Japonesices

Maiko Kanoko 1930s by Blue Ruin1 on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Maiko (Apprentice Geisha) Kanoko appears in both the 1938 and 1939 Miyako Odori (Cherry Dance) programmes.

Maiko Teru checking her Make-up 1930s by Blue Ruin1 on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Captioned 京の舞妓 Kyoto Maiko.

EIRYU — QUEEN of the POSTCARD GEISHAS (1) by Okinawa Soba on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Judging by the amount of photographs and postcards found today that depict this young Meiji-era Geisha, she rivaled all others for popularity.

The sampling of postcard images in this EIRYU Set are all from postcards about 100 years old or more, and represent only a few of the many that may be found.

www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/sets/72157623479583013/

Most are hand colored collotype prints, but a few are gelatin silver prints.

Although other Maiko and Geisha might have been more famous, it is hard to beat the photographs of EIRYU for getting a wider variety of poses, Kimonos, and props.

22 of these just posted to a NEW SET + one added from elsewhere on the photostream. This will take us through the weekend.

Enjoy !


PS. Want to know what EIRYU and all of her friends and “sisters” did as a real Geisha ? Read this, and feel a bit closer to her and all the other girls : www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/2802613366/




Ca.1908-12 hand-colored collotype print.

GEISHA LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS (16) — Posthumously Awarded Full Membership in Flickr (TERUHA, the “NINE-FINGERED GEISHA”) by Okinawa Soba on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
(Sorry for the “ALL CAPS” portion below. Keyboard/Computer problem would not allow lower-case at the time I wrote this. And now…I don’t feel like re-typing it all !)

GEISHA NAMED TERUHA. BORN IN 1896, SHE WAS A “PROPERLY DEFLOWERED” GEISHA FROM THE AGE OF 13, AND WENT ON TO GREAT FAME, INFAMY, AND EVENTUAL RETIREMENT AS A BUDDHIST MONK — THE CHIEF PRIESTESS OF A TEMPLE IN KYOTO..

WHEN SHAVING OFF HER LUXURIOUS HAIR TO COMPLETE BALDNESS AS HER FAITH REQUIRED, SHE THOUGHT TO KEEP IT AS A SYMBOL AND REMINDER OF THE VANITY CONNECTED WITH THE OFTEN WILD LIFE SHE HAD LED WITH HER MANY AFFAIRS, AND SEVERAL LONELY, BROKEN MARRIAGES. SHE KEPT HER HAIR IN A BOX UNTIL SHE DIED, AND HAD IT BURIED ALONG WITH HER ASHES.

DURING HER LIFE, SHE AUTHORED SEVERAL BOOKS. IN HER YOUTHFUL DAYS - WHEN THE ABOVE PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN — SHE WAS NICK-NAMED THE “NINE-FINGERED GEISHA” FOR ATTEMPTING TO CUT OFF HER LITTLE FINGER WHEN, AS A YOUNG TEENAGER, SHE WAS SMITTEN IN A PASSIONATE LOVE AFFAIR WITH ONE OF HER PATRONS. SHE DIED IN 1996, JUST BEFORE HER 100TH BIRTHDAY.

The above comments barely scratch the surface. For a little deeper scratch, here’s a great one page story with photos that show her over the years until near her death :

[NOTE: AFTER ALMOST A DECADE ON LINE, THIS LINK TO JIM GATLIN’S TRIBUTE TO TERUHA SITE WENT DEAD IN 2009. JIM HAD PASSED AWAY MANY YEARS AGO, AND APPARENTLY HIS FAMILY HAD BEEN KEEPING IT UP AND RUNNING. BUT, NO LONGER. I AM KEEPING THE LINK HERE AS AN EMPTY BOOKMARK. WHO KNOWS, SOMEONE MIGHT RESURRECT IT AGAIN, OR OKINAWA_SOBA WILL HAVE TO BUILD A NEW TERUHA SITE FROM SCRATCH]. www.geikogallery.bizland.com/Teruha1.htm

In the meantime, here is a partial restoration of the content : www.immortalgeisha.com/bio_past.php?id=14


Okinawa_Soba has about 50 pages of detailed history on her, including comments from Japanese who knew her over the years…..revealing the seldom-mentioned fact that she had a daughter.

I still get quite when I think about the time I was in Kyoto, only 10 minutes away from where she was alive and well, a few short years before her death. I had a good collection of her postcards, and figured she must have been someone special or important — but had falsely assumed she had passed away.

If I had only known she was right down the road, I could have visited her, and seen her own postcard collection of herself (!) which she kept until she died. We could have talked, and I could have asked her a million questions about all of these old photos, and her life. She would have been happy to have entertained me. She was that kind of kind woman, who had no qualms about reminiscing.

BUT….I did not even know she was there until she had passed away. Finding out that I had been so close, was, for a long moment, an almost unbearable burden.

Another Geisha who also became a nun has a more tragic story, and lost much more than her finger at the hands of an insane man : flickr.com/photos/ionushi/1568521865/ (Why is it always men who do these things?)

[From a OKINAWA SOBA flickr set of 19 Meiji-era Photographs (and a few from the Taisho era) depicting real Geisha Girls looking at old Photograph albums, images, and stereoviews. Posted in response to flickr member SignFire who said we should sign these girls up for a flickr account. Apparently, these girls don’t have computers where they are, so we’ll have to make do with posthumously awarding these PHOTO-LOVING GEISHA with an honorary membership in flickr.] Photographer Unknown.

MOSHI MOSHI — Operator, Please Connect Me to the World by Okinawa Soba on Flickr.

Hushimi, Weekly Asahi Magazine, January, 1930s on Flickr.

Weekly Asahi Magazine, January issue (still in print). Artist is Hushimi. (Thanks to Paula Wirth for translating!)

Courtesy of Patricia of Agence Eureka blog. Merci beaucoup!

O Século Ilustrado, Nº 987, Dezembro 1 1956 - 18a on Flickr.

João Carlos Celestino Gomes, Iruchi-Ko, Magazine Bertrand No. 41, 1930 b on Flickr.

Via Blog da Rua Nove.

João Carlos Celestino Gomes, Iruchi-Ko, Magazine Bertrand No. 41, 1930 a on Flickr.

Via Blog da Rua Nove.

João Carlos Celestino Gomes, Iruchi-Ko, Magazine Bertrand No. 41, 1930 on Flickr.

Via Blog da Rua Nove.