.
The okaa-san of the okiya will not stay young forever and needs to choose an heir in inherit the okiya. If she has a natural daughter, the daughter will obviously become the new proprietress of the okiya once the current has stepped down. If the okaa-san does not have a daughter, she will choose one of the geisha in her okiya to adopt as her own. The geisha chosen is usually the most successful of the house. Once the daughter of an okiya, all of her earnings will go straight to the household.
Maiko are considered one of the great sights of Japanese tourism, and look very different from fully qualified Geisha. The scarlet-fringed collar of a maiko's kimono hangs very loosely in the back to accentuate the nape of the neck, which is considered a primary erotic area in Japanese sexuality. She wears the same white makeup for her face on her nape, leaving two or sometimes three stripes of bare skin exposed. Her kimono is bright and colorful with an elaborately tied obi hanging down to her ankles. She takes very small steps and wears traditional wooden shoes called okobo which stand nearly ten centimeters high.
Mizuage was a ceremony undergone by a Japanese maiko to signify her coming of age. When the onee-san considered the young maiko ready to come of age, a bid for her virginity would be held. Courtesans had to undergo mizuage to become a fully fledged geisha. Once the mizuage patron's function (of deflowering the young maiko) was served, he was to have no further relations with the girl. Mizuage was not considered by geisha to be an act of prostitution. The money acquired for a maiko’s mizuage was a great sum and it was used to promote her debut as a geisha. The money can also be used for substantial debt with the okiya.
Girls (ages 6-12 who were sold into the geisha business were usually orphans or from families who were under serious financial troubles. Upon arriving to an okiya the okaa-san would examine the girls to make sure they held up to her standards. If the girls were unattractive or for some reason displeased the okaa-san, they would be resold into a jorou-ya, a prostitute house, where they would become an oiran (prostitute). Those who were attractive and pleased the proprietress of the okiya would soon begin their training to become a geisha. Before a girl could begin her training, she would need to prove she was a hard worker. Each girl would work in the okiya as a maid doing various chores and tasks until the okaa-san determined she was ready to begin her schooling. Schooling was considered an important part of a geisha’s life, she would continue to go to school throughout her geisha career. All girls studying to be geisha took lessons at the same school. They had lessons such as tea ceremony, shamisen, dance, singing, and music. All geisha must learn shamisen-playing, though it takes years to master. Along with the shamisen and the flute, geisha also learned to play a ko-tsuzumi, a small, hourglass-shaped shoulder drum, and a large floor taiko (drum). Some geisha would not only dance and play music, but would write beautiful, melancholy poems. Others painted pictures or composed music.
A girl would usually make her debut as a maiko when she is 15 years old. In some cases the age is older. A maiko will start her formal training on the job as a minarai, which literally means "learning by watching". Before she can do this she must find an onee-san ("older sister": an older geisha acting as her mentor). The young minarai and her onee-san will be bound through a ceremony that is much like a marriage. After the ceremony the young maiko will be given her professional geisha name. It is the onee-san’s responsibility to bring her apprentice with her to certain events and observe as the onee-san is at work. From her, they would learn techniques such as conversation and gaming, which would not be taught to them in school. This stage lasts only about a month or so. After a short period the final stage of training begins, and the students are called maiko, and this stage can last for years. Maiko learn from their senior geisha mentor and follow them to all their engagements. The onee-san and imouto-san (literally “younger sister") relationship is important and would never be broken. The onee-san teaches her maiko everything about working in the hanamachi. The onee-san will teach her proper ways of serving tea, playing shamisen, dancing, casual conversation and more. Maiko only charge 1/3 of the usual rates a geisha would charge. Around the age of 20–22, the maiko is promoted to a full-fledged geisha in a ceremony called erikae (turning of the collar). This could happen after two to five years of her life as a maiko, depending on at what age she debuted. She now charges full price for her time. Geisha remain as such until they retire. Geisha are expected to be single women; those who are free to choose to marry must retire from the profession. It was forbidden to have a boyfriend or carnal relationships. A well established geisha may take a danna, or patron. A danna was typically a wealthy man, sometimes married, who had the means to support the very large expenses related to a geisha's traditional training and other costs. A danna will usually give his geisha gifts of kimono or jewelry as gestures of good will. A geisha and her danna may or may not be in love, but intimacy is never viewed as a reward for the danna's financial support. It is strongly rumored, however, that intimacy is viewed as a privilege that the danna is entitled to.
Geisha and maiko are bonded under a contract to their okiya. The okiya supplies her with food, board, kimonos, obis, and other tools of her trade. Her training is very expensive, and her debt must be repaid to the okiya with the earnings she makes. This repayment may continue after the maiko becomes a full-fledged geisha and only when her debts are settled is she permitted to move out to live and work independently. Most geisha choose to stay with the okiya due to not having a danna to support them.
The okaa-san of the okiya will not stay young forever and needs to choose an heir in inherit the okiya. If she has a natural daughter, the daughter will obviously become the new proprietress of the okiya once the current has stepped down. If the okaa-san does not have a daughter, she will choose one of the geisha in her okiya to adopt as her own. The geisha chosen is usually the most successful of the house. Once the daughter of an okiya, all of her earnings will go straight to the household.
Maiko are considered one of the great sights of Japanese tourism, and look very different from fully qualified Geisha. The scarlet-fringed collar of a maiko's kimono hangs very loosely in the back to accentuate the nape of the neck, which is considered a primary erotic area in Japanese sexuality. She wears the same white makeup for her face on her nape, leaving two or sometimes three stripes of bare skin exposed. Her kimono is bright and colorful with an elaborately tied obi hanging down to her ankles. She takes very small steps and wears traditional wooden shoes called okobo which stand nearly ten centimeters high.
Mizuage was a ceremony undergone by a Japanese maiko to signify her coming of age. When the onee-san considered the young maiko ready to come of age, a bid for her virginity would be held. Courtesans had to undergo mizuage to become a fully fledged geisha. Once the mizuage patron's function (of deflowering the young maiko) was served, he was to have no further relations with the girl. Mizuage was not considered by geisha to be an act of prostitution. The money acquired for a maiko’s mizuage was a great sum and it was used to promote her debut as a geisha. The money can also be used for substantial debt with the okiya.
My role play idea is to have the world of the geisha incorporated into the world of avatar. What if, in Republic City, there were elemental geisha? The patrons could be members of the council or just wealthy men who reside in the city. Even the leaders of the four nations can visit and be patrons of the elemental geisha. Anyway, here’s a few key ideas I want to bring to life.
The okiya will be called the Elemental Okiya and will house benders and non-benders from each nation. The Elemental Okiya was established several years after Republic City itself was opened. Mistress Ping was the starter of the okiya but has recently passed away. The new okaa-san will be an older woman in her 40s or 50s. Benders will be valued over the non-benders because of their abilities to use their elements in dancing and entertainment. However, non-benders will not be looked down upon. The girls will have been kidnapped from their homes or sold there by their families. Only the most beautiful and talented would be allowed into the okiya to stay. The household will have maids and cooks. The girls will wear kimonos that are colored to their homelands. We will follow all of the rules that the geisha have set in place, minus a few exceptions. There will be no alternate prostitute house for the unwanted girls to go to. Also, the classes at the geisha school will be different. The classes they will have to attend is element dancing (a class unique to each one of the elements), singing, tea ceremony, and music. Instead of learning to play the shamisen and taiko drum they will learn instruments that are native to the world of avatar. Some instruments include tsungi horn, yueqin, pipa, djembe, and the flute. The girls will be required to specialize in one of the following: dancing, singing, or instruments. I think that this is a wonderful idea and I really would like some impute on this.
