In the early days of Japan's establishment, a relatively popular profession arose, mainly women, and most of the work was to accompany customers to drink and enjoy, this profession was called geisha.
Under the circumstances, many women would try to become geisha in order to make a living, but not everyone was suitable for this profession, and for most women, it was necessary to have a certain professional ability and be able to sing and dance.
In Japan, there is a big difference in nature between the high requirements for geisha, and even the requirement of non-marriage and infertility is not an unorthodox job as people understand.
What is a geisha and what does a geisha do?
In Japan, geisha are mostly derived from women who like this romantic industry. He is a Japanese performing arts profession that many women use as a way to make a living. In fact, in the early days of Japan, the geisha were all men, who mainly roamed the streets, and most of the activities were in brothels and some entertainment venues.
Over time, in the mid-18th century, the profession of geisha was gradually replaced by women. Until now, in Japan, all geisha people are women, and there are no men.
However, because the geisha industry was very prosperous at that time, it was inevitable that there were many practitioners with bad intentions. They will want to use this method to get money for themselves and achieve some bad goals. This is why geisha were born because of socially vulnerable factors such as the need for money in the family.
However, it cannot be ruled out that some people cannot resist the temptation of money and engage in sex trafficking, which changes the nature of this industry. Nevertheless, the real geisha in Japan follows the principle of selling only art. Japanese geisha are not without love life, they have lovers and their own families, just like normal women, but they regard geisha as a profession.
Most of the women engaged in geisha are more enchanting and have excellent appearance, and are especially good at singing and dancing. Their daily job is to put on a show, not to show off, not to be a bad woman as people say, they are diligent and conscientious. However, their work still contains elements of male and female pleasure, so they call it geisha.
In fact, the beauty of the geisha is not the essential difference between him and women in special jobs, but the fact that people who understand this profession are rarely difficult for people who do not know each other to intervene in it, and most of them are recommended by friends.
Most of their workplaces entertain guests in art houses, but sometimes they are invited to accompany guests at tea houses. From ancient times to the present, the geisha industry has a rule that you must not marry while you are in this industry, otherwise you must first be dissuaded to maintain the pure image of geisha in people's hearts.
What are the conditions for being a geisha?
If you want to be a geisha in Japan, you must be sent to learn Kotoki calligraphy and painting from childhood. And to practice everything to the point of excellent proficiency, all kinds of talents. And learn how to communicate with others in order to please guests while pouring tea and water.
After all, he is also a service industry, so he also has to learn how to serve others better, so in terms of service, they must show the highest state.
When it comes to Japanese geisha, people may think of Japanese women with white faces and a little blush on both sides. In fact, on the contrary, the status of geisha in Japan is very high, different from ordinary people. Other women may have a lower status in Japan, but they still have a higher status in Japan as geisha.
They are not as undisciplined as we think, and they are required to have a real professional license as geisha in Japan. In Japan, it has become a common job, and it is strictly required that if you want to engage in this profession, you can only sell art, not show off coquettishness.
Therefore, people who want to see geisha must be recommended by acquaintances so that they can communicate better and let guests fully appreciate the performance brought to them as geisha.
So it is not so easy to become a geisha in Japan. You are forbidden to study at an early age, making you spend a lot of time studying other things, because in Japan, if a family can raise a geisha, it is a very great thing.
In fact, according to the cultural differences of the country, cultivating a geisha in Japan is equivalent to cultivating a college entrance examination champion in the mainland. You can also hold a school promotion banquet for us, and it is a happy event to run around Japan and tell each other.
Being a geisha in Japan is also very lucrative, but with the gradual improvement of Japanese entertainment venues, fewer and fewer people are engaged in the geisha industry, and the number of geisha in Japan is currently only about 300.
Today's geisha stipulate that they must be old enough to finish secondary school, but now they are not learning as before, but now they are more for historical and cultural inheritance.
But they live a completely different life from other girls in real life, not so much that they are people who come out of glitz, but in some ways they know how to live and how to be an elegant woman. But in fact, it is precisely because of this that their hearts are more sensitive, become more fragile than ordinary people, and need to be paid attention and understood by others.
What are the costumes and looks of geisha?
In today's society, most girls who study geisha cultivate classical art and noble temperament. They are all the basics of entering the upper class, and talent is a special way to make these women superior.
The costumes of the geisha are very ornate and the texture of the workmanship is perfect, so the price is also very expensive. Traditional kimonos are very old and generally block a woman's neck tightly, while geisha wear kimono collars that are very wide open and deliberately tilted back to expose all of his perfect neck.
