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In this classic best seller, Liza Dalby, the first non-Japanese ever to have trained as a geisha, offers an insider's look at the exclusive world of female companions to the Japanese male elite. A new preface examines how geisha have been profoundly affected by the changes of the past quarter century yet—especially in Kyoto—have managed to take advantage of modern developments to maintain their social position with flair.
Price: $28.95
Pages: 374
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
10 December 2008
Trim Size: 8.25 X 8.25 in
ISBN: 9780520257894
Format: Paperback
“Provides an important window on the arts practiced by geisha, a history of their profession, and their reception in modern Japan through the mid-1970s.”
— Southeast Review Of Asian Stds
Liza Dalby is the author of East Wind Melts the Ice: A Memoir through the Seasons (UC Press), The Tale of Murasaki: A Novel, and Kimono: Fashioning Culture.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION:
GEISHA AND ANTHROPOLOGY
PREFACE TO THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION:
GEISHA IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
PART ONE RELATIONS
1 SISTERS
Death of a Geisha
The Geisha Family
Sons and Lovers
The Dance
2 KYOTO
Gerald Ford and the Maiko
Bonchi
Pontocho Reunion
The Last Cognac
3 TIES THAT BIND
Names
Elective Affinity
Three Cups Thrice
Minarai: Learning by Observation
4 PONTOCHO OF LONG AGO
Bridges and Rivers
Legal Prostitution
The Golden Age
Regulation
Standardization
The ParaJox of Modernity
5 GEISHA RENOVATION
Geisha in Rivalry
Geisha Are the Navel of Society
The Geisha Reader
Updating the Geisha
Cost Benefit
Helpful Hints for the Prudent Geisha
Wartime Geisha
6 THE BEGINNING OF THINGS
Greetings
Ichigiku's Debut
My First Banquet
The Deflowering Arrangement
Food and Drink
New Geisha in Town
7 GENERATIONS
Setsubun: the Spring New Year
Pontocho's Big Three
Blind Doves
The Little Dragons
8 GEISHA PARTIES
The Zashiki
The Beer Ceremony
Futami, the Little Mother of Dai-Ichi
Alone in Gion
Dinner Dates
Cocktails Versus Oshaku
Casual Zashiki
PART TWO VARIATIONS
9 THE ELUSIVE GEISHA
Flower Wards
Geisha and Wives
Wives Versus Geisha
Service
1O THE RISE OF AKASAKA
Blooming in Rivalry
Akasaka, Prejudice and Prestige
Success, Akasaka Style
11 DOWNTOWN GEISHA
The Geisha House Yamabuki
A Geisha Lifetime
The Art of Having Fun with Geisha
No Illusions
Cold Cash
12 ART AND LIFE
Lady of the Cherry Blossoms
The Warp of Morality
Art as Life
Women Who Become Geisha
Geisha Daughters
Geisha Brides
13 COUNTRY GEISHA
Atami Hot Springs
Shallow River
A Socially Recognized Profession
Ichigiku in Atami
PART THREE SENSIBILITIES
14 THREE STRINGS
The Shamisen
Geisha Musicians
Divertimenti
The Pull of Three Strings
IS GEISHA CHIC
The Floating World
Iki
The Grand Performances
Some Prefer Geisha
16 KIMONO
The Language of Kimono
Kimono Wearers
Historical Layers
Kimono Schools
A Kimono Grammar
17 EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES
The Temple of Great Virtue
Lanterns
Cross-Currents
NOTES
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
GEISHA AND ANTHROPOLOGY
PREFACE TO THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION:
GEISHA IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
PART ONE RELATIONS
1 SISTERS
Death of a Geisha
The Geisha Family
Sons and Lovers
The Dance
2 KYOTO
Gerald Ford and the Maiko
Bonchi
Pontocho Reunion
The Last Cognac
3 TIES THAT BIND
Names
Elective Affinity
Three Cups Thrice
Minarai: Learning by Observation
4 PONTOCHO OF LONG AGO
Bridges and Rivers
Legal Prostitution
The Golden Age
Regulation
Standardization
The ParaJox of Modernity
5 GEISHA RENOVATION
Geisha in Rivalry
Geisha Are the Navel of Society
The Geisha Reader
Updating the Geisha
Cost Benefit
Helpful Hints for the Prudent Geisha
Wartime Geisha
6 THE BEGINNING OF THINGS
Greetings
Ichigiku's Debut
My First Banquet
The Deflowering Arrangement
Food and Drink
New Geisha in Town
7 GENERATIONS
Setsubun: the Spring New Year
Pontocho's Big Three
Blind Doves
The Little Dragons
8 GEISHA PARTIES
The Zashiki
The Beer Ceremony
Futami, the Little Mother of Dai-Ichi
Alone in Gion
Dinner Dates
Cocktails Versus Oshaku
Casual Zashiki
PART TWO VARIATIONS
9 THE ELUSIVE GEISHA
Flower Wards
Geisha and Wives
Wives Versus Geisha
Service
1O THE RISE OF AKASAKA
Blooming in Rivalry
Akasaka, Prejudice and Prestige
Success, Akasaka Style
11 DOWNTOWN GEISHA
The Geisha House Yamabuki
A Geisha Lifetime
The Art of Having Fun with Geisha
No Illusions
Cold Cash
12 ART AND LIFE
Lady of the Cherry Blossoms
The Warp of Morality
Art as Life
Women Who Become Geisha
Geisha Daughters
Geisha Brides
13 COUNTRY GEISHA
Atami Hot Springs
Shallow River
A Socially Recognized Profession
Ichigiku in Atami
PART THREE SENSIBILITIES
14 THREE STRINGS
The Shamisen
Geisha Musicians
Divertimenti
The Pull of Three Strings
IS GEISHA CHIC
The Floating World
Iki
The Grand Performances
Some Prefer Geisha
16 KIMONO
The Language of Kimono
Kimono Wearers
Historical Layers
Kimono Schools
A Kimono Grammar
17 EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES
The Temple of Great Virtue
Lanterns
Cross-Currents
NOTES
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX