Ko-Uta: Little Songs of the Geisha World
Ko-Uta: Little Songs of the Geisha World

Author: Liza Crihfield

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2016-02-03

Total Pages: 107

ISBN-13: 1462918107

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book of Japanese poetry and lyrics explores a little-known style of Japanese song called Ko-Uta. A Ko-Uta is translated as "little song" in Japanese. Unfamiliar to most Westerners, ko-uta are particularly in tune with the tradition of Japan's Edo-era merchants. Some ko-uta are aesthetic, many are earthy. Ko-uta are sung to the accompaniment of the shamisen—a traditional, three-stringed Japanese lute. Ko-uta come to life when they are sung, and the best example of where they live is in the geisha world. To help give some idea of the geisha world, this Japanese music book has provided a complete score of one song. Readers with some experience with haiku and other forms of Japanese poetry will find that ko-uta share many things with those forms. Yet, ko-uta retain their own unique interest, making this book a fascinating addition to any collection of Japanese literature or art.

Geisha
Geisha

Author: Liza Crihfield Dalby

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1983-01-01

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780520047426

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author, an American anthropologist, describes her experiences during the year she spent as a Japanese geisha, and looks at the role of women, and geishas, in modern Japan

Geisha
Geisha

Author: Liza Dalby

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2008-12-10

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9780520257894

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Discusses the geisha--practioners of music and dance and unmarried companions to the Japanese male elite.

Asian American Fiction, History and Life Writing
Asian American Fiction, History and Life Writing

Author: Helena Grice

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1136604855

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The last ten years have witnessed an enormous growth in American interest in Asia and Asian/American history. In particular, a set of key Asian historical moments have recently become the subject of intense American cultural scrutiny, namely China’s Cultural Revolution and its aftermath; the Korean American war and its legacy; the era of Japanese geisha culture and its subsequent decline; and China’s one-child policy and the rise of transracial, international adoption in its wake. Grice examines and accounts for this cultural and literary preoccupation, exploring the corresponding historical-political situations that have both circumscribed and enabled greater cultural and political contact between Asia and America.

A Geisha for the American Consul (a short story)
A Geisha for the American Consul (a short story)

Author: Lesley Downer

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 1448168104

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Two cultures. One man and one woman. One moment in time. Cultures collide when Okichi, a beautiful geisha, is sent to work for the American envoy in Japan. Age and pride meet youth and grace. How will she survive in a home where no one speaks her language, where she understands nothing and she must submit to a strange barbarian's will?

Geisha
Geisha

Author: John Gallagher

Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9781856486972

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Japan's geisha have fascinated and allured westerners for centuries. But just who are geisha? This book delves into their lives and history with detailed coverage of their training, their costumes, and the intricate world of tradition in which they live and work. This finely illustrated book looks at the gradations of rank, clothing, and makeup, as well as the subtle changes of geisha appearance through the seasons. It explores the network of dance schools, teahouses, temples, offices and traditional crafts, with calligraphers, dyers, and sake warmers among the many occupations serving in the hanamachi or "flower towns," as geisha districts are known. The geisha craft itself draws on an array of traditional Japanese arts: dance, tea ceremony, traditional music, and games, all in the service of leisure. This book explains how this complex and often misunderstood world evolved, how it fits into modern Japan, and how it is adapting in order to survive there.--From publisher description.

"The Gei of Geisha: Music, Identity and Meaning "

Author: KellyM. Foreman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 135154408X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Japanese geisha is an international icon, known almost universally as a symbol of traditional Japan. Numerous books exist on the topic, yet this is the first to focus on the 'gei' of geisha - the art that constitutes their title (gei translates as fine art, sha refers to person). Kelly M. Foreman brings together ethnomusicological field research, including studying and performing the shamisen among geisha in Tokyo, with historical research. The book elaborates how musical art is an essential part of the identity of the Japanese geisha rather than a secondary feature, and locates current practice within a tradition of two and half centuries. The book opens by deconstructing the idea of 'geisha' as it functions in Western societies in order to understand why gei has been, and continues to be, neglected in geisha studies. Subsequent chapters detail the myriad musical genres and traditions with which geisha have been involved during their artistic history, as well as their position within the traditional arts society. Considering the current situation more closely, the final chapters explore actual dedication to art today by geisha, and analyse how they create impromptu performances at evening banquets. An important issue here is geisha-patron artistic collaboration, which leads to consideration of what Foreman argues to be the unique and essential nexus of identity, eroticism and aesthetics within the geisha world.