Japan’s Geishas – Living Art
Geishas are the subject of much speculation from any other world outside Japan. Despite their fame the western world and even other eastern cultures do not completely understand the mystique that surrounds geishas. According to Liza Dalby, an American anthropologist who did research on geishas, the misunderstandings are probably due to the fact that there is no comparable group to them in other societies and so people have no basis on which to compare them to. Geishas are often mistaken by people as some kind of elite prostitutes, which is definitely not the case. In fact the word geisha comes from gei, meaning art, and sha, meaning a person.
To be a geisha one has to be well-trained in the traditional manner, etiquette, and various arts. One will need to master not only the intricacies of wearing a kimono but seemingly mundane stuff such as how to greet customers properly, how to serve a meal, and how to make conversation. Geishas aim to entertain but are at the same time a living piece of art.
Posted April 22nd, 2007 by geisha | Comments Off
The Comeback of Calligraphy
This form of writing is associated by many with the ancient Chinese and Japanese. We all know that calligraphy involves more than writing, but is an art form in itself. In Japan, it used to be that all children learned the basics of calligraphy, or shodo in the native language. With technology pervading society as fast as it is, however, less and less people are actually learning shodo. Both adults and children seem to have forgotten about this ancient art form.
Recently however, a sprinkling of young artists has been breathing life into this art form. They have in fact extended their stage to the rest of the world. Takeda Soun is well known for his “performance shodo†wherein he creates calligraphy on stage with music on the background. His performances have been well received in many European countries. He is only one among many young Japanese who value this ancient art and wish for it to continue to be known and appreciated the world over.
[tags]Japan, writing. culture, calligraphy, shodo, characters[/tags]
Posted March 24th, 2007 by geisha | Comments Off