Geisha's belt is written behind them, not in front like others, and when walking on the road outside, they must press their left hand on the top of this section to symbolize that they only sell art, and do not do other work, so that people can distinguish this from other professions more clearly.
They are also very particular about makeup, and their heavy makeup is mainly based on traditional materials for special procedures. Surprisingly, they would paint their entire face and neck with a liquid white paint. This gives people the look of a beautifully carved doll, which makes people feel different.
The reason why their faces are painted very white is because in ancient times there were no electric lights, only candles, and people could not see their faces clearly in the dark, and only painted white could make them look more beautiful and beautiful.
Usually a suit is worth thousands of dollars, and each person must have at least a dozen suits, and a set of elaborate kimonos can even have as many as 20 layers and 20 kilograms. It is basically impossible to put them on your own, and most of them require the help of men to put on these clothes.
In the paintings of Japanese painter Yoshiyasu Tamura, we can clearly see that Japanese geisha costumes are very gorgeous and the colors are very vivid. At the same time, the materials used in their clothing and the workmanship decoration are very well studied. In this way, they set off their noble temperament and show their wonderful figures.
Probably since the 50s of the 20th century, as a Japanese geisha, they have studied hairstyles, corner treatments, and facial makeup.
In order to survive under the epidemic, how has geisha developed?
With the development of the epidemic, people rarely go out, and there are many fewer people on the streets, and in tea houses and other entertainment venues, it seems deserted, and many people choose to flee these places to avoid the epidemic.
The arrival of the new crown epidemic has not only caused a huge impact on Japan's economy, but at the same time, the business of geisha has become flat under the epidemic prevention and control. How can they survive under the coronavirus pandemic? This became a problem that each of them had to face.
With such a long period of development, their performance skills and dialogue style have reached a high level, but the economic impact of the new crown epidemic has also weakened people's entertainment spending. People hesitate to leave their homes, which has led to a significant reduction of about 95% of the workload of geisha in Japan.
In this case, the state of emergency has not been lifted in Japan, and the performers' work still needs to be carried out in a step-by-step manner and in accordance with social distancing policies. They must not contact guests, pour water or shake hands while working, and they must be separated by two meters and asked to wear masks.
But for geisha, the makeup on their faces will be rubbed off by the mask, and it will hinder the wearing of wigs, making the hairstyle and makeup no longer perfect. So in most cases, for the sake of beauty, they still choose not to wear masks when performing. Most people believe that these policies hinder the development of their industry and are not conducive to the development of work.
After all, in this kind of industry, you have to be in close contact with guests, and you can only speak enthusiastically if you are close, and once there is a distance between two people, the dialogue will collapse accordingly.
The industry itself is slowly decreasing, and now facing the new crown epidemic, many of its peers will have to withdraw from this performance field. Many people are reluctant, they think that this profession has long been a part of their lives, if the industry does disappear, how will they spend the rest of their lives?
When they did this profession, they had already thought about their future, and in order to become practitioners of this profession, they accepted inmarriage and infertility, but if they really disappeared from this profession, it would also be a big harm to their body and mind.
With the interesting remarks, beautiful appearances and wonderful artistic performances of the performers, it is famous all over the world, but over the years, the practitioners have been decreasing, and the popularity of the industry has also declined.
Not only because of the long hours of boring practice and the hardships of acting life, but also because Japan no longer has the same great demand for this industry as it did a few decades ago. Maybe if you recruit new people now, there won't be too many people to participate.
In fact, in addition to geisha, there are also maiko, makeup artists, wig stylists and costume stylists. They are closely related to the development of the geisha industry and complement each other. With fewer performances, their workload decreased, plans were cancelled, and wages fell.
How do you spend this time?
In fact, everyone in this industry is doing their best to change, and now this situation changes the status quo to save this inherited industry.
According to the Nikkei Shimbun, companies engaged in social media and social applications are cooperating with performing arts associations to spread this corporate culture in various places through the Internet, while making their culture visible around the world, and achieving the purpose of spreading Japanese culture.
They hold regular drinking parties and online gatherings where geisha perform for guests. And sometimes in the form of games to entertain guests, although it is online, but there is a lot of fun. In the face of unemployment, they can only choose to innovate and survive in this industry.
Geisha are also a culture in Japan, and they are always encouraging practitioners to adapt to the development of the times and the changing trends of the times, so that the public can also enjoy the charm of performances and transmit the culture of their own country to the world. Because if a country and a culture disappear, it will also be a regret for the country.
Everyone is working hard to survive for themselves and to be able to gain a foothold in the industry. They also need to take care of their families, and they also need to get married and have children in the future, and although the development of the industry now limits their marriage, they are also respected and have a high status in the eyes of the Japanese.